Briggs, P: Cry wolf

A warning: Cry Wolf picks up immediately after ‘Alpha & Omega’ (story in On the Prowl) if you haven’t read that the first chapter will be confusing to read. Still, don’t let that stop you from reading it’s really worth it. If you already read the Mercy Thompson Books you will find familiar names and events from Moon Called, which makes it easy to settle into the story and yet she manages to keep the reading fresh with the change of viewpoint. Essentially it works to allow Moon Called readers to get a deeper insight into some of the events in that book without confusing new readers. At this let me point out that Cry Wolf uses a third person narrative which makes for a welcome change to the Mercy books. Cry Wolf also appears less action focused than the Mercy books, it concentrates more on the blooming relationship between Anna & Charles (the change of viewpoints from Anna’s feelings and thoughts to Charles’s makes for one of the highlights of the book) and how Anna learns to cope with her abusive past, relearns to trust people and to get used to her new found power as an Omega Werewolf. Now that makes it sound more dramatic than it actually is, Patricia Briggs writes for entertainment and not to lecture us about lives hardships. However, Anna is a quite believable, complex character with real weaknesses and fears, but developing enough strength throughout the story to make for a likeable character. The Story of Cry Wolf is about Anna Latham following Charles Cornick to his pack in Montana. Anna’s Wolf is in love with Charles’s Wolf but the human part is reluctant, filled with fear even due to a past of abuse and torture at the hands of her old pack. While they are still settling in and Charles is recouping from recent injuries, a rogue wolf is reported to attack people near the border to the Marrock’s land. The Marrock, Bran Cornick, in his function as leader of the Northern American werewolves, suspects these attacks to be part of a plan to weaken his position. Charles being the Marrock’s son and the enforcer of his rule is sent out to investigate the attacks and if necessary to kill the rogue. Anna insists on accompanying him and once they find the rogue, they realise that a much darker, far more sinister force is at work. Cry Wolf should appeal to paranormal romance readers as well as fans of urban fantasy, while the main focus is on the romance part and the book is dealing with werewolves it’s not about a couple being devoured by animal passion (sorry, had to), but about two people learning to trust each other and experience real compassion for each other. Last but not least let me stress the point that despite my many allusions to the Mercy Thompson books they are not prerequisite to the Anna & Charles novels!

Let me first say that this is the second part of the Alpha and Omega-series by Patricia Briggs. The first part is a novella in the anthology 'On the prowl', and I think it would be best to have read that story first, although this novel does make sense on its own. This series is also loosely connected to the popular Mercy Thompson-series by the same author. In respect to that series it's fun to see the connections, but it's not necessary to know those books. Now to the novel itself: Three years ago Anna was made a werewolf in a brutal attack and was afterwards badly abused by the pack who changed her. She was finally saved and the responsible werewolves punished by Charles, a 200-year-old werewolf and enforcer for the leader of all the American werewolves. (That's the backstory from the novella in 'On the prowl'.) She and Charles leave Chicago and go to the mountain village that's his home - and that of the werewolf leader's pack. Their situation is made difficult due to the emotional scars Anna suffers from, which also make it difficult for them to join in a full mating, which they would both like to do. As if that weren't enough, there have been killings in the surrounding wilderness that hint at a rogue werewolf. Charles, still suffering from the injuries he incurred when he fought the Chicago pack, has to find and confront the culprit. But as it turns out, he and Anna have to face something far more dangerous than a rogue werewolf... I generally enjoy Patricia Briggs' books because they are intelligent, well-written and have interesting characters. In this case it's also fascinating to see how she takes something that's been written about ad nausea, the werewolf myth, and turns it into something interesting, convincing and even original. I like this, as well as the fact that her characters and complex and realistic. So I'd definitely recommend to give this series a try.