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rebeccazh's review against another edition
Reread July 2017: Well, I guess this just goes to show how much I've changed because I enjoyed this a lot. Way more than what I remember of this book. I love DJ and Echo's relationship, and I loved the sensitive portrayal of PTSD/trauma/combat stress. I LOVE DJ. Loved how werewolves are portrayed. What a great book.
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well-written, enjoyable romance
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well-written, enjoyable romance
thistlechaser's review against another edition
2.0
This was an odd book. I had no idea it was book two of a trilogy, but that didn't cause any issues in reading. This story was about a marine who was also a werewolf. He got caught by Evil US Government Group and blackmailed into becoming an assassin for them. He also fell in love with Other Assassin.
Good points: I enjoyed all the werewolf-y stuff and the worldbuilding around that. All except the fact that every werewolf gets some superpower for some reason. It could be good, like super strength, or it could be bad like setting yourself on fire. Interesting, but I have no idea why a werewolf would automatically get a superpower.
Bad: Kind of everything else. The Evil US Government Group was over the top and silly. Other Assassin/Love Interest didn't work for me (mega powerful woman).
I couldn't even figure out what kind of book this was -- romance? urban fantasy? DNF
Good points: I enjoyed all the werewolf-y stuff and the worldbuilding around that. All except the fact that every werewolf gets some superpower for some reason. It could be good, like super strength, or it could be bad like setting yourself on fire. Interesting, but I have no idea why a werewolf would automatically get a superpower.
Bad: Kind of everything else. The Evil US Government Group was over the top and silly. Other Assassin/Love Interest didn't work for me (mega powerful woman).
I couldn't even figure out what kind of book this was -- romance? urban fantasy? DNF
egelantier's review against another edition
4.0
finally here, and it so didn't disappoint. even more h/c tropes than in the first book, starting with 'experiments by evil scientists in an evil government lab' and going up from here, two unlikely partners finding companionship and comfort and each other, a lot of nicely understated spine-crawling creepiness in the setting, and a strong accent on kindness and decency blooming in the most uninspiring circumstances ever. i loved dj torres, who's competent, strong without being in-your-face macho about it, charming like a hurricane in a very miles vorkosigan way, and determined without being obsessed; and i loved echo, the created-for-assassination clone, who loved her surviving sister and grieved for her dead ones, clung to her identity even while trying to deny having feelings at all, and found it in herself to be - well, good - when there was a slightest possibility for it. the book was more action/adventure with secondary romance plot than other way around, but the romance just fit, and was more about two people learning to love each other as people, not just about physical chemistry.
it's a first book in a projected trilogy, and i can't wait for the next one.
it's a first book in a projected trilogy, and i can't wait for the next one.
bananatricky's review against another edition
3.0
This would have been a four star review if I had known in advance that this was part 1 of an on-going story which ends without resolution.
Having said that, it's really my only criticism. DJ is an awesome guy. Echo is a superwoman and they like each other before anything else - I know freaky right? I mean werewolves don't do that do they? They are all about mate bonds and instalove.
So, having turned his fellow marine Roy in order to save his life after they are shot down in Afghanistan, DJ finds himself locked up in a top secret military facility which experiments on/with werewolves. Echo is the top secret facility's assassin, kept in check by threats to her sister.
This book is all about laying the foundations of the story, background for DJ and Echo - I like that it's a slow burn and that DJ and Echo are both easy to like - just wish I had known this wasn't a stand-alone book.
About to buy the next one.
Having said that, it's really my only criticism. DJ is an awesome guy. Echo is a superwoman and they like each other before anything else - I know freaky right? I mean werewolves don't do that do they? They are all about mate bonds and instalove.
So, having turned his fellow marine Roy in order to save his life after they are shot down in Afghanistan, DJ finds himself locked up in a top secret military facility which experiments on/with werewolves. Echo is the top secret facility's assassin, kept in check by threats to her sister.
This book is all about laying the foundations of the story, background for DJ and Echo - I like that it's a slow burn and that DJ and Echo are both easy to like - just wish I had known this wasn't a stand-alone book.
About to buy the next one.
tui_reads's review against another edition
3.0
Yeah, this was interesting. I feel like structurally it's about 1/3rd of a romance novel (I was pretty surprised when I got to the end, and I don't think it's very long). Not a super gooey cliché romance (not that there's anything wrong with that!) but a book where the romance is clearly the most important thing that's going on. Pretty well-written but not specially written, the plot isn't doing anything unusual, etc. But what *was* really unusual was the obviously thoughtful way PTSD and psychological trauma and relationships were handled, and that was really interesting and well worth the price of admission. Not a challenging read and it didn't make my earth move, but a fun and thoughtful one.
bethmitcham's review
4.0
I think Silver's wrong -- this one should definitely be read before Laura's Wolf, but both are fun romances with lots of action going on around the relationship.
aimee70807's review
5.0
I have a love/hate relationship with werewolf books. So many of them use endless sex scenes to make up for the fact that there's no plot, character development, or world-building. But I keep reading, because now and then I stumble across a gem like this.
Prisoner is a companion book to Laura's Wolf, which I also thoroughly enjoyed. With some of the same themes (PTSD and the war in Afghanistan), Prisoner also expands the world-building out to follow a born wolf who has a very severe form of dyslexia. Once again, the author's experience as a therapist makes the difficulties our hero goes through realistic and believable, but the real reason I loved the book was the characters.
Prisoner is told from two points of view, which I usually hate but which worked well here since I loved both the hero and the heroine. The latter isn't a werewolf, and we meet her when she's forced to assassinate a supposed terrorist. Echo is definitely the spunky heroine I'm always looking for, tough on the outside but who will do anything to protect her romance-novel-reading sister.
There are lots of little funny bits, plenty of relatively non-gory action, and one love scene near the end. I read the whole thing with a little smile on my lips, which makes it definitely a five-star book. As the author explained, "It's a full-length novel, but the first of three books in a mini-series, 'Echo's Wolf.' It has a happily-for-now ending. The third book will have the happily-ever-after."
Highly recommended for those of you who enjoy werewolf fantasy with a hint or romance (rather than werewolf romance with a hint of fantasy).
Prisoner is a companion book to Laura's Wolf, which I also thoroughly enjoyed. With some of the same themes (PTSD and the war in Afghanistan), Prisoner also expands the world-building out to follow a born wolf who has a very severe form of dyslexia. Once again, the author's experience as a therapist makes the difficulties our hero goes through realistic and believable, but the real reason I loved the book was the characters.
Prisoner is told from two points of view, which I usually hate but which worked well here since I loved both the hero and the heroine. The latter isn't a werewolf, and we meet her when she's forced to assassinate a supposed terrorist. Echo is definitely the spunky heroine I'm always looking for, tough on the outside but who will do anything to protect her romance-novel-reading sister.
There are lots of little funny bits, plenty of relatively non-gory action, and one love scene near the end. I read the whole thing with a little smile on my lips, which makes it definitely a five-star book. As the author explained, "It's a full-length novel, but the first of three books in a mini-series, 'Echo's Wolf.' It has a happily-for-now ending. The third book will have the happily-ever-after."
Highly recommended for those of you who enjoy werewolf fantasy with a hint or romance (rather than werewolf romance with a hint of fantasy).
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