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Ever since Leigh Tyler lost her entire family to a vicious attack by werewolves, she's on a mission to rid the world of them. At the insistence of her mentor Mandenauer, head of Jäger-Sucher, the elite agency devoted to the cause of eradicating werewolves, she comes to Crow valley to train their newest recruit, Jessie McQuade, whom readers met in the first book of this series, 'Blue Moon'. With their take-charge attitude and mile-wide independent streaks, the two women are constantly at loggerheads and this makes their working together an altogether uneasy task.
Trouble is, someone else is doing their job for them and killing the werewolves and they have no idea who. In her quest for truth, Leigh encounters itinerant and secretive bartender Damien Fitzgerald and sparks fly between them. Having lost her capacity to love a long time ago, Leigh refuses to acknowledge how deep their mutual feelings are until it's almost too late. But there is far worse trouble brewing, the end-of-the-world kind and Leigh is somehow at its very heart. Together she and Damien have to not only face their worst fears but overcome them as well ... question is, will they make it out alive?
In the first book of this series, Lori Handeland introduced readers to the elite Jäger-Sucher unit. In this book, she takes us deeper into both the unit as well into the lives of its dedicated members, particularly Leigh Tyler. The book feels a bit darker than the previous because of central character Leigh's emotional trauma and the reckless, single-minded way she's taken to eradicating werewolves in a quest to repent and revenge the tragedy which left her without family. Damien is an unpredictable factor in the story, one whose motives aren't clear until the very intriguing end, and as such he contributes greatly to the overall tension.
The fiery passion and deep mistrust between the lead characters, the tempestuous nature of relationship between Jessie and Leigh, and the growing tumultuous supernatural events ensure there is never a dearth of excitement in the book and the pace never lags. The ending, while a bit gory and violent, is most satisfying. All together, there can be no hesitation in saying that Handeland has more than proved herself an worthy author in the increasingly popular world of paranormal romance with these slick and highly engrossing tales and has become an author whose works will always be greatly anticipated.
Reviewed by Rashmi Srinivas
for The Road to Romance
February 7, 2005
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