Stalking the Others by Jess Haines (H&W Investigations #4)
Urban Fantasy
July 3, 2012
Kensington

Reviewed by Mandi

Favorite Quote: “Knock, knock, bitches.”

Shiarra Waynest was once just a human being who hunted the Others (vamps, weres etc). But much has changed in her life. In the previous book, Shia discovered that her werewolf lover Chaz was cheating on her and later her father disowned her. Worse, someone from his pack scratched her and has possibly turned her into a werewolf. She will find out for sure  at the next full moon. (this book starts out 24 days before the full moon happens). If Shia is a werewolf, she has a lot to think about. Join a pack? End her life? She really doesn’t want to consider it at the moment. Due to previous events, the police are also after her as well as her possible vampire lover, Alec Royce. So Shia is stressed out and she actually turns to a former enemy for help.

Jack heads up the White Hats, a group of people determined to hunt and eliminate supernatural beings. Shia has an on/off friendship with him. They once really wanted her to work for them, but Shia’s heart belonged to a werewolf and she was deeply involved with a vampire, so pledging her life to extinguish supernaturals wasn’t in the cards for her. But she trusts Jack not to harm her and she needs a refuge for a bit from all the craziness. With his help and the help of the White Hats, Shia regroups and decides to go after the Sunstrikers (the werewolf pack), and get revenge on Chaz.

Stalking the Others is the fourth book in this urban fantasy series, and it is a pretty solid addition. A few things stand out in this series. First of all, while there is romance, and the ever present love triangle of Shia/Chaz/Alec, the romance isn’t strong in this series. Alec is the more mysterious, maybe dangerous, vampire, so I tend to root for him. He has very little page time in this one, yet makes a big impact. I’m not going to explain his role because it is a spoiler but you won’t forget his part in this book. That being said, I still feel like he should have been in it more. I feel like I really don’t know him that well, and with four books into the series, that frustrates me. We do see a lot more of Chaz and I was really happy with how his story is playing out. Shia is pissed that he cheated on her, and she goes on a rampage. I had to cheer a little bit. I give props to the author for allowing Shia revenge. She goes at the Sunstriker pack hardcore and violently, and it felt realistic. I’m glad she chose to go that route and it is definitely a strong point in this book.

I enjoy the page time we get with Jack. We really get to know him better, and he has a personal struggle that I liked. I’m glad Shia spends some time with him, he really intrigues me.

Another major character in this book that I haven’t mentioned yet is Shia’s belt. We learn a lot about the belt, whose name is Simon in this one. A former Mage, now a spirit who gives Shia both strength and advice in the nighttime hours, he plays a very big role in this one. The belt has never been my favorite character in this series. It has always felt like just a ploy because Shia is a human and needs to compete with the other supernaturals. But in this one, I liked the part the belt plays, up until the end. I felt the development we learn about the belt towards the end was a little anti-climatic and predictable.

As mentioned earlier, Alec’s role in this book frustrated me. While you can argue his role has been building up over three books, I felt like only putting him in in the last chapter or so and then having something happen with Shia felt anti-climatic. I think as a reader, I needed to see him in her life more, or be reminded exactly of their relationship from the previous book more so I could have enjoyed the end.

This is a good book though, and Shia is proving to be a fun, strong heroine. I’m ready to learn more about Alec and have her love life settle down, but I like the direction this series is going.

Rating: B-

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