Book Review: Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs

Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs
Ace Books
286 Pages
Copyright 2009

Anna and Charles Cornick are werewolves. They are a mated pair, something that was clear to them practically before they’d said hello for the first time. Charles is the son of the leader of all werewolves in North America and he is the enforcer. As such, he is a man accustomed to keeping everyone on the outside. It’s much easier to kill someone who isn’t a friend. Anna is a young woman with a horrendous past. Her former pack leader brutalized her and had encouraged the rest of the pack to do the same. Anna, however, is also something rare and priceless; she is an Omega wolf. As such, she doesn’t have to obey the pack Alpha and she can control the pack as well, if not better than, the Alpha. The pair is struggling to figure out their relationship.

Bran, the leader, wants werewolves to come out to the public. He is determined to make it happen and, as a result, Charles and Anna find themselves in charge of a gathering of werewolves from Europe. Bran wants their support but he doesn’t need it. Things are tense because the Alpha of Europe, Chastel, is a brutal man with a taste for human flesh, the younger the better. He also wants Anna and seems intent on doing whatever he has to do in order to take her away from Charles. Would he, however, go so far as to hire vampires to attack Anna? What role does Dana, the Fae hired by Bran to oversee the summit, play in what’s going on? Anna and Charles find their tenuous relationship being tested in unimaginable ways as they try to figure things out before it’s too late.

I really like Charles and Anna and devoured this book in one sitting, basically. I like the way Briggs is handling their relationship, letting it settle into something strong slowly. Given the complexities of the two, Briggs hasn’t glossed over any of it but has built something solid around it. So far, there’s been little not to like.

Recommendation: Of all the werewolf stories I’ve read, I like the world Briggs has built best, both in the Alpha and Omega series and the Mercy Thompson series. Her characters are strong, likable, and believable; her stories are interesting and well-paced. There’s very little not to like.