Tuesday 30 June 2009

Prey by Rachel Vincent

"Sometimes playing cat and mouse is no game…

Play? Right. My Pride is under fire from all sides, my father's authority is in question and my lover is in exile. Which means I haven't laid eyes on Marc's gorgeous face in months. And with a new mother and an I-know-everything teenager under my protection, I don't exactly have time to fantasize about ever seeing him again.

Then our long-awaited reunion is ruined by a vicious ambush by strays. Now our group is under attack, Marc is missing and I will need every bit of skill and smarts to keep my family from being torn apart. Forever."


The writing of the Shifters series has improved with every book. It's grown up along side Faythe, and Prey is the very best so far. Not only within the series, but it's one of the best books I've read so far this year.

Faythe is well out of her comfort zone here, without the ever present support of her lover Marc, she is forced to be the strong one and lead the hunt for him. Knowing all along that they're more likely to find a body. She's got to deal with Manx's trial, a rebellious teen tabby, Kaci, who refuses to shift and her Pride in on the verge of war with several others.

One of the greatest aspects of the Shifters series is that the characters are far from perfect, making them easy to relate to. And no matter how much the characters grow and change in to the people they're becoming, they still have flaws. They're still real. Faythe shows a great deal of maturity throughout Prey, truly showing us the extent of her potential for the first time. But it doesn't stop her from making mistakes. The one character who arguably shows more development than Faythe in this, is Jace, which came as a bit of a surprise, but a very welcome one.

Prey is heartbreaking in places, and I'm sure there are many, many people none to happy about certain aspects, but everything has it's place and reason. It pulls no punches and is all the better for it. The plot is tight, with the subplots carefully weaved in to create a pretty prefect balance. There is no filler here. There are plenty of twists and turns, catching you by surprise on more than one occasion. It left me completely emotionally drained, I think I spent the last quarter of the book in floods of tears, it was intense and un-put-downable and still I just wanted more.

Rachel stated that Prey 'would change everything' and it certainly has. I think just about anything can happen now in book 5, Shift, and I can't wait to see what that is! 10/10

No comments: