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GROUP READ OF THE MONTH--ARCHIVE
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Cry Wolf - Chapters 9-15 - August's Group Read
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I finished the book already. What a great book. I really love Patricia Brigg's writing. I don't know if I like this series better than Mercy like some have said, but I definitely enjoyed this story.Anyone else ready to talk about the book?
Iam. Ithink my reason for liking this series a tab bit better than Mercy is because Cry Wolf focuses more on the wolves and their world. I'm becoming a big fan of the wolves as protagonists but I can't seem to find any good books. I disgress. I like Cry Wolf alot it was a great read and I think the building of Charles and Anna's relationship was great. I also liked finding out more about Bran and his past and why his married his current wife , Leah. I remember their relationship being hinted at in Mercy but to get learn about why from Bran's POV was interesting.
I think so too, Jael. I like the wolf focus (and the wolves are quite realistic too) in Cry Wolf. I also really liked learning about Bran, and it seemed almost as if Briggs was hinting that he would have his own drama soon. I hope we see him finding a good woman at least. I also thought the Berserker part was interesting too, with the "black rage" and all. The two legends kind of fit together for me because berserkers have been tied with warriors wearing wolfskins, etc.*SPOILERISH*
But she really had me biting my nails when Bran is affected by the witch too. She impresses you with the importance of the NA Alpha so well that you're horrified too.
Was I the only one who was somewhat confused by when/how the witch was destroyed? I found myself to be extremely disappointed with the resolution of this book. I think that the author does more resolution in her Mercy series.
I think the way the witch died showed how much the witch used/needed Sarai as her protector. All the witch's magic was tied up in her spell that bound Sarai's spirit to her. I was pretty happy that Anna was the one to do her in. It was good to see Anna working on the Omega thing and believing in herself as the Omega. I was all like "girl power rules" when Anna punched her. I think having Anna snap the witch's neck showed Charles that she understood his "job" as his father's assassin.
I was all choked up when she was crying because her father was there to walk her down the aisle. (I usually don't get like that, must be PMS).
I totally loved all the new info on Bran. I always think of him and Leah when they would talk about the Montana wolves in the Mercy books. I didn't get it before, so it's cool how Brigg's set that up. And for him to be the berserker and Samuel was with him! Cool back story there!
Any news on more of this series? What did you guys think of the excerpt of Bone Crossed?
Please post warnings if you are going to discuss the excerpt - I refuse to read excerpts of future books because I'm always impatient enough waiting for the next one.
*Ending Spoiler*Well, I thought the ending would be anticlimactic when she punched the witch, but then it turned out she was unconscious and when Anna actually hesitated, oh, I was shaking my head, sure that her hesitation would cost her. I think her struggle there was important to her character, since it's from the people around her that she draws strength (Omega, I guess). This time it was Walter.
When she turns around and finds Charles on the ground, I was all set to say "I knew it, her silly waffling did it!" Naturally Briggs does away with the predictable, lol. It's Bran who was always the real danger. I think while he still struggles with his nature, he'll continue to be a danger and that conflict has to be resolved... probably, lol. Maybe I just feel bad for the man, stuck in that horrible marriage.
/end spoiler
Unfortunately, no news on the next book. I'm really wondering where the story will go from here since the major conflict (Anna & Charles) has been resolved. I know Briggs never intended to do more than a short story way back when, so she's going to have to scrape her brain for this one, lol.
I just love PB's use of language - she so seemingly effortlessly and convincingly creates such a believable world - definitely at the top of her game
***Ending spoiler***I think Anna finally came to that good ole southern adage of "he needed killin" when she snapped the witch's neck. It really did bring it home for her that sometimes Charles' job was going to be necessary and help her come to terms with what he has to do. She didn't want to kill Mari, but she realized that it was the best thing for everyone (pack included). I thought this was a great conflict that really showed the character development of Anna.
As for where the story can go: now that Charles and Anna's relationship has been resolved maybe she'll focus on external issues ... an outsider coming in to try and take over, rogues, human or "other" beings causing trouble, etc.
I may have already recommended it, but if you really like the wolves try Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld series. The books "Bitten", "Broken" and "Stolen" especially focus on Elena (the only known female werewolf) and her pack, but they seem to show up somewhere in pretty much the whole series.
****** Spoilerish******I sort of figured that Anna would take thewitch down I was just shocked how she did it. I mean I loved how she just ran up and sucker punched her. It showed growth on her part since she always seemed to be cowering away from violence and than when she looked at wlaters dead body and reaalized that he died saving her and how much chaos the witch could cause to the people she was growing to trust and love. That realization and understanding of What Charles does really played a huge part in her snapping the witchs' neck. Anna and Charles will still need to grow as a couple and she'll defintely have to deal with her Omega status. Because like Anna , we as the readers still have to learn the powers of the Omega. From what I got Omegas have the power to calm a ravaging wolf which was one of the reason the Chicago Alpha kept Anna around to try and tame his crazy mate but I still think there's so much more to learn I wondering once this series takes off will there be a crossover between Mercy/A&C.
I wonder if Hussan/Asil, knowing that his Sarai is finally at rest, will he try to move on and if so I think he and Sage make a good couple.
I saw the Sage/Asil connection too. I'm thinking book 2 would be starring them.
Oh, Sage and Asil? Definitely, I was just waiting for them to hook up, lol. Haaaay. And Diana, I completely agree. Now that Anna's seen it firsthand, I think she'll understand the necessity of Charles' place better.
I think Anna understood why Charles has to kill for a good part of the book, but I think her killing the witch showed Charles and herself that she now accepts it. I think there is a little bit of similarity in this story and Bitten by Kelley Armstrong because you have a female werewolf that is, at the same time, trying to seperate herself from and learn to live within the violence and killing that is in the werewolf world. I'm just not sure if Anna will turn out to be as strong as Elena. I did like this book, but I don't think I liked it better than the Mercy series. The biggest problem for me was the different narrators, not because I didn't like hearing the different perspectives, but because it didn't really put my interest specifically on Anna and Charles. I really liked the parts when we were able to peek into Bran's world. I hope this series continues to expand on the werewolf pack as a whole while Mercy continues to focus mainly on her and her life.
I finished the book last night. I really like Anna and Charles as characters. Although, my favorite parts of the books were all Bran. Bran needs his own book now. He is my favorite character.I'd also enjoy reading a book about Asil (and Sage?). There is a lot of history there to unravel.
*Ending Spoiler*
NO!!! I loved Walter from the very beginning. I was so sad when he died. I suppose it would have been really difficult for him to become part of the pack since he'd been on his own for so long, but I loved his interaction with Anna and his protectiviness over her.
Maybe I missed something, but I never felt like Anna was all that bothered by Charles's job as pack enforcer. If anything, it seemed to me like it made her feel safer.
Theresa - I agree with you. I felt that Charles didn't believe that she understand. I think the ending proved to him that she did get it.
Theresa- Ithink Anna wasn't bothered by the fact but just coulnd't understand why Charles seemed to be feared by alot of people in the pact and how he could be His fathers enforcer but yet be the man who saved her and took her in. The man who made her feel safe but yet most shy away from in fear. She couldn't understand how he could be both and than when she killed the witch she understood that sometimes to protect the people you love you have to do things that you don't like. That's what I got from the book anyway.
*****Spoiler Discussing Bone Crossed Excert******Melissa- I loved the excert. I liked how Adam refused to give into Mercy and just told her all i need is a yes I don't need you to sleep with me.(God Adam is hot) Also the gun toting mom is hilarious. I can't wait to read the book seems like a vamp war is going to take place. I wonder if Stephen biting Adam will have any effect on him.
Eek, I haven't read Iron Kissed yet. :shuts eyes:Theresa, I loved Walter too. He was so sweet and devoted, but I guess he was too much a loner to blend into the pack, especially the way he had joined with the forest, etc.
But I did get the impression that Anna wasn't comfortable with Charles' job. Remember when she's thinking that she thought she had left the monsters behind in Chicago and she finds that they're in Montana too?
Ok, so I just finished the book, and thought I'd throw my two cents in...I really like Charles and Anna together, but I thought their sex scene was a little forced/awkward. She was so nervous around him all the time, but then suddenly she's jumping his bones? Briggs tried to justify it, but IMHO, I think the story may have been stronger if they'dve waited to get to know each other better.
Having not read Mercy's series (yet), Bran is a new character for me, and I really liked him. If he gets his own story, I'm in.
The ending was good, if a little predictable. I can't wait until we get back to a healed Charles though, because I felt bad for him being so wounded all the time. It made everything twice as hard.
I think the sex scene was plausible because it was their wolves that mated first. I went into that scene knowing that she had looked herself in the mirror and brought her wolf to the surface to protect her before she talked to Charles again. Because it was her wolf doing the thinking (so to speak) I felt it was the wolf who "jumped his bones." Then the true bond between the humans came later when it was emotional not sexual. I kind of liked that.
Yeah, that's true, Melissa. That way it wasn't all about the lust or instantaneous attraction (their relationship, I mean). She saw that he was a good guy.I thought it was pretty amusing to read Asil's opinion of Charles. We're shown a sad, pained man with a heart of gold through Anna's eyes, but Asil describes him as "his father's creature." I think he even calls him a brute at one point, lol. That was kind of unexpected, for Briggs to poke fun at her own hero that way, pretty clever, imo. Some authors are afraid to do that. She's got a sense of humor. It kind of brought their romance back down to earth for me, back to mundane reality, because he _is_ his father's enforcer, really, but he's also a good guy doing what needs to be done so his father doesn't have to.
I felt too, that Charles was different than the rest of the pack because of his mother and his magic. I feel like he's been put in his "enforcer" position by his father to protect him from the pack. To make him different for other reasons. Do you know what I mean? She's always going on and on about how his sons are most important so I kind of feel like the things Bran does are always thinking of his boys first.
I think I'd rather have Bran in a novella than a whole books but who knows I wasn't completely soldon the Alpha/Omega series until I read the novella. I was pretty furious when the witch thought she could control the Marrok but was really bringing on the berserker. I hope to see more Bran in the series and maybe a real glimpse at what the berserker can do. I felt we just got a teaser with that one.
Patricia Brigga just posted in the B&N bookclub group about Cry Wolf. I'm posting what she has writtenBriggs-
Cry Wolf was a pretty tough book to write -- and I'd gotten complacent about being able to get a story out just the way I wanted it. Starting where the novella stopped was tough, but it was the best of my options. If I'd known I was going to use that as the jump off story for a series, I'd have done a lot of things differently. Things that would have made Cry Wolf much easier to write. I could have toned down the ending just enough that it would have been believable that Charles would have gone home, healed up and then gone back to Chicago for her. It would have saved me -- and you -- a lot of grief. As it was I felt that I had no choice but pick up exactly where the novella ended for continuity's sake. It's important to me that the world and the characters feel real, and if that is sometime inconvenient . . . or made Cry Wolf feel like the second book in a series, to me it is worth it.
If On the Prowl (the anthology "Alpha and Omega" was published in) had been obscure I might have considered revising novella into the story -- though I hate when other authors do that to novellas/short stories I've already read. But On the Prowl made it to the USA Today list and had a first printing of 90,000 copies. I felt like I owed something to the people who had gone out and purchased it (or checked it out at the library for that matter) and spent an hour or so reading the short story. So I started the book where the novella ended and ran from there.
In retrospect, a note at the beginning of the book that Charles and Anna first appeared in "Alpha and Omega" would have been the smart thing to do. Hindsight really is twenty-twenty.
I am very, very glad that mostly readers seem to be enjoying the story anyway.I am not planning on putting the three of them (Anna, Charles, and Mercy) together at this time -- that doesn't mean I won't. However, there are a lot of problems when you take the main characters out of two series and put them together. Problems that make the begining of Cry Wolf look miniscule. Which one gets to be the protagonist? Two protagonists in a romantic-style book works. Three do not. At least not very well. Cameo appearances are more likely -- as long as I don't feel they are too distracting.
Also my editor called to tell me that Cry Wolf is #4 on the New York Times mass market list as well as #16 on the USA Today list for this week. Incredible if you look at all the terrific books that are out. Thank you very much.
--Patty
This topic is for Chapters 9 through 15 for Cry Wolf.
If you mention something that is definitely spoilerly, please make sure to notate that with a big ol' **SPOILER ALERT** or something similar.
Have at it! :)