Beneath a Rising Moon - Keri Arthur

This is a re-release of one of Arthur's pre-Riley Jenson books, the first of the Ripple Creek duology. I stopped reading the Riley Jenson books because, as much as I loved Riley, I hated her main love interest, Quinn. He was controlling, dismissive, cruel, bordering on racist (to werewolves, anyway) and I had no idea why an intelligent woman like Riley wanted anything to do with him. I have exactly the same problem with Beneath a Rising Moon.

Women on the Ripple Creek werewolf reservation are being savagely attacked and murdered. Neva Grant's twin sister, Savannah, was almost another victim. Now she's recovering in hospital and Neva's determined to find her attacker. Unfortunately it seems the only way to do this is to get close to one of the suspects - Duncan Sinclair. The Sinclair family are renowned as womanisers and bad boys, and Neva's running a risk by getting involved with Duncan. But she does it anyway, of course. And they are very attracted to each other. Of course. So we know how this will end.

So here's my quibble. Neva is a perfectly intelligent woman. She's not your average angry chick in leather, but she's set up as brave and strong in her own quiet way. Duncan is a raging alpha male, domineering, possesive, often manipulative. Early in the book he binds Neva to him in a way that allows him to psychically control her if he wants, forcing her to do his bidding. It's not quite mind-rape, but close enough. And he does this to her a lot.

But Neva doesn't really protest. She doesn't fight back apart from some token protest, and she continues to sleep with the bastard no matter how often he abuses his hold over her. It's really fucking annoying. This is supposed to be a romance novel. There's nothing romantic about Duncan's treatment of Neva. And yes, you can tiptoe around that and say well, he does it to protect her, he loves her, they're soulmates, etc. But still. Nothing turns me off a man faster than this in paranormal romance. Its like, come on woman! Who cares how big his cock is, he's still a total bastard. Get a grip and have some self-respect.

Okay, so that aside, I did like a lot of things about this book. I liked the relationship between Neva and Savannah. In fact, I liked Savannah a lot more than Neva, and will definitely buy her book, Beneath a Darkening Moon. I liked the werewolf society Arthur created, and could see early Riley-esque touches, like the moon dance and the notion of soul mates. I liked the unfolding of the murder mystery; even if the killer was easy to spot, their motives were interesting.

I like Arthur's writing generally, and I think some of her other early works sound fascinating. It's a shame I don't seem to get on with her heros, but frankly I don't find them very heroic. There's alpha male and there's wanker, and Duncan was a wanker. Sorry, Ms Arthur. I'm looking forward to the re-release of the Spook Squad books though.

Red - Jordan Summers - SPOILERS

You get a spoiler warning because I'm going to find it very hard to talk about this book without giving anything way. However, I don't think I'll be giving away anything people won't figure out for themselves, so... There you are.

Gina "Red" Santiago is viewed with suspicion by most of her colleagues at the International Police Tactical Team, and in a world where anyone different is potentially dangerous, this doesn't make her many friends. After discovering the mutilated body of a young girl, Red puts her career on hold to travel to the town of Nuria and track down the killer. But Nuria is hiding plenty besides a murderer, and Red comes face-to-face with her own life-changing secret while she's there.

If pushed, I'd say this was more of a post-apocalyptic romance than a werewolf novel. Not that that's in any way a bad thing. Post-apocalyptic landscapes are awesome, and Summers has created a very believable world that I'm excited to read more about. War has torn apart the USA and most of it is now divided into republics and off-limit "no man's land" areas. These off-limit areas are home to the Others, creatures left over from the war and capable of supernatural feats. Towns like Nuria are on the borders of these areas, and usually ignored by the IPTT.

Werewolves and vampires are a big part of that world, though, and I suspect we might see some other monsters cropping up in future books. It's revealed fairly early on that most of the town are werewolves, with sheriff Morgan Hunter as the alpha male. When Red enters the town, she immediately attracts attention as an "unattached female." So even though Red doesn't know what she is, the reader will figure it out pretty quickly.

Once the reader does know Red's secret, the dramatic irony is sometimes too much to bear. Red seems pretty in denial to me, given the evidence surrounding her. Her grandfather frequently refers to her as his "special one," and she has keener senses than the average human. Don't get me wrong - I think Summers handles Red's dual nature well, but it's stretching credibility that Red could have reached her late twenties without ever cottoning on.

I do like Summers' evolution process for her werewolves - scientifically created super-soldiers are always going to please me. And I like that she took the traditional mythology and put it into such a dramatic new context. She mixes Red's POV with that of our killer very effectively, although again, it probably won't take the reader long to figure out who the killer is. This doesn't really hamper your enjoyment of the tale though, because as I said, this is really a romance novel. And it's a hot romance. Morgan and Red sizzle together. The fact that he knows she's a werewolf adds to the tension between them, and I'm sure it will be a point of contention in the sequel.

What I want to see in the next book is more pack-related action. Morgan is the leader of Nuria's werewolves, and there seem to be a lot of them. Therefore it would make sense to open this world up a bit more, especially now Red is in the thick of it. With such a fascinating backdrop to work with, I'd bet Summers has plenty of new twists planned.

Howling at the Moon - Karen Macinerney

In a slightly different tone from Maneater, it has to be said, this is the tale of Sophie Garou, accountant by day, werewolf by night. I was a little worried this was going to be a fluffy chicklit-esque romp with the occasional reference to werewolves. I was pleasantly surprised to find this was not the case. Whilst waiting for her human boyfriend to propose and working towards partnership at her prestigious accounting firm, Sophie is being sent mysterious packages that threaten to reveal her true nature to the world. Throw into the mix her psychic witch mother who's just been arrested on suspicion of murder, and Sophie's pretty busy at the moment.

The primary plot - finding out who framed her mum for the murder of a local politician - is nicely blended with a few other plot strands, such as the arrival of a new werewolf in Sophie's life. Sophie herself is a halfbreed werewolf; her father abandoned her shortly after she was born and her mother has spent all Sophie's life keeping her out of the way of other wolves for fear of how they will treat her. So when Sophie meets Tom, a lone wolf on a mysterious mission, she's both curious to learn more about her own kind and afraid she's about to be torn to pieces for being a hybrid.

For me, this relationship with Tom was the weaker part of the story. Sophie's mother is desperate for Sophie to date another werewolf, which is at odds with the way she's raised Sophie, sheltering her from her werewolf heritage. That clash left me a little confused as to whether I was supposed to root for Sophie and Tom or not. In addition, Tom is dating Sophie's best friend which adds a slightly icky feel to their mutual attraction.

The best part of the story is how Sophie deals with the everyday inconveniences of her second nature. She drinks regular doses of wolfsbane tea to suppress her lycanthrope side and carried a razor in her purse just in case. It's quite fun to see her attempting to deal with excess hair in the middle of a career-defining meeting whilst overdosed on wolfsbane. There's a sense of levity to this story that you don't always see in werewolf novels.

Macinerney throws in a few hints of a wider supernatural community - vampires are mentioned, and Sophie meets a werecat towards the end, and I assume these elements will be expanded upon in the next book, but I almost don't want that. Sophie ends Howling at the Moon convinced that her human side is stronger than her wolf side, and obviously this is going to be tested by her relationship with Tom. Personally I'd be disappointed to see this series descend into a free-for-all of supernatural creatures since the central conflict is so interesting by itself, and open to plenty of exploration. Does Sophie have a place amongst other wolves, and does she even need it? She's made a success of herself as a human whilst working to suppress her inner wolf. She lacks the tortured angst of other werewolf characters in urban fantasy, which is refreshing in its way.

Although lighthearted, this is by no means a fluffy novel, and there are enough new twists on werewolf lore to make it intriguing. Sophie is a great narrator and I'm interested in seeing where Macinerney takes her story.

Maneater - Thomas Emson

For centuries the Greenacre and Templeton families wages a secret war. Man fought wolf and it seemed man won. But now that war is about to erupt once more, as Laura Greenacre and Michael Templeton collide in a bloody, visceral tale of werewolves oop North.

Can I just say - Awesome! Awesome to the max! I rarely meet a werewolf book I don't like, but Maneater is the best one I've read since Ivy Cole and the Moon. It's a grim, gritty, and occasionally uncomfortable novel that tends towards horror rather than urban fantasy. Laura, the titular maneater, is a fascinating character but she's definitely not a heroine. Seriously. She eats people. Like, alive. And yet, placed against power-hungry, bloodthirsty Michael, she's an angel. Morally dubious and ethically questionable, yes, but captivating all the same.

Emson stays away from the flashier aspects of werewolf mythology - no silver bullets or full moons here - but the simpler take on the tradition works well against a backdrop of Newcastle strip clubs and wild country estates. I'm always privately excited to read a story of this kind set in the UK, and Emson brilliantly uses the atmosphere of the northern setting to create an oppressive environment that's completely believable. All the characters are possessed with a world-weary ennui that's violently disrupted by Laura. When the action moves to London later in the book, that ennui is replaced with palpable urgency that grabs you by the throat and drags you into the bloody climax. And if the London scenes are slightly reminiscent of An American Werewolf in London, well, that's no bad thing.

What I especially liked is that Emson made no apologies for his characters. Laura and Michael aside, there were several characters who were unpleasant, nasty, broken, or just plain creepy, and Emson made them all human and convincing without pulling any punches. From rapists to hired mercenaries, they were all just as compelling as Laura.

There were a few hints that there could be a sequel - certainly there would be scope for it - but the main storyline was resolved. No happy, tidy endings for these guys, but this isn't a happy, tidy book. I don't think it will be to everyone's taste - too many grey areas and probably not enough romance for the urban fantasy market. But for a slice of British gothic violence, this book is perfect.

Pure Blood - Caitlin Kittredge

Three months after the events of Night Life, Luna Wilder is back on the beat as a homocide detective. The apparently random death of a junkie becomes something much bigger as Luna uncovers a link between the powerful caster and blood witch families of Nocturne City, and the threat of all-out war becomes a dangerous reality, with Luna in the firing line from all sides.

I know, I've done a pretty crappy job of summarising the plot, which is excellent. But really, you should just buy the book and discover all the many facets for yourself. Suffice to say, Pure Blood is a worthy follow-up to Night Life, just as gritty, dark, and weirdly Lovecraftian. But really, I'm all about the werewolves, so let's talk about them. In Night Life Luna was somewhat in denial concerning her lupine self, keeping herself isolated and lonely and telling herself she liked being that way. In Pure Blood, given her semi-celebrity status as an outed werewolf cop, she can't live like this anymore, and it feels like she doesn't really want to.

In attempting to change her life, Luna's hooked up with an emo (and human) boyfriend called Trevor. Of course she's not really interested in him, despite her best efforts. It's Redback werewolf Dmitri she really wants, but he's off-limits due to a rather nasty demon infection he picked up last time he and Luna hung out. The great thing about Pure Blood is that Kittredge gives us a lot more werewolf law and pack information. We see the threats that pack wolves pose to Insoli Luna. She's basically there for the taking by pack law, with no rights or means to defend herself beyond her own strength. Kittredge uses this to infuse the main plot with moments of real danger for Luna. This is an author who's not afraid to beat her heroine to a pulp. I appreciate that.

Ultimately, all this feeds into Luna's relationship with Dmitri and affects the decisions they make which will carry on to the third book, Second Skin. I'm always excited when authors allow their characters to actually develop in a realistic way, and Kittredge is doing just that. It gives you a reason to be invested in the series beyond the immediate plot. (Which, by the way, was subversive and creepy, but again, just buy it and see for yourself).

We also learn more about pack magic, something that was touched on too briefly before, as well as the caster and blood witch histories. It's fun to guess at where Kittredge intends to take the series overall, as she does seem to drop hints that Nocturne City's humans won't take the presence of werewolves and witches quietly for much longer.

So in conclusion, the second Nocturne City book builds on the foundations laid down by the first and paves the way for what looks to be a dark and scary third book. I have to reiterate again that I look forward to this, and anything else Kittredge writes, which luckily seems to be a lot.

Werewolves in York?

Apparently there have been sightings of a werewolf in York. No photographic evidence, of course, but it's on the internet so it must be true. I might have to visit York to make sure.

Of course, I've lived in Cambridge for fourteen years and I've never seen the Fen Tiger, so...

Confessions of a Werewolf Supermodel - Ronda Thompson

I avoided picking up this book for ages because the cover and title imply some fluffy chick-lit type affair, where the heroine may as well not be a werewolf at all for all the attention it's given. (Like Succubus in the City. Seriously, what was the point? Do I care how many types of shoes a succubus can fit in her wardrobe? No. I want to see demonic action, not shopping). Luckily, Confessions of a Werewolf Supermodel is nowhere near as fluffy as it first appears.

Yes, it's about a supermodel and yes, she does talk about shoes. But she also talks about killing her prom date and leaving town forever to cover it up, so it's cool. And Lou isn't your average supermodel. She's funny, self-deprecating and clever. And a werewolf, which rules any averageness right out. Just as her career is blooming, Lou finds herself having werewolf "outbreaks" - clumps of fur and elongating fangs, seemingly for no reason. As the book progresses and the mystery unfolds, we learn that the close proximity of another werewolf is triggering these attacks, which is a nice twist on the lore that I appreciated.

(It has to be said though, that these outbreaks were never more of a problem for Lou than say, covering up a bad zit. She waxes the hair off and heals almost instantly, which almost takes the book into "why bother" territory. In a less well-written book, I would have found it hard to forgive. If you going to write a book about werewolves, for God's sake, let them have werewolfy problems, not regular woman problems! And also, why could she heal from waxing herself in minutes, but took days to heal from a small vampire bite?)

Lou is also having dreams that lead her to believe the other wolf is a serial killer who's worked his way across the country, seemingly in search for her. No prizes for guessing who the killer is - I had it figured out by the end of chapter one. But that's not really the point. Although the murders are a big part of the book, they're paralleled by Lou's personal and emotional journeys. Adopted at birth and out of touch with the people who raised her, Lou leans heavily on best friend Cindy. The dynamic between the two shifts as the book progresses and how Lou handles these changes is refreshingly normal. As is her approach to sex - she's got a lot of self-respect and dignity, and it was nice to read an urban fantasy where the heroine isn't throwing herself at every man who looks her way.

This book, I think, was written as the first of a series. The second half opens up a whole new world of natural and "synthetic" (laboratory-made) werewolves and (yawn) vampires which Thompson clearly planned to explore. Sadly she passed away last summer, so this will be the first and last of Lou's adventures. It's a shame because there's so much scope for more. Further explanations of how she became a werewolf would definitely have been addressed, and I expect the conflict between natural and synthetic would have been too.

This is a sweet book, not too fluffy but not too angsty. Could have done with less shoe talk, but what do I know?