Guest Review: Rogue

Rogue (Shifters 2)
- Rachel Vincent

Publisher: MIRA

Okay, so cats don't always land on their feet.
I know that better than most. Since rejoining the Pride, I've made big decisions and even bigger mistakes: the kind paid for with innocent lives. As the first and only female enforcer, I have plenty to prove to my father, the Pride, and myself. And with murdered toms turning up in our territory, I'm working harder than ever, though I always find the energy for a little after-hours recreation with Marc, my partner both on- and off-duty.
But not all of my mistakes are behind me. We're beginning to suspect that the dead are connected to a rash of missing human women and that they can all be laid at my feet--two or four, take your pick. And one horrible indiscretion may yet cost me more than I can bear...

My book world would be severely limited without Mel to direct me, and the Faythe Sanders UF series is a perfect example of this. Basically, Mel handed be the first book and said ‘read it,’ then, a few weeks ago, she handed me the second book and said ‘review it.’ And here I am! Oh, it’s a hard life….

This series, by Rachel Vincent, stars the werecat Faythe Sanders, who is the only daughter of the Pride leader, and a rare commodity. Without giving too much away for those who have not read the first instalment in this series – Stray – this novel deals with the repercussions of Faythe’s decision to come home and work for her father, and her relationship with fellow werecat, and Pride enforcer, Marc. That storyline, however, is secondary to that of the murdered werecats being dumped in Pride territory. All murdered without defensive wounds, and all with the same smell on their bodies. Who could take out a healthy werecat without recompense? Why dump them where they’d cause trouble? And what has any of this to do with Faythe’s very human, very ex college boyfriend?

The Faythe Sanders series works because, well, Faythe is a bit of a pain in the arse! Whilst I do love a book where I totally empathise with the lead character, it is refreshing to find one where the opposite is often true. Yes, I definitely chafe along with Faythe (oops, no rhyme intended!) at the limited world she is expected to experience, and in fact, revel in, I wonder at her often self-centered, stubborn, patronising way, and her reluctance to confront her own mistakes. However, before I have you turning away from Faythe (oooo, bad pun now!), these character flaws allow you to really enjoy her growth. By the end of Rogue she is definitely not the finished article, but nor is she the girl she started as, and I for one am looking forward to seeing her develop more in the later novels.

Faythe aside, the family dynamics in Rogue are wonderfully rich and humorous, and the action and suspense well-crafted and well-executed. This is not a perfect series thus far, but I can only see it improving. 

One for fans of Chloe Neill and Karen MacInerney, 7.5 out of 10.