Review of Alpha and Omega: Cry Wolf Vol.1

Publisher: InkLit
Writers: Patricia Briggs, David Lawrence
Illustrators: Todd Herman, Jenny Frison
Series: Alpha and Omega: Cry Wolf
Release Date: October 2, 2012
Buying Links:  Penguin US **As of when I wrote this post none of the major book vendors had updated their information to reflect this new edition.


Book Blurb (from goodreads):

The long-awaited collection-the first four issues of the graphic novel adaptation of the #1 "New York Times" bestselling author's novel "Cry Wolf".

"Cry Wolf" is Patricia Briggs' "New York Times" bestselling novel about the werewolves Charles Cornick and Anna Latham. Now, these characters come alive in full-color graphic novels. 

Anne never knew werewolves existed, until the night she survived a violent attack...and became one herself. After three years at the bottom of the pack she's learned to keep her head down and never, ever trust dominant males. 

Then Charles Cornick-the son of the leader of the North American werewolves-came into her life. He insists that not only is Anne his mate, but she is also a rare and valued Omega wolf. And Anna may be the key to stopping a rogue werewolf that threatens the entire pack.

This is a re-issue of Ace's compilation of the Dynamite Entertainment Cry Wolf graphic series. It contains new artwork and a never-before published version of issue #1. It is NOT identical to the Ace edition though it does have the same ISBN.

Reviewed By: Bea

Bea's Thoughts:

I love Anna and Charles' romance. From the novella that started it all to the newest book, Fair Game", I think they are a wonderful pair. When this series was first issued I waited too long and it sold out. Then I waited too long for the original compilation. But now, now I have it!

Briggs was involved with adapting the story and, while necessarily condensed due to the different format, it's well done, with nothing crucial missing, and some of my favorite lines and scenes remained intact. The story flows and makes sense, though if this is your introduction to the series, there might be some mild confusion.

The artwork, I'm not so in love with. Mostly, it has to do with how the characters look. Sam and Charles fit the descriptions given in the original books AND they pretty well match my mental images of them. Bran, in my opinion, does not match. He is repeatedly described as slender, pleasant looking, and nondescript in the books but here he's muscled, and gives off a bad ass vibe. Anna fits the book description but I think I've been strongly influenced by the book covers; she looks different from those and to my mind, looks wrong. Obviously, that and the others are a matter of personal taste and your opinion may vary wildly. Additionally, some of the facial expressions on Anna and Charles are just plain weird. As far as supporting the text and working with it to tell the story, the art does that very well.

In all, it's a well done adaptation and I'm looking forward to the second volume.

I received this hardcover from the publisher.

GIVEAWAY! Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs and Some Alpha & Omega news

Silver Borne is book five in the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs, and was released in 2010. There's no particular occasion for the giveaway, it's random. :D A friend of mine messaged me on facebook, said she had an extra copy of Silver Borne, hardcover, in brand new condition, did I want to give it away? Well of course, I said yes! The book is in her possession so she will mail the book out to the winner.

Enter using the rafflecopter below. If you haven't started this series yet, but are interested, the series is best read in order. Please read my Giveaway Policy.

Good luck!

I almost forgot the news about Alpha & Omega. A few years ago, Dynamite Entertainment did an 8 issue graphic novel adaptation of Cry Wolf, the first full-length book in the Alpha & Omega series. Well, they are being re-issued, in compilation form, by InkLit, Berkley Publishing's new graphic novel imprint; the first one is out October 2nd. More info is available here.

Cover Reveals! D.B. Reynolds and Patricia Briggs

Two hot new book covers were officially released this week, both by authors who are among my favorites. PNR author D.B. Reynolds has a novella releasing next week, "Betrayed", set in her Vampires in America world. "Betrayed" is a Cyn and Raphael story. D.B. commented in her blog post about the cover, "Plus, you can’t see it here, ‘cuz I don’t have the hi rez image yet, but Raphael’s eyes are black with a silver spark. So pretty." I'm looking forward to seeing those silver eyes!

Click on the covers for the goodreads synopsis.

The other new cover is "Frost Burned", the next Mercy Thompson book from Patricia Briggs. Sadly, it's not out until March 2013. That is a long time to wait. :( The cover was unofficially released by a European blog a few weeks but it's now official. Once again, it's by Daniel Dos Santos, who does amazing work.

Gorgeous covers, wonderful authors, good stories....I'm ready to read them NOW!

Patty Briggs Signing

I was ecstatic when I found out that Patty was coming to Cambridge MA for a book signing. I've met Patty before, on several occasions but the last time I saw her was a year and a half ago. Today was the perfect day for me to go too as it's my short day at school, so I didn't have to take any time off to attend.

It was, to me anyway, a small turnout, maybe 20-25 people. Patty started by reading the prologue from "Fair Game", then spent about 30 minutes answering questions. Some highlights:

• There's not a definite date, but she's working on an anthology of short stories set in Mercy's world. It'll be a mix of previously published stories (Star of David; Seeing Eye; In Red, With Pearls, etc) and new stories. Possible new stories include one from Bran's perspective, one with Sam, and one with the teen werewolf Kara. Patty is hoping that it will be out before the next Mercy book in March 2013 but there's nothing set in stone yet.
• Someone asked if there will be a book with both Anna and Mercy. The answer was no, but maybe a short story. 
• Someone else asked if Patty will ever return to any of her traditional fantasy series. The answer - yes. No definite date; Patty said there will be a third Hurog book, another Hob book, and another Raven book, but for now she's content to keep writing urban fantasy. When she needs a break, she'll switch over the traditional fantasy, and then go back to the urban fantasy. 
• Fair Game is the last definite Alpha & Omega book that she's contracted for BUT she's under contract for one more book set in that world so it could be an A&O book, a Mercy book, or maybe one using a secondary character from one or both series. It won't, however, be Bran. Patty would prefer to keep him mysterious. :)

As I was getting my pic taken with Patty, I had a pleasant surprise - author PJ Schnyder was also in the audience. She took some pix too but I don't have those yet. The person waiting in line behind me took this one.

 You'll see that Patty has a large selection of pens. Some she brought with her, some the Harvard Co-op (they sponsored the signing) provided. Patty likes to give people the option of what color pen to get their books signed with. I chose purple. :)

It was great to see Patty again, I passed on messages to her from people on her board, and I had a brief chat with her before she had to leave. It was also nice seeing PJ. I had the chance to meet her last year when she was in Boston for her day job. I had a fun evening, and it was well worth the trip into Boston.

Tomorrow night I'm headed to Belmont, just outside of Boston, for a reading and signing with YA author Mike Mullin. We chat on Twitter, and I'm really looking forward to meeting him in person. I'll post about that too.

Dusty Reads #8

Dusty Reads is a weekly meme hosted by Giselle at Xpresso Reads where we spotlight a book sitting in our TBR pile. My TBR breeds when I'm not looking, I swear. Ok, I add to it, I confess. I just can't resist. Between ebooks (darn those kindle freebies, lol)  and print books, I have somewhere around four hundred that I haven't yet read. Eeep. And yet, I keep buying and borrowing books. And occasionally, winning them. :)

Wolfsbane by Patricia Briggs (Masques #2, Sianim #6) Release Date: Nov. 2nd, 2010

I've read the original version of Masques and own the revised version, but haven't read it yet. Since I'm not sure what changes she made in the revised version, I don't want to read the sequel until I read the first one. I don't do a lot of traditional high fantasy these days, but I liked the first Masques and I like Patty's writing so I had no hesitations about picking this up. I've skimmed it, but haven't yet sat down and read it all the way through. Soon, my precious, soon. :)

Review of Fair Game by Patricia Briggs & A Giveaway

Publisher: Ace
Release Date: March 6, 2012
Series: Alpha & Omega #3
Buying Links: The Book Depository
 Amazon


Book Blurb (from Amazon):

Patricia Briggs, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Mercy Thompson novels, "always enchants her readers." (Lynn Viehl, New York Times bestselling author) Now her Alpha and Omega series-set in a world of shifting shapes, loyalty, and passion- brings werewolves out of the darkness and into a society where fear and prejudice could make the hunters prey... 

They say opposites attract. And in the case of werewolves Anna Latham and Charles Cornick, they mate. The son-and enforcer-of the leader of the North American werewolves, Charles is a dominant alpha. While Anna, an omega, has the rare ability to calm others of her kind.

Now that the werewolves have revealed themselves to humans, they can't afford any bad publicity. Infractions that could have been overlooked in the past must now be punished, and the strain of doing his father's dirty work is taking a toll on Charles.

Nevertheless, Charles and Anna are sent to Boston, when the FBI requests the pack's help on a local serial killer case. They quickly realize that not only the last two victims were werewolves-all of them were. Someone is targeting their kind. And now Anna and Charles have put themselves right in the killer's sights...

Reviewed By: Bea

Teaser:

"Me," Charles said, his voice dark and gravelly as if it had traveled up from the bottom of the earth, his eyes a bright gold. "You need me." 

He kissed her again, his hands roaming from her jaw down her neck and shoulders. His hips pressed forward, and he released her mouth as he slid his body up until his sex pressed, hard and full, against hers. She jerked involuntarily, and he laughed in the same deep way that he had spoken. She growled at him, wolf to wolf.  

My Thoughts:

Awesome. Buy NOW!!

I love Patty's urban fantasy books. Her Mercy Thompson series is one of my favorites and when she started this spin-off I was very excited. It's a paranormal romance and Anna and Charles' romance is both sweet and hot, especially in this book! I was uber-excited to be sent a copy for review, but also hesitant because I love this series so much. What if I didn't love the book and couldn't give it a glowing review? I love the series so much it would have hurt to not be able to give it a great review. Happily, that was not a problem. 

"Fair Game" has it all - romance, action, character development (I wanted to smack Bran!), humor, a solid mystery, and some Boston flavor. I have really enjoyed watching Anna grow and watching the relationship between her and Charles. They have come a long way. Their romance, and the time spent in the world that Patty has created, are the reasons that I read this series. There's a lot of twists and turns, and the ending...OMG. I can not wait to see how that plays out. I wouldn't change a thing.This is an excellent book, you need to read it. But, do it when you have time. I picked it up late at night and ended up reading straight through until 5AM. Worth. Every. Minute. 

Some favorite quotes:

Anna Shrugged. "...Drugging or incapacitating one of us for long without killing us is extremely difficult." "Holy water," said Pat the former FBI agent and now Cantrip agent. Anna didn't roll her eyes but she let Charles feel her exasperation. "I could drink it every day for a week-and do it while living in the Sistine Chapel."

The name on the collar he wore was Brother Wolf. Bran had disapproved. He liked the names to be less truthful, more friendly and cute. Unusually, Charles's brother had told her, Charles had held out until his father gave in.

He'd heard Anna approach, felt the slight sway of the boat. It had been easier to be with her when he was in wolf form. Brother Wolf was not torn; he knew that they could protect her from anything-but his wolf was like that: confident. Charles was not so sanguine.

I received a hardcover from the publisher for review.

***********************************************************

Thanks to ACE Books, I have one signed copy of the anthology, "On the Prowl", which contains the short story, "Alpha and Omega", that started this series. 

To enter, use the Rafflecopter widget below.