Frostbitten

I promise that this is the last Kelley Armstrong book I'm going to talk about for a few months, but I finished off my little Otherworld binge by grabbing her latest, Frostbitten, from the library.  This is the tenth book overall, and continues the story of werewolf Elena Michaels that was the main theme of previous novels Bitten (#1), Stolen (#2), and Broken (#6).  Characters from several of the other books of the series make brief cameos as well.

Frostbitten sends Elena and her husband, badass werewolf Clay Danvers (whose back story was filled in by the recent anthology Men of the Otherworld), all the way to Alaska in pursuit of a young werewolf and in quest of two former Pack members from long ago.  Complicating their search are a brutal group of werewolf criminals from eastern Europe, legendary monsters haunting the wilderness, and new responsibilities to the werewolf Pack.

As usual, Armstrong delivers a solid and entertaining paranormal tale which would fit in the new-style urban fantasy category if the wilderness setting were not so critical.  Wilderness paranormal fantasy?  Whatever.  There are a couple of hot sex scenes, but the relationship focus is on the balance of responsibility and power in a mature couple with issues like aging, children, and a complex family to worry about.  Elena's future looks interesting, to say the least.  Having her back as sole narrator makes this a much more focused book than Living with the Dead (#9).

Also of interest is the introduction of two new, young (teen to early twenty-something) werewolves who are struggling to accustom themselves to their hereditary powers without the angst felt by Elena when she was nonconsensually bitten.  I'd be interested in hearing more about them and their future involvement with the Pack.  Likewise, the different paths taken by some of the adult werewolves in managing their "condition" open things up beyond the previous focus on either the relatively well-organized Pack life or the renegade existence of a roaming criminal.

There are some genuinely scary scenes with the creepy monsters in the forest and when one character is trapped under solid ice in a river (sending all my claustrophobia alarms screaming in sympathetic terror).  The monsters themselves are interesting and have plenty of room for further development.

Once again, rape is a plot device, this time involving one of the criminal werewolves, who includes rape and murder among his hobbies.  It's been an ongoing element of the series that since Elena is the only living female werewolf, most male werewolves have the hots for her.  They generally back off fast, since she's a pretty badass fighter herself.  But in Frostbitten, you have a werewolf who doesn't take no for an answer and is physically strong enough to overpower Elena.  This leads to some disturbing scenes.  Was this necessary?  I don't know.  Rape makes me uncomfortable, to say the least, and I prefer to have it used very sparingly.  So this feels like a bit much following so closely on Living with the Dead, especially when it involves a main character.  I also don't like Elena-as-victim, and she does seem to get kidnapped or assaulted quite a bit in the Otherworld series.  I'm not sure her non-victim fighting moments entirely make up for it, though they are fine and ferocious and satisfying.

On the balance, however, I liked Frostbitten and still find the werewolf Pack's development one of the three most interesting story threads in the Otherworld series.  (The other two are (1) the Godfather-like issues of Lucas with regard to his father's mafia-like Cabal and (2) half-demon Hope's attempts to cope with her chaos hunger.)

I always have to give Armstrong props for the value-added material on her website.  Right now there's not only a promotional giveaway contest running for Frostbitten, but also a mini-story involving Elena and Clay and a new free novella.  Details and links are here.

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Comments

[Nikki Raiford]

I'm rather liking all the werewolf stories out there recently.... like 'em better than the vampires.

[Susan de Guardiola]

Nikki,
I'm a vampire fan from way back, but I really like Armstrong's werewolves.

The best werewolf novel I've read in the last decade, though, is Lee Killough's Wilding Nights. Police procedural with a new approach to the genre. Doesn't have the romance content, though.

[Nikki Raiford]

Hmm.. will have to add to list! After the million and a half other books. :) Just finished Moon Called last night (had read Iron Kissed earlier). Now to finally get around to trying loose gown and corset, which I forgot to do last weekend!

[Susan de Guardiola]

Well, we're all Teh Crazy here due to the Regency Assembly, so no thought of Renaissance before Monday at least!

You could ask Serge, who hangs out here, about his wife's books. I haven't read 'em, but they're fantasy with a romantic element, judging from the covers. Her site is here.

And Kelley Armstrong has some really good stuff, especially the first one (Bitten).