#1 New York Times bestselling author Patricia Briggs presents the first Alpha and Omega novel—the start of an extraordinary series set in Mercy Thompson’s world, but with rules of its own…Anna never knew werewolves existed until the night she survived a violent attack…and became one herself. After three years at the bottom of the pack, she’d learned to keep her head down and never, ever trust … down and never, ever trust dominant males. But Anna is that rarest kind of werewolf: an Omega. And one of the most powerful werewolves in the country is about to recognize her value as a pack member—and as his mate.
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I love all of Patricia Briggs books.
She paints great pictures with her words….
Actually read this years ago when first released but I eagerly await all of Patricia’s books and have never been disappointed. She is on my auto pre-order list. She doesn’t disappoint and her world is so well built and believable that I can really lose myself in it.
First Alpha and Omega novel spun off Mercy Thompson series. Abuse victim evolving into badass (meant in the best way) woman. Patricia Briggs keeps getting better and better.
Good read
Really good start to the series. I love Charles and Anna in different ways than I love Mercy and Adam. Charles is less personable than Adam , but he’s smarter. Anna is a different kind of strong than Mercy. What Anna went through would have broken Mercy. She would not have been able to allow herself to bend. Anna bends and never breaks. Where Mercy is the brash sassy strong female. Anna is quiet smart and allows others to be the center of attention.
I always wondered what it would be like to be a less than self-assured person faced with being infected with lycanthropy. This novel answers so many questions from the point of view of Anna, who was involuntarily made a werewolf and her new status as mate to the most feared enforcer in the United States. This made for a particularly nerve-racking courtship and honeymoon as it was – did insane witches have to interrupt? The scenario was a well-crafted take on a common horror stories; the characters were interesting and fun to follow; the writing pulled everything together to make a story well worth reading. This is a lot like the Anita Blake novels, with wolves instead of vampires and without the steaminess, the reverse harem.
Cry Wolf starts where Alpha And Omega ends, Anna is moving from Chicago to Montana to be with her new mate, Charles. While she is excited, she is also scare and second guessing herself. Charles is in wolf form so talking with him isn’t possible yet, so her self-doubt has her contemplating running.
I really like Anna and Charles, the dynamic of the two seems to create a balance that helps keep them both grounded. I thought it was really cool that Anna’s Omega powers were able to protect her from the big bad psycho bitch witch. I knew that Anna had what she needed to fight back but it was really awesome to read when she begins reconnected with her own self-value. I think my favorite part was her first meeting with Bran’s mean and nasty mate. The way she kept saying no was just priceless.
I have read Cry Wolf several times and will probably read it again next year when the next book in the Alpha And Omega series comes out. I can’t help it; Patricia Briggs writes some amazing stories. Every one of Patricia Briggs books, that I have read are clearly well edited allowing for a smooth flowing reading experience. As of right now I have to say Patricia Briggs is in my top 3 of favorite Authors, and that her Alpha And Omega series is one of my go to comfort reads.
This review posting contains the body of the review, which is only a portion of the original review which was originally posted here https://laurasbookbinge.wordpress.com/2020/06/15/cry-wolf-alpha-and-omega-1-by-patricia-briggs/
4,5 stars
I would also strongly recommend (like mentioned in the blurb) that you start this series with reading the prequel ‘Alpha & Omega’ first. You can find this story in the anthology ‘On the prowl’. Because there you can read how Anna and Charles met and what happened to her, especially how she became a werewolf and what happened to her after that. With that knowledge, you will better understand Anna and her fears for dominant werewolf men in this story.
In this story ‘Cry wolf’ we see how Anna is adjusting to her ‘new’ life in Charles’s pack. She may have been a werewolf for 3 years but because her old alpha hide a lot of things from her, Anna still has a lot to learn about werewolves, especially being an omega and living in a ‘healthy’ werewolf pack. Sadly, Ann doesn’t have a lot of time to adapt to her new life. Because a rogue werewolf is on the loose and it’s causing chaos and dead close to their pack. So she and Charles are send out to hunt it, so see if they can help it or in the worst case to kill it. Charles doesn’t want Anna with him on this dangerous mission but you can’t ignore a command from your alpha, especially if he is your father too. So Ann and Charles leave together, not knowing that it will be a very dangerous journey, filled with secrets, magic and dead.
I enjoyed this story very much. This story continues where the prequel ended.
Anna and Charles may only know each other for one week, you could already feel a strong connection between them. It was mostly Anna’s fear for dominant werewolf men that kept them apart. But the story was more than just a romance story, it’s also a story about the burden of being a leader or an enforcer. A powerful being that’s both respected but also feared by most werewolves. It was about immortality and the burden of losing your loved ones and living with that lost for eternality.
The story was told from both POV’s and I loved that. Because Charles was a very closed off person, so it was good that we got his thoughts and feelings about Anna. He was strong, dominant when needed but also very gentle and patient with Anna. Anna was still learning that she was strong too in a more gentle way. Her omega strength was something special. She was very kind, gentle and very empathic. Charles’s father, Bran was also a very interesting character, he was very intelligent, strong, dominant but in a cunning way. I liked him very much too. And the other secondary characters in this story were very entertaining too.
I loved the world building very much. If you’re looking for a story with lot of sex scenes then this is not the book for you. I’m very happy that I decided to read this series and I’m looking forward to reading more of it.
I might actually enjoy this series more than the Mercy Thompson one. Though I know that this series wasn’t planned until after Alpha & Omega novella was written in the anthology “On the Prowl”, I still wish that we could have had more buildup before the main characters got together. That said, what I REALLY enjoy about this spinoff series is that it’s in third person and you can see events from Charles POV.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this series. Have all of her books and can hardly wait for more.
Love Anna and Charles together.
Loved it!
My one criticism of this book is that you really should read the Alpha and Omega short story first and it is found in a different book.
If you can’t get enough of Mercy Thompson’s world, then the first in the new Alpha & Omega series should satisfy. This series follows the tale of Charles and Anna. Charles is the son of Bran – the Marrock, leader of the US werewolves. He’s his father’s assassin and enforcer. Anna is a rare Omega wolf- one who can calm the fiercest wolf. As their love story starts – so does the trouble in the pack. Rogue werewolves and black witches tends to put a damper in anyone’s morning.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was my first dip into Briggs’ books, and I raced through this story in no time. There is a prequel somewhere that I must have missed I believe, because some parts that were referenced felt missed to me, but other than that, I really loved the plot to this story.
This is a NON-SPOILER REVIEW. Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs is the first book in the Alpha and Omega series. The A&O series is an off-shoot series that parallels the Mercy Thompson series. I absolutely love that the stories are (slightly) interwoven and keep pace with the happenings in the Mercyverse. If you have read the Mercy Thompson series, then you have heard of Charles. He is the “Born Wolf” Salish son of the Marrok (Bran) and his beloved Native American wife. Being the daughter of the Tribe Shaman, she had her own magic and Bran, as we know, is witchborn. This adds up to one scary and powerful wolf. Charles has become his father’s enforcer and he is sent to save Anna and find out what is going on in the Chicago Pack. But the question is… Who saves Whom! A great and beautiful read.
This world is so fascinating and I am so hooked. I loved Moon Called, Mercy is my girl, so I was hesitant to leave Mercy and go hang out with Anna and Charles. But man did I love them both so much.
Anna is so great! She is so strong, but different in the way than Mercy is strong and I love it. I love when our heroines show their strength in a way that is different from the norm and that is Anna. She has been dealt such a bad hand, but she never lets it fully break her and she perseveres. And Charles! What a mother hen he is! I adored him. He can be so closed off, but Anna just gets to him. And I adored them together. They just complement one another so well and while I needed them to communicate a bit better, I loved watching their journey.
Aside from Charles and Anna, I am just coming to love this world and all its characters. Bran is just so sweet yet such a strong leader. Asil won me over and I felt so bad for what he has been through. I loved seeing sweet puppy Sam again. And Sage! I know we will get along splendidly. Leah though… she can go die in a fire.
All in all, Cry Wolf is just so good. I am so hooked on this world and I want to just devour them all.
This is the first book in the Alpha & Omega series and it picks up right where the prequel Alpha and Omega left off. I really enjoyed getting to reenter this world and see Charles and Anna’s journey. I just fell in love with them. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.
If you haven’t read the short story Alpha and Omega yet, do that before picking up Cry Wolf. It is most certainly necessary to fully understand Anna and her relationship with Charles. Without that short story, you’ll likely end up confused and DNFing this book, like I did the first time around.
Cry Wolf is urban fantasy, so heavy on the action and paranormal/fantasy elements, very light on the romance. Cry Wolf gives insight into Bran – which I loved – and background on the Moor. Not at all lacking on the action, especially as the book reaches its close.
Readers are given more information about Omegas and the role they play within a pack. I love the alternating perspectives in this series. I don’t believe majority of the Mercy Thompson books offer differing POVs and I was a tad weary of the fact that this series does, but it helps move the plot along and keeps the reader in the know and following the best action.