Genre: Paranormal, Romance
LGBTQ+ Category: Gay
Reviewer: Jay
Get It On Amazon
About The Book
Anax Tobias Rogan, ruler of all werewolves in the United States, has never liked Christmas. But this year, his mate, vegan werewolf Kyle Slidell, and their young guard Quinn Boucher are eager to celebrate, and Tobias is trying to find the holiday spirit. He’s even planned the perfect gift for Kyle, one he hopes will revitalize the relationship that has been frayed by Tobias claiming the rank of Anax.
A call from Jed Howe, the Alpha who took in Tobias after he was changed as a teen, changes everything. Jed has slipped into dementia and believes the Alpha of a nearby pack is trying to steal his rank. Although Tobias manages to calm Jed, he knows the time he has dreaded has come. Jed is no longer fit to rule a pack, and Tobias must intervene before he causes any harm.
But before Tobias is able to stop him, Jed takes drastic and dangerous action against the other Alpha. Now Tobias, battling his own demons, is faced with the most difficult task of his life: Removing the man he considers a father from his rank–permanently.
This book includes references to abuse and sexual assault in characters’ pasts, depictions of PTSD, and the off-page suicide of a character.
The Review
I admit I had not read the first seven volumes in this series. However, the author very skillfully introduces their wolves, their social hierarchy and rules and the main characters without ever doing an info dump, so I was quite impressed that I was able to follow and enjoy the story som easily.
The action is quite exciting as Tobias takes over as Anax, or head wolf, in USA and must deal with his own insecurities and battle the Anax power. Despite some Googling, I have no idea what the title is meant to convey, though Kyle, Tobias’ lover and mate, is a vegetarian werewolf so maybe there is an in-joke that would only be apparent if I had read the other books.
Tobias is also sorting out the problems with his friend who is under threat, his original mentor who is slipping into dementia, and his lover who is worrying about it all. In addition, he must consider the futures of his wolves, such as one of his guards whose mate lives in Canada.
The werewolf world is well built and internally consistent, though at times there’s a lot of repetition. Some tighter editing would have made the novel both shorter and perhaps more thrilling. I was also a little annoyed by the constant use, by various characters, of the words ‘old friend,’ which is not a greeting or appellation I would expect anyone to use in contemporary English.
Recommended to anyone who loves shifter stories. There’s a lot of suspense and good writing, though I suspect the reader would get even more from the book if they started with volume one.
Four stars.
The Reviewer
I’ve been doing book reviews on my website, crossposted or linked to various social media, for a few years. I read a number of genres but I really enjoy all kinds of speculative fiction so thought I’d like to share my views with you. I love sci fi and other speculative fiction because of the way it can, at its best, make us see ourselves in a new light. Quite apart from the exciting stories, of course! I used to be an English teacher, and I’m a writer (fantasy) so I can be quite critical about style etc. but I hope I can also appreciate properly some books that don’t appeal to me personally but might be simply perfect for others. I have, obviously, read widely, and continue to do so.
