Bea Reviews Cold Run by Rachel Brune

Publisher: Untold Press
Format Read: Kindle book 
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: August 2, 2014
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository*  | Barnes & Noble |
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Blurb from goodreads:

It is amazing how quickly a phone call can interrupt your life, even when you're a werewolf. Rick Keller hangs up from the unwanted call, but the shadowy organization he once belonged to doesn't take such an answer lightly. Waking up collared and caged by MONIKER is a quick way to learn retirement isn't always permanent. Death will be if he doesn't accept their assignment.

Keller and his new team follow a group of human traffickers on a thin trail across the globe. Their only hope is in a man who hasn't had much practice being a werewolf in a really long time, a sadistic agent who loves making dog jokes, and a beautiful operative who is better with guns than relationships.
If being forced back into service wasn't bad enough, he quickly discovers they have many new experiments to try out on their pet wolf. Even worse, MONIKER now isn't the only one who knows his secret.

Hopefully an old dog can learn some new tricks, especially if he wants to stay alive.

Bea's Thoughts:

I love mysteries - straight up mysteries, cozy mysteries, romantic mysteries, and urban fantasies with mysteries. I also enjoy thrillers and action adventure books. And werewolves; give me a werewolf any day. Between the blurb and the cover (hello, good looking shirtless guy!), I was sold.

Keller is a lone werewolf who is retired from spy work. When he's kidnapped and forced back into the work, he resists but then finds himself sucked back in. He's assigned to a handler, Tell, who is an all-around scumbag and a**hole. Then there's Karen, the other member of their team and the granddaughter of a woman that Keller once loved. Keller himself is something of an a**hole but recognizes that and has moments of compassion.

We don't actually learn about much about werewolves in this world though we get some hints towards the end of the story. Since I love werewolves so much, that was a disappointment for me. There were some humorous moments where Keller strolls into a room naked after a change from wolf to human but the overall tone of the book is dark. There's torture, killing, girls and women sold as sex slaves, and unethical experimentation. This is not a light and happy urban fantasy.

The story rambles for a bit, especially around the middle, but mostly there's a lot of action with a mix of the predictable and some surprises. I liked that, with one or two exceptions, the characters are gray, not all good or all bad, but a believable mix. I hope that there's a second book that expands on the world building as it was light in this one. It took me a while to get into the story, and then it slowed down a bit but once the action picked up it didn't stop.

"Cold Run" is a solid mix of thriller and dark urban fantasy that will keep you reading to see how events play out.