Fair Game (Alpha & Omega, book 3) by Patricia Briggs
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Edition Reviewed: Paperback
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle
Goodreads: Fair Game (3)
Patricia Briggs, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Mercy Thompson novels, “always enchants her readers" (Lynn Viehl). Now her Alpha and Omega series—set in a world of shifting shapes, loyalties, and passions—brings werewolves out of the darkness and into a society where fear and prejudice could turn the hunters into the prey…
It is said that opposites attract. And in the case of werewolves Anna Latham and Charles Cornick, they mate. The son—and enforcer—of the leader of the North American werewolves, Charles is a dominant Alpha. While Anna, an Omega, has the rare ability to calm others of her kind.
When the FBI requests the pack’s help on a local serial-killer case, Charles and Anna are sent to Boston to join the investigation. It soon becomes clear that someone is targeting the preternatural. And now Anna and Charles have put themselves right in the killer’s sights…
Review: Hunting Ground was super awesome for me. Which made me nervous about Fair Game and I put reading it off for almost a whole year! The short story that introduced the would of Alpha & Omega was awesome. I was ready for the first official book! Cry Wolf and I didn't exactly get along. So I was nervous that Fair Game would fail me and I'd fall out of the series again. Phew, that didn't happen.
I will address something that annoys me though. Briggs tends to leave time gaps. Such as Mercy and Adam from the Mercy Thompson series have 10 years of history before the series starts, so I always felt like their romance was missing development. In the case of Fair Game it's been (at least) a year since the last book. In which Charles has had to take being Bran's executioner to the next level. The werewolves are now officially out of the closet and they need to be even more cautious. Things that they could have gotten away with before, or light reprimands, now are swiftly met with death. Charles is the one to do it, and it's weighing on his soul. Ghosts are literally haunting him.
So we enter Anna and Charles having romantic issues. Charles is trying to save her from the monster that he is and will become even more. He doesn't want her to see the bad and is basically over protecting her. The strength is that we get to see Anna and Charles thoughts on the matter. So it doesn't feel so cold. Because things could have gone bad for me.
Instead we get to see that killing is weighing on Charles. That despite what he believes he's not a soulless monster. Yet the world he lives in requires that, and to some degree he needs it. Most of the time the male leads that kill tend to be more “well I'm right and I have no regrets”. The paranormal and psychological affect on Charles make the series feel even realer. Especially as Charles is tied down by so much guilt he has lost his way in seeing what the truth really is.
Though it still annoyed me that by “saving” Anna he was hurting her. Hurting her in away that more than once it was clear that he was putting her in bigger danger. Even though they are married there is some real need from them to get to know one another and a lot of room to work for their marriage. Such as letting each other in, not blocking them out, and simple trust. Which is what made this entry great, because they're on the right path. It also feels more real.
I love that while the mystery of the serial killer seems small, it snowballs into a huge game changer for the world of Alpha & Omega. (Also, the Mercy Thompson books and I'm very curious to see how it will affect the next book in the series.) The old and new characters in Fair Game are awesome! Even if we never see them again, I hope that's not the case, I still loved them! It's great seeing other cities, other wolf packs, and so on. The world building is something I truly love and when you can see it through other characters it's wonderful. The changing POV is still a very strong point for the series and I loved it so much! Fair Game is an excellent entry and I loved it.
Content Warning: The serial killer rapes and does brutal things. It's talked about openly. I don't think there is actually anything more darker or violent then what is found normally in the series, or Mercy books, but maybe some readers might be a little more put off. The verse is dark dealing with death, murder, and monsters. Both the funny and the scary. Oh, and it's slightly more steamy in the bedroom scenes than the Mercy books.
5/5 - Forget obsession this book consumed me.
