From the Bookshelf of Q&A with Josh Lanyon…

Prey (Infected, #1)

Andrea Speed

Start date: April 1, 2013

Finish date: April 30, 2013

Discussion: Book of the Month Club

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What Members Thought

Jul 28, 2010 Tara rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-in-2010, m-m, weres-and-shifters, featured, detectives-private-investigators, top-tbr-16

I keep trying to start this review and I can't because I really loved this book. In the world of this story there is a virus- which is spread similarly to AIDS- and when you catch it, you shift in to one of four things: lion, tiger, panther, leopard. But it's not like other shifter stories. It's a virus so the transformations are not quick or painless and it manifests in a cycle. Roan McKichan and Paris Lehane are the main characters and the story is told mostly from their POV. Well, stories. Be ...more

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Nov 14, 2010 Justacat rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: re-read, m-m

This is a tough one for me to rate. As other reviewers have said, the urban fantasy world building is first rate. The author has created a rich, complex, fully thought out and imagined, and unique world, and she has the skill to thoroughly immerse you in it. Her characters are similarly well developed, complex and compelling, particularly the primary protagonist, Roan, and his partner Paris. Roan in particular is flawed and damaged and utterly aggravating at times, and yet once again the author This is a tough one for me to rate. As other reviewers have said, the urban fantasy world building is first rate. The author has created a rich, complex, fully thought out and imagined, and unique world, and she has the skill to thoroughly immerse you in it. Her characters are similarly well developed, complex and compelling, particularly the primary protagonist, Roan, and his partner Paris. Roan in particular is flawed and damaged and utterly aggravating at times, and yet once again the author has the skill to write him in such a way that you find yourself drawn to him, loving him. The relationship between the two is understated in some ways - no explicit sex, which, while I have nothing against smut and in fact love it on the relatively rare occasions that it's done well, I nonetheless have to admit I find something of a relief after reading book after book in which I find myself skimming monotonous, unnecessary sex scenes - and no explicit declarations - but as another reviewer noted, their affection for each other is obvious nonetheless (again a testament to the author's skill; she shows us the characters' feelings, no statements required), and the scenes between the two of them are wonderful.

The writing is, for the most part, a joy to read. It's the kind of writing I love - complex, correct, smart. It's a little dense at times, but density in this author's hands didn't bother me; there were only a very few occasions I felt it went a little overboard. There are not-infrequent long tracts of internal thought; though often I find these unbelievably annoying and an indication that an author doesn't know how to "show" and has to "tell," that was not the case here. However, while not knowing how is clearly not this author's issue, telling too much is still something to watch out for as an editing issue: I was struck by some scenes toward the end of the second half of the book that were described after the fact in thought/narrative in a way that left me feeling cheated; those scenes felt important enough to need to be written out, for readers to see unfold as they happened rather than hearing about afterwards.

These are relatively minor criticisms, though; I seldom encounter writing that I enjoy so much. And overall, I found this book utterly compelling. It's one of the rare books that stayed in my head for quite a while after I finished it, that even colored my dreams. It got inside me.

My only hesitation about giving it five stars relates to the darkness of the ending. I wouldn't say it's depressing, but this is not an uplifting book. On the one hand, that's part of its effectiveness and fits with the story. On the other, though, I usually reserve five stars for books that I want to re-read over and over. I have a little trepidation about doing that with this one; knowing I'm going to finish a book in near-tears, or feeling like I'll need to immediately seek out something else to read to enable me to escape from the dark feelings it has left me with, is a bit of a deterrent when it comes to re-reading.

Nonetheless, I feel the book deserves that rating for the way it got under my skin, and for the way the world and characters the author created now have a permanent place in my head right alongside so many others from the best fantasy books I've read throughout my life. And the fact that there is more to come - this is not the end, or anywhere near the end - somehow makes the darkness easier to bear. ...more

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Feb 18, 2012 K.Z. Snow added it

My first-ever shifter story (shh, don't tell anybody) and what a good one!

I'm maybe a third of the way through, and so far, my assessment seems to mirror that of Rachel Haimowitz, which is below. It would be a somewhat smoother read if the pronoun police had run through the streets of this book, breaking up the gangs of "hims," "hes," and "hises" with some antecedents, and if there were fewer textual speed bumps. (Too much tangential and irrelevant material has slowed me down -- e.g., an entire ...more

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Oct 18, 2011 Victoria rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: m-m, angels, m-m-paranormal, m-m-urban-fantasy, m-m-shape-shifter

Infected Prey is a well written urban fantasy/mystery, which takes a unique and intriguing view on shape shifters. Roan and Paris were great together, as lovers and as partners. Despite how long it took me to finish it, I really enjoyed it.

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Nov 10, 2012 Kira rated it liked it · review of another edition

andrea speed is a great writer. the story is solidly written. that being said these characters just depressed the hell out of me. i don't think i'll read any more of this series. ...more

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