Fair Game: An Alpha & Omega Novel (Book 3) by Patricia Briggs

Fair Games by Patricia Briggs

Completion Date: March 2, 2012
Reason for Reading: Carry on with the series.

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...

I did not do Friday Reads yesterday because the mail came and my calculations had deduced this book would be with it. I have been waiting since 2009 for another book in this series; so I was pretty excited when it was finally in my hands. Any and all plans went out the window yesterday as I immediately tore the package open and dove into this book. The thing is, I could have easily finished this book in one sitting, but I kept putting it down yesterday.  I knew I was going to read it way too fast and then regret it because no idea when there will be another book in the series and there is no book out in the Mercy Thompson series this year. So, I read it in starts and stops yesterday, but I still finished it in the end. Now I have a long wait ahead of me.

This series is starting to pick-up for me more now. I have always found it wasn't quite as good at the Mercy Thompson series. I just like Mercy, Samuel, and Adam better and find myself more engaged in their story. I think part of it is the fact that with Mercy you have to work your way up to everything, but this series all happened really fast. In the latest in the Mercy series things that have been on-going for a while all come together, so I found myself very engaged in the story and its outcome. Charles and Anna are just very different. Their story is more about the rights of werewolves and how hard it has been for them since they came out to the humans. That being said, Charles and Anna are starting to grow on me. I found myself very caught-up in this story and watching it all play out. That could partly be because I have been waiting 3 years to find out exactly what happens next. This book actually takes place very soon after the events in River Marked because when Adam makes a brief appearance Mercy is still recovering.

The one thing I have always appreciated about this series is that while it is about werewolves, it can easily be imagined for sub-groups of human culture. In this book they are discussing making werewolves classified as 'endangered species' because then they are animals instead of people. This will limit their rights. The fae have also 'came out' and they are forced to live on reservations. You can't help thinking about the treatment of people while you read this book. I enjoy that the book has far-reaching themes that are very easy to relate to. Then something bad happens and because it involves werewolves and Fae the wrong-doers are basically let off easy. We are talking rape and torture, but it was rape and torture to a Fae. It really illustrates how not everyone is equal no matter what the law says. And, it leads to one of my favourite scenes in the book. We get a taste of the Fae that I found captivating and could easily picture in my mind. It should also mean even more interesting events in the future.

It is hard to talk about this book without spoiling anything for either the series or this individual book, so I am just going to stop trying and say how much I am looking forward to the next book in the series. Patricia Briggs is an awesome author. I look forward to more from her period!

Alpha & Omega Series:
Alpha and Omega - Short Story (review)
Cry Wolf (review)
Hunting Ground (review)
Fair Game