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rusereviews's review against another edition
5.0
After we learned about werewolf politics in the previous book, in Book #3 of the series our favorite werewolf couple are now diplomats in a case involving werewolves, humans, and fae.
kaitlynannmarie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
coreysees's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Lots of (off page) sexual violence. Mostly this serves to set up events in the Mercy Thompson series? Also Charlie's problems seem to get solved by a pep talk.
Also the narrator's weird pronunciation choices made me not realize who a character was until way later than I should have.
Also the narrator's weird pronunciation choices made me not realize who a character was until way later than I should have.
slayra's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
I started this series because I read in a review that this book is relevant to read before "Frost Burned" (Mercy Thompson #7). After finishing, I understand why it has important information towards the "Mercyverse, and the ending is the best part of the book as it shifts the overall tone of supernaturals vs humans. However, the story itself is probably the weakest in this series. The whole plot seems forced and there are so many hints to figure out the mysterious villain that it removed the fun part of figuring out "whodunnit" and made the characters seem dumb. I am also not convinced that the plot needed Leslie's background and gift magic to move forward.
In summary, not the strongest book of the series, but definitely a "must read" to keep up with the parallel Mercy Thompson series.
In summary, not the strongest book of the series, but definitely a "must read" to keep up with the parallel Mercy Thompson series.
thebigq's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The FBI and Charles working together is great, also seeing Anna be even more of a badass in super traumatic circumstances. Really enjoying this series more than I remembered from a read years ago.
mirrorstorm_'s review
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Rape
shdnx's review against another edition
4.0
Wow. I just finished this book and I'm trying to organize my thoughts for a proper review. I have to admit, the ending (world change) caught me very much off-guard, and I'm still trying to figure out what it means. It was an ingenious idea in terms of world-building and series-planning (there's so much potential in it that it makes me shiver).
The story
To be entirely honest, I haven't enjoyed the crime investigation type of story that much. It was good, but not too much so, and would only earn a weak 3 stars from me in itself.
I'm not too much into that genre (i.e. I don't usually read detective books), so I don't really have anything to compare it to; it's just that this type of book is not for me.
What interested me a whole lot more was Charles' conscience-problems, which leads us to the strongest aspect of the book (apart from the ending).
The characters
Charles' character I have always found fascinating. Fair Game finally explores the psychology of being a law-enforcing assassin. The plot felt absolutely right on this thread.
Last - but definitely not least - the romantic elements and the Anna-Charles relationship. It's important to note that this installment of the Alpha and Omega series is a lot more urban-fantasy, and a lot less romance than its predecessors. The reason behind this is trivial: there's only so much romance one can have a relationship without it becoming forced and/or clumsy. Anna and Charles have gone far in their relationship already, and it is slowing down as they begin to figure out how to live their lives together.
Truth be told, I liked this kind of romance much more than when it was in the "wild" phase during the previous books, but then again, I've never been much of a romantic guy.
Anna was seriously charming. I just had an embarrassing thought: she is exactly a kind of woman I can fall in love with. Uh oh.
While there weren't really any character development in store for her during this book, it is a clear demonstration as to how far she has gone since we had met her in Cry Wolf (or its prequel).
This brings a problem though, which the author won't get away with in her next Alpha and Omega novel (if there will be a next - I very much hope so): Anna is simply too perfect. As a general rule, perfect things don't make for good stories. It was okay for this one book (greatly because of it is so short), but it can become boring very quickly.
The numerous secondary characters were okay, but nothing special. None of them actually acquired any depth, but that is hardly surprising considering the length of the novel.
Summary
A must-read for all Mercedes Thompson/Alpha and Omega fans. Not an outstanding novel by any measures, but it's a fun, rather light and quick read. 4 stars for rating is just about right.
The story
To be entirely honest, I haven't enjoyed the crime investigation type of story that much. It was good, but not too much so, and would only earn a weak 3 stars from me in itself.
I'm not too much into that genre (i.e. I don't usually read detective books), so I don't really have anything to compare it to; it's just that this type of book is not for me.
What interested me a whole lot more was Charles' conscience-problems, which leads us to the strongest aspect of the book (apart from the ending).
The characters
Charles' character I have always found fascinating. Fair Game finally explores the psychology of being a law-enforcing assassin. The plot felt absolutely right on this thread.
Last - but definitely not least - the romantic elements and the Anna-Charles relationship. It's important to note that this installment of the Alpha and Omega series is a lot more urban-fantasy, and a lot less romance than its predecessors. The reason behind this is trivial: there's only so much romance one can have a relationship without it becoming forced and/or clumsy. Anna and Charles have gone far in their relationship already, and it is slowing down as they begin to figure out how to live their lives together.
Truth be told, I liked this kind of romance much more than when it was in the "wild" phase during the previous books, but then again, I've never been much of a romantic guy.
Anna was seriously charming. I just had an embarrassing thought: she is exactly a kind of woman I can fall in love with. Uh oh.
While there weren't really any character development in store for her during this book, it is a clear demonstration as to how far she has gone since we had met her in Cry Wolf (or its prequel).
This brings a problem though, which the author won't get away with in her next Alpha and Omega novel (if there will be a next - I very much hope so): Anna is simply too perfect. As a general rule, perfect things don't make for good stories. It was okay for this one book (greatly because of it is so short), but it can become boring very quickly.
The numerous secondary characters were okay, but nothing special. None of them actually acquired any depth, but that is hardly surprising considering the length of the novel.
Summary
A must-read for all Mercedes Thompson/Alpha and Omega fans. Not an outstanding novel by any measures, but it's a fun, rather light and quick read. 4 stars for rating is just about right.
cabbage_patch's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
jenagregoire's review against another edition
5.0
Have I ever mentioned the fact that I love serial killers?!?!?!? Ok, that may have come out wrong. I don’t want to send all your shrinks out there into a feeding frenzy. What I mean is that serial killers fascinate me. Not the gruesome end of it or anything like that. I am just blown away by the intricacies of their planning sometimes. That kind of planning and the reasons behind it combined take one EFFED UP brain and I just love it. Well, Fair Game gives you a taste of that mixed up with a little bit of the supernatural. Ok, more than a little bit but you know what I mean!
I had mentioned in my reviews of the preceding books in this series that when I went into the series, I expected a Mercy Thompson clone of a book. That’s definitely not what this series is at all but Fair Game kind of brought the very organic world of Anna and Charles into the edgy and somewhat gritty world that we readers are used to in the Mercy world. It was fun to see them step over that line. However, it was slightly out of place to see them there. We were also graced with the presence of the ever awesome Mr. Adam Hauptman in this book. It’s very brief but it is certainly classic Adam. Can not WAIT for the next Mercy!
As we all know, Patty Briggs is just fantastic with character development. Anna is so far from the woman that she was 3 books ago and that change in her is drastically spotlighted in this book. She’s put in a situation when she needs to really prove that she’s not broken anymore and I was just beaming with pride for her. Although it’s a horrible situation, it was definitely needed. As readers, we needed to see that she’s really there and whole.
Charles. Charles is such a fuddy duddy but I love him. He really is a great character and he’s going through some heavy stuff throughout this book that make you just want to reach in and give him a hug. It also kind of makes you want to reach in and smack the crap out of him because rather than leaning on his mate for strength (as he SHOULD be doing), he’s trying to hide it from her to protect her. Going back to what I said about Anna’s much needed moment to shine, this plays a HUGE factor in the situation with Charles. As much as he has vowed to protect her and that’s all sweet and whatever, it keeps him viewing her as a victim, even if he’s not doing it intentionally. Time to suck it up a bit and get over that or THAT will be the main focus of the next book. You’ll have to read Fair Game to find out what happens.
I got so into the serial killer case story in this book that I genuinely HATED The Big Bad by the end of the book. I happened to listen to this as an audio book and in the last 10 minutes, something happens that you so do NOT see coming that I got so blind-enraged-seeing-nothing-but-red pissed that I almost threw my iPod. No joke. Almost threw it. As much as that moment pissed me off, I left the book with a mixed feeling that could only be described as bitter satisfaction. It just didn’t feel quite……right.
Overall, I am giving this book 5 stars. I really thought that Hunting Game was going to be my favorite of this series but Fair Game brought in that edginess that made me love the Mercy series so much. It brought it up to the next level for this series and now I am really excited to see where their next book takes them.
I had mentioned in my reviews of the preceding books in this series that when I went into the series, I expected a Mercy Thompson clone of a book. That’s definitely not what this series is at all but Fair Game kind of brought the very organic world of Anna and Charles into the edgy and somewhat gritty world that we readers are used to in the Mercy world. It was fun to see them step over that line. However, it was slightly out of place to see them there. We were also graced with the presence of the ever awesome Mr. Adam Hauptman in this book. It’s very brief but it is certainly classic Adam. Can not WAIT for the next Mercy!
As we all know, Patty Briggs is just fantastic with character development. Anna is so far from the woman that she was 3 books ago and that change in her is drastically spotlighted in this book. She’s put in a situation when she needs to really prove that she’s not broken anymore and I was just beaming with pride for her. Although it’s a horrible situation, it was definitely needed. As readers, we needed to see that she’s really there and whole.
Charles. Charles is such a fuddy duddy but I love him. He really is a great character and he’s going through some heavy stuff throughout this book that make you just want to reach in and give him a hug. It also kind of makes you want to reach in and smack the crap out of him because rather than leaning on his mate for strength (as he SHOULD be doing), he’s trying to hide it from her to protect her. Going back to what I said about Anna’s much needed moment to shine, this plays a HUGE factor in the situation with Charles. As much as he has vowed to protect her and that’s all sweet and whatever, it keeps him viewing her as a victim, even if he’s not doing it intentionally. Time to suck it up a bit and get over that or THAT will be the main focus of the next book. You’ll have to read Fair Game to find out what happens.
I got so into the serial killer case story in this book that I genuinely HATED The Big Bad by the end of the book. I happened to listen to this as an audio book and in the last 10 minutes, something happens that you so do NOT see coming that I got so blind-enraged-seeing-nothing-but-red pissed that I almost threw my iPod. No joke. Almost threw it. As much as that moment pissed me off, I left the book with a mixed feeling that could only be described as bitter satisfaction. It just didn’t feel quite……right.
Overall, I am giving this book 5 stars. I really thought that Hunting Game was going to be my favorite of this series but Fair Game brought in that edginess that made me love the Mercy series so much. It brought it up to the next level for this series and now I am really excited to see where their next book takes them.
ladymipo's review against another edition
5.0
It was a really good book. I love the characters and it left me wanting more.. :D