Monday, October 23, 2006

Stolen by Kelley Armstrong


Elena Michaels is a wanted woman. She hasn't done anything wrong. Well, not recently, anyway. But ten years ago her lover turned her into a werewolf: the only female werewolf in the world, in fact.

And now, just as she's finally coming to terms with it all, a group of scientists learns of her existence. They're hunting her down, and Elena is about to run straight into their trap. But they haven't reckoned on Elena's adoptive family, her Pack, who will stop at nothing to get her back. They haven't reckoned on Elena herself, either, and that's a very big mistake.

When I first read Bitten, it took me a long while to get really drawn into the story, and in the end I enjoyed it, but I have to say that this book was so much better. Having read the synopsis from all of the book that are out in this series, I couldn't quite see how we were going to get from a completely werewolf centred story in Bitten, to a book about witches in Dime Store Magic, but it all makes perfect sense now and I am very much looking forward to reading it!

One of Elena's jobs in the Pack is to keep track of any news that might be making it into the public realms about werewolves, thereby making sure that no mutts are making a nuisance of themselves. When following a lead down, she meets two witches who set a trap to try and get Elena's attention, and thereby to be able to talk to the leader of the Pack (insert tv ad jingle here) Jeremy. The two witches are part of a coalition of paranormals (vampires, witches, shaman, half demons, amongst others) who are meeting to try and work out what to do about a common threat to all of them. Various individuals with paranormal tendencies have been disappearing - and it appears as though someone is trying to "research" their paranormal abilities.

Elena is one paranormal that the researchers really want to get hold of due to her unique position as the only female werewolf in the world. When she is captured and taken to the facility, she is put into a situation where she is regularly endangered, humiliated, and lonely. Elena doesn't lose faith though that her partner Clay will not do everything he can to save her, but she knows that she has to do whatever she can to help herself, and the other captives, including a very young witch named Savannah. As Elena fights to maintain her dignity and to obtain her freedom, the body count piles up big time. Lots of death in this book!

The author is really very clever, to bring all those different types of paranormals into the books this early in the story. To me it didn't feel like a forced attempt to broaden the width of the series, but a natural development, but it definitely has the effect of broadening the interest in the series, and more than likely extending the life of the series.

Whereas there was a strong focus on the relationship between Clay and Elena in Bitten, so that you could possibly have called it a paranormal romance, this book is definitely not a romance in my opinion. It is almost like the relationship between Clay and Elena is so settled now that they are ingrained in each other and therefore it is still part of the book, and still romantic, but just there in another way. This would be more horror/paranormal in my opinion....you have no idea how surprising it is to me to be reading horror!

I was so eager to get the next book in this series, that I accidentally requested the fourth book in the series instead of the third one....whoops!

Rating 4.5/5

10 comments:

  1. Oh, this is good to know. Stolen is in my TBR pile somewhere. I'd read Bitten a couple of years ago, and had the same reaction it sounds like you did: I liked it, but it took me a while to get into it. As a result, I haven't been in a big hurry to pick up the 2nd book. Now I feel better about it. Thanks. :)

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  2. Oh I loved Stolen just as much as I loved Bitten. Armstrong really is a wonderful storyteller. She writes dialogue and relationships really well. Makes all the supernatural stuff seem believable. ;-)

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  3. Man, only 19 more books! I am way behind, I need 40 more :(

    I will comment again when you hit 200, you must be really close because you are behind in reviews. :)

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  4. As Elena fights to maintain her dignity and to obtain her freedom, the body count piles up big time. Lots of death in this book!

    You sold me with this. LOL.

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  5. Darla, I think I enjoyed it more than I enjoyed Bitten. Move it up the TBR pile!!

    Dancechica, I agree the world that Armstrong creates is completely plausible.

    Kail, I was wondering if you would realise what the numbers meant!

    Mailyn, these books are well worth reading!!

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  6. Interesting that you liked this one better. I think I liked Bitten more, but maybe it was the romance that got me. I really liked the resolution of Elena and Clay's relationship in the first book. But I liked this one too!

    Hope you like #3--I think it might be my favorite of the series.

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  7. Marg, you're so lucky! This cover is so much better than the one I own!! I'm jealous :P Anyway, I like this one too... I wasn't sure about Bitten, I mean, yes I like it, but like most of you, I had difficulty to get into it... Stolen pretty much convinced me... Tho, my fav. is Industrial Magic :D

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  8. I just found a Kelley Armstrong book at the UBS BROKEN. I've done all the usual checking things out and have been waiting to see if I could pick up any more of the books used. Guess I look online.

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  9. I'm so pleased you enjoyed this book! I've read all the Women of the Otherworld books to date & really love them. She has a 7th due out end of next year, as well as the 1st in a completely different series. Have you checked out Kelley Armstrong's site too? There's loads of e-fic & lots of back story revealed in the novellas - well worth a look-see!

    http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/

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  10. I finally read this one, and yes, I completely agree! I will be carrying on with the rest of the series - this one hooked me. :-)

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