Kelley Armstrong follows her debut novel ‘Bitten’ with this equally strong and compelling novel involving that most reluctant of heroines; Elena Michaels.
Elena is not unique in that she is an incredibly strong-willed, intelligent and addictive character. However she is also the only female werewolf in the world, giving her already three-dimensional character an edge that is even more enthralling; no mean feat by any stretch of the imagination.
As a sequel to ‘Bitten,’ the book is fantastic but this is not to de-cry its ability to stand-alone, as it requires little prior knowledge of Elena and her bizarre but believable ‘family’. In this Kelley Armstrong has once again shown her innate skill as a writer and allowed us a sense of her passion for her work.
The story opens with Elena discovering that there is an outside danger that threatens herself and her pack. Not merely the threat of exposure but a more deadly enemy; a group of scientists appear to be bent on learning the secrets of her pack and their powers. Together with her hot-tempered and sensual husband, Clayton, and her enigmatic pack-leader and surrogate father, Jeremy, she embarks upon a quest to meet with other interested parties, including a half-demon and a witch. The intention being to join forces, and decide a course of action that will protect them all. But Elena is captured by the hunters and incarcerated in a macabre institution, along with other supernatural ‘subjects.
’
From that point Elena is separated from the guidance of her pack and must learn to live on her wits to protect herself and discover as much information as possible, in the hope that she will at some point be able to relay this to the outside world. Elena herself, werewolf attributes besides, is a strong and forceful character that shows her captors that she is no mere lab-rat to be toyed with.
Were I to continue further I would be giving away far too much information. Suffice it to say that the journey we are taken on by Ms Armstrong is one over which we have no control. The story takes us along with it without fear or favour and the ending is absolutely satisfying without being an irritating collapse in the last two pages, as is often found with some mystery/thriller writers I could name (but won’t).
This book is at once sublime, sexy, clever and funny. A must for all mystery and thriller readers, even those that are horror buffs will not fail to be satisfied with this amazingly well thought out and fantastic story.