mass market paperback, 352 pages
English language
Published March 4, 2008 by St. Martin's Paperbacks.
Welcome to Nocturne City, where werewolves, black magicians, and witches prowl the streets at night…
Among them is Luna Wilder, a tough-as-nails police officer whose job is to keep the peace. As an Insoli werewolf, Luna travels without a pack and must rely on instinct alone. And she's just been assigned to find the ruthless killer behind a string of ritualistic murders—a killer with ties to an escaped demon found only in legend…until now.
Welcome to Nocturne City, where werewolves, black magicians, and witches prowl the streets at night…
Among them is Luna Wilder, a tough-as-nails police officer whose job is to keep the peace. As an Insoli werewolf, Luna travels without a pack and must rely on instinct alone. And she's just been assigned to find the ruthless killer behind a string of ritualistic murders—a killer with ties to an escaped demon found only in legend…until now.
It's ok, but I couldn't really get into the character, so I didn't finish it.
It's ok, but I couldn't really get into the character, so I didn't finish it.
You can't swing a stick in urban fantasy without hitting a book with werewolves in it, all of whom will snarl at you and pitch you out the window along with said stick before you can say "fetch". That said, at least so far as I've been able to tell, books where the heroine is a were are still fairly few and far between. I must admit that to date, my experience with these books has been less than positive.
However, many kudos to Kittredge for an urban fantasy where the heroine is not only a were, she's also suitably badassed and doesn't angst overmuch about the traumatic situation that made her a were in the first place. I mean, I'm pretty lenient with my fantasy novel tropes in general, but few things will put me off faster than a whiny werewolf. ;)
So yeah. Nifty badassed heroine, who at …
You can't swing a stick in urban fantasy without hitting a book with werewolves in it, all of whom will snarl at you and pitch you out the window along with said stick before you can say "fetch". That said, at least so far as I've been able to tell, books where the heroine is a were are still fairly few and far between. I must admit that to date, my experience with these books has been less than positive.
However, many kudos to Kittredge for an urban fantasy where the heroine is not only a were, she's also suitably badassed and doesn't angst overmuch about the traumatic situation that made her a were in the first place. I mean, I'm pretty lenient with my fantasy novel tropes in general, but few things will put me off faster than a whiny werewolf. ;)
So yeah. Nifty badassed heroine, who at the same time doesn't go overboard with the attitude either. And! She's got a love interest who's also a were, and in fact about on par with the heroine in general badassitude. This was extremely refreshing. Luna and Dmitri felt like equals in a way I've gotten very seldom out of a lot of urban fantasy these days, and I really appreciated that. I equally appreciated that neither the sex nor the violence were over the top; all of the scenes involving either had a purpose and flowed naturally along as part of the plot. (Note: the one sex scene between Luna and Dmitri? That, ladies and gentlemen, is how a sex scene involving weres is done. Whuff.)
Plot-wise, we got your basic series of ritual murders in a fictional city. Heroine Luna is a cop, facing prejudice on the force not only because she's a woman, but also because she's prone to turn furry and pissed off every so often. That one of the victims is a were leads Luna to initially suspect Dmitri--but soon enough they're having to team up against bad guys far more hardcore than either of them were prepared for. Very fun all around.
And also: bonus points for a Ukrainian werewolf hero named Dmitri. Because whuff. Four stars.
