Snared by Jennifer Estep

You have to admire the way Estep manages to keep this series fresh and captivating after so many books and years.

There are still so many nooks and crannies to explore when it comes to Gin & Co. Plenty of secrets to uncover, and most importantly there is always an adversary waiting just behind the corner to try and eliminate The Spider.

In this 16th book in the Elemental Assassin series Gin has to find a criminal of the more everyday garden variety. A serial killer with a penchant for pretty blondes.

Now we all know Gin is a sucker when it comes to helping people, regardless of who they are. When one of the mob bosses approaches her for help finding her sister, she doesn’t even think twice about lending a hand.

At some point during the investigation Gin figures out that someone is pulling strings behind the scenes, she just isn’t sure whether they are trying to divert attention away from the killer or simply pointing her in the right direction.

Then there is the whole Hugh Tucker thing, it’s interesting. It sort of makes you wonder why he keeps stacking the deck in her favour. There must be more to it than simply liking Mama Snow. It’s not just my imagination right?

Estep knows exactly how to thrill and enthral both new readers and readers who have been following Gin and her Merry Band of Misfits from the very beginning. It is urban fantasy with a slice of snark and topped with a cherry full of violence, courtesy of our very own quirky assassin.

Buy Snared at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.

The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan

Excellent.

I have read an abundance of Urban Fantasy werewolf stories but this is Wolf done a la literary fiction and done very well indeed. The plot is simple and doesn’t suffer from the usual story killers such as a too many characters, a hundred sub-plots, cheesy B-film dramatics or awkward dialogue.

Instead the simplicity is also what makes the story so powerful. It is driven by just one character and his inner beast.The author had both man and his relation to his inner animal down to a fine art. So much so, that if I didn’t know any different I would be taking a close look at Mr Duncan during specific lunar phases. It is really so in-sync with the thoughts, emotions and actions of Jake and later on with Talullah, it was quite impressive.

The reader gets a real sense of the hunger, the need and the utter helplessness when it comes to the inevitable change. The feeling of despair that invades his mind at the thought of being completely alone without a kindred spirit and no possibility of a mate, all whilst battling for control with the beast within him.
It was a compelling read with an unexpected ending and most certainly a series I will be following.
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley.

Black Dog by Rachel Neumeier

Neumeier has pack behaviour down to a fine art, which is something other Urban Fantasy authors often get wrong or don’t think they have to adhere to in a story. Personally I think getting the strict rules of behaviour, dominance, submission, gender and status in the supernatural world of pack animals just right is imperative to the story, especially a good one.
There was one thing about the story that really bugged me though. I am not sure why Neumeier chose to change this into YA book and indeed it doesn’t matter because it is a good one that would have survived both YA and adult market. I assume that in making it into a YA story the ages of certain characters were possibly changed so younger readers would be more likely to relate to them.
So here is my issue, Nativida is a 15yr old girl and one of the major sub-plots is her being made available or becoming of mateable age at 16. At that time she becomes a free for all for the males around her. I found that hard to digest. Even if the age of consent is 16 I am not sure I would want my child thinking at 15 that she counts as female mature enough to be matched with a marital partner at the age of 16. Under 18 they are still children, even if they don’t look like it. Now you can say the boundaries of fantasy allow for this bending of rules when it comes to pack law, which she isn’t because she is a so-called Pure, but I think it is more about the message that is being sent out to readers. It would have been the same solid story if Natividad had been 17 going on 18.
Aside from that tiny issue this was a fantastic fast paced plot driven story with solid characters and the potential for further books. The black dog angle in relation to myths created by vampires was an interesting venture.
The romantic interludes were minimal and that made the anticipation of possible later interactions to come much more enticing.
I will be looking forward to the next in the series.
I received a copy of this book via Netgalley.

The Shape Stealer by Lee Carroll

Although I am not averse to a bit of poetry now and again, and I can understand the the author wanting to bring attention to the art of poetry, however I felt it was detrimental to the flow of the story.The poetry was good, it just did not fit in context with the story and there was too much of it. I question whether it was written with the intent of creating a setting for the poetry, which was why the actual story within the book was given less attention. A pity really, the two entities should have been presented individually to give them both justice.
As for the story, well there was so much going on it felt as if an explosion of ideas had been crowded into a confined space.
The old Will new Will sub-plot could have been explored a little more. It was certainly one of the more interesting ideas, although I still don’t understand why old Will would have thought the new Will would be more suited to the woman he apparently loves.
I would suggest reading the previous two books in the series to get a better feel of the events and characters.
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley.