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Title | Shadow Pack
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Author | Marc Daniel
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Cover Art | Nemanja Vlajkovic
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Publisher | Createspace - 2013
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First Printing | Createspace - 2013
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Title | ---
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Author | Marc Daniel
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Cover Art | ---
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Publisher | ---
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First Printing | ---
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Category | Urban Fantasy
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Warnings | None
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Main Characters | Michael Biörn, Sheila, Ezekial
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Main Elements | Werewolves, wizards
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Website | marcdaniel-books.com
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Shadow Pack
When Michael Biörn, a National Park ranger, arrives in Houston at Lieutenant Harrington's request to give an expert opinion on a peculiar crime scene, he immediately realizes the preternatural nature of the killer: a werewolf. Whether the Russian mob uses the wolves as hired killers or whether the beasts follow their own agenda remains to be seen; but one this is sure, Michael has no desire to stick his nose in wolf business. After all, the werewolves have hunted down his kin to the brink of extinction, and as the sole survivor of his kind, he strives to keep a low profile.
All this changes when Michael finds Harrington and his wife savagely murdered in their home - not getting involved is no longer an option. Assisted by a cute and tenacious journalist, a wizard of the second circle, and Harrington's old partner, Michael sets to unearth the ture motivations behind his friend's assassination. But when the bodies start piling up, Michael quickly becomes a suspect in the eyes of the detectives in charge of the case. The police are the least of his concerns though, for the werewolves have uncovered his true nature and they are coming for him.
Ok, I'm going to start with the bad because, well, its the start of the book that had the issues. My review will get better just as the book did.
I'll admit I nearly didn't get past the first 100 pages. There were a couple of times I nearly swore out loud and wanted to throw the book at the wall. We've all heard of "show, don't tell" right? I think the author took that to a bit of an extreme by not telling us anything...at all. The scene would be as follows:
Main character Michael is with his detective friend, Harrington. They just finished examining the crime scene and are leaving to go get some food. Now Harrington knows what Michael is, and they both know it was a supernatural attack. So they're going to talk about it right? And the reader is going to learn a little about the supernatural critters in the world right? Nope. They get in a car, they shut the door and drive off...leaving the reader standing on the curb shouting in frustration. At least it wasn't raining...
I know the author wanted to keep what Michael was a secret so he could make a big reveal, but after making a big point of mentioning Michaeal massive size, over, and over, and over again to the point where it sounded like a bad romance novel, all rippling muscles and manly flesh. While this becomes amusing later (e.g. trying to squeeze onto a flimsy barstool, etc), at the start it was just annoying. I mean I got it, he's a big guy, now tell me something I don't know, which at this point is *everything*... I had two theories as to what he really was and my first choice was the correct one (hint, the characters name is a HUMUNGOUS giveaway but I thought maybe it was a red herring). It wasn't a surprise so might as well have come out with it at the start.
After that point, the story gets interesting. The author opens up and starts doing some world building, and this world has a lot of potential to grow into a rich series. We learn about the various supernatural and praeternatural beings that inhabit the world. We meet Ez whom I absolutely adore. And I'll admit I didn't see the ending coming. There were a lot of twists and turns to the mystery of the murders. I thought the relationship between two of the main villains, wolf pair Clemens and Isabella to be interesting, often people forget the fact that the bad guy could in fact also be truly in love with someone else. Refreshing not to have a two-dimensional baddy.
So rewrite the first part, let the reader in a bit more, and this could have been a very enjoyable read. However at this point I'm not sure I'll follow up with the series.
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