GREAT READS

Prey

Rachel Vincent.

For me, there is no escapism greater than a good paranormal thriller, and Rachel Vincent makes her mark on the genre with her Werecats series.  In the first book, Stray, Faythe Sanders is an extraordinary young woman.  She is the daughter of the leader of a group of Werecats, and one of the few female feline shape shifters, a precious resource to be protected.  But while most young women her age dream of doing extraordinary things, Faythe would love nothing more than to be your average graduate student.  She has fought her father for five years of relative freedom from the life plan he has set out for her.  One night, Faythe catches the scent of someone who shouldn't be in her sleepy college town, a ‘stray', a cat belonging to none of the formal pride groups, who lures her into the shadows before making a grab for her.  But this kitty has claws and Faythe is able to run the stray off.  The stray isn't Faythe's last visitor of the night.  Marc, her ex-boyfriend and her father's favorite enforcer shows up with the message from her father: Faythe is to come back home with him, the easy way or the hard way.  At home she hears the disturbing news; two young female weres are missing, grabbed by strays.   The two have been gone for days but there is little for Faythe to do for them but worry.  Chaffing at her family's control, torn between new sparks and her attraction to the man she was supposed to marry, Faythe wants out, but what is waiting for her on the other side of her families' gated ranch?  She is going to have to get in touch with her wild side if she hopes to survive it.  Stray, and the remainder of Rachel Vincent's series, promises to be a great paranormal romp for fans of authors like Laurell K. Hamilton, Patricia Briggs, Christine Feehan and Charlaine Harris.  Like these authors, Vincent offers up frightful suspense, a strong female lead character, a paranormal twist, and a touch of romance.  If you enjoy the first book be sure to sink your claws into the whole series!

Recommended by Megan Willan