Fantasy Annotation- Cry Wolf
Author:
Patricia Briggs
Title:
Cry Wolf
Genre:
Fantasy/ Urban Fantasy
Publication
Date: August 1, 2008
Publisher:
Ace Books
Number
of Pages: 294 Pages
ISBN13:
9780441016150
Geographical
Setting/ Time Period: Montana (United States); Present Day
Series:
Alpha & Omega #1
Subject
Headings: Werewolves, Fiction
Plot
Summary:
Featuring a third person narrative,
Briggs novel, Cry Wolf, follows the
lives of Anna, an Omega wolf struggling to deal with being forcibly turned, and
Charles, the only truly born Alpha werewolf and son/enforcer for the leader of
the North American werewolves. Convinced
that she is his mate, Charles pursues Anna and her rare Omega abilities, while
helping her to cope with the realities of the physical and mental abuse that
the wolf who turned her inflicted. Intertwined with Anna and Charles love story
and Anna learning to regain her strength and confidence, the Marok is informed of a rogue werewolf causing chaos in a nearby city. As the Marok’s
enforcer, Charles must deal with the rogue; he takes Anna along with him for
the ride, as he is counting on an easy job and doesn't want to leave her. However, the creature they encounter is entrenched
in dark magic and is anything but easy.
Appeal:
Tone/Mood: Candid, Impassioned, & Nostalgic
Diction: Heavy use of informal language choice verging on
slang at times. Extremely fitting for the characters and serves to draw the
readers into the world that Briggs has created.
Story-line: Keeps you on your toes with completely unexpected
twists and turns within the plot. The only issue with the story-line, is the lack
of effort to make readers aware of a prequel that is key to fully understanding
the series. Although Briggs is brilliant at re-capping
for her readers, the first few chapters left me questioning whether I had
picked up the first book or the fifth.
Characterization: Briggs avoided
over-used werewolf tropes and created a unique world to place her characters
within. Each character felt fully devolved and lived in a way that really gets
readers to believe that these people have lives outside of the pages of the novel.
In addition, her characters slowly draw at your heartstrings and make you love
them rather than like some authors trying too hard to make you immediately hate
or love a character.
Pacing: Appropriate. Briggs is a well-worn writer and knows when to ramp up
the tension and when to allow her readers to cruise through the storyline, all
the while unable to put the book down.
Writing Style: Chatty, Economical, & Punchy
Fantasy
Characteristics:
- Mythical creatures
- Coexistence between creatures and humans
- Urban setting
- Romance
- Adventure or conflict
- Presence of magic
- Blurring of genre lines
Read-a-likes/
Similar Authors:
- Stray (Shifters #1) by Rachel Vincent
- Bitten (Otherworld #1) by Kelley Armstrong
- Moon Called (Mercy Thompson #1) by Patricia Briggs
I wondered if Kelly Armstrong would show up in the Read-Alikes for this one. It sounds similar to the Elena Michaels series she wrote. It sounds like there's a lot of the magical slang happening in this title, with how much of it made it into your synopsis. Alpha, Omega, Marok--all ways to key in and identify the series as different from other werewolf books (okay, maybe not so much alpha, but the others distinguish). I think I would like more of a setup, though, if you're saying it's hard to tell which book in the series this is. Getting your bearings, especially in the first in a fantasy series, is really important to me as a reader.
ReplyDeleteI've never read anything by Briggs but I've been meaning to! Would you read more in the series? Great job with the summary and your appeals! Full points!
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