Ferocious Werewolf Virus Hits L.A.Werebeasts Rampage Through The Streets. The City’s In Chaos.Nobody’s Safe.Enter Lucy Lowell, The Werewolf Whisperer. Some call her savior.Some call her bitch.Xochi Magaña just calls her, FRIEND.Together they kick Werebutt.They thought there’d be no stopping them.They didn’t know shit.Welcome to the werewolf apocalypse. Hope you’re locked and loaded. 2018 Golden … thought there’d be no stopping them.
They didn’t know shit.
Welcome to the werewolf apocalypse. Hope you’re locked and loaded.
2018 Golden Quill Reader’s Choice
“THE WEREWOLF WHISPERER takes the lycanthrope legend to the OPPOSITE of obedience school. The result is a feral genre mix breed that will maul your expectations as if it were a McRib sandwich” – Goodreads Review
You’ll chew right through this urban fantasy like a hound through a milk bone.
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I just finished book 2 of the series: The Alpha and the Omega (TA&O) – You have to take both The Werewolf Whisperer (TWW) and it’s sequel together, just as in many other series. Just like today’s TV serials, too many questions and plot threads are left hanging at the end of “season 1”
The Series: Wow! What a ride! The action is gripping and tightly written. I love the few fight scenes in the book. Plus as a newly transplanted Angeleno, it’s fun to read some of the locations I’m discovering in LA in the books.
TWW: Like any series intro this one takes a while to really draw in the reader. Give it time. The greatest reason I see that a reader may not engage is the split timelines. Once I figured out the mechanics behind this narrative style – ever other chapter time hops between two main narratives that are tied together to form a cohesive whole.
Basically: California is in quarantine due to an outbreak of a virus that has turned humans into lycanthropes. But not just big nasty werewolves. There are also lap-dog personality, wild feral dog personalities, and … yep, big mean nasty eat your face weres. The authors develop their own specific terms and build the story around Lucy and Xotchi. Lucy is able to command and control all of the various “types” or levels of the new shifters. Two years into the viral outbreak Lucy’s talent has given her the edge and a thriving business coaching others in how to care for their loved ones who have been afflicted by the virus. But, of course, there are threats beyond someone’s child, spouse or love suddenly going furry and gaining the personality of a crazed Chihauhau.
The secondary timeline centers around the activities immediately following the outbreak. How Lucy finds her talent, how Xotchi, wife of a crime lord in LA, inherits the Olds Torino, and how SoCal deals with the aftermath of an outbreak that sends crazed furry, slobbering, deranged un-human killers into the heart of La La Land.
These two timelines are basically linear in their own respects but hop in and out of various character POVs. The influence of the training and experience in TV and Scriptwriting is apparent in these books. The downside to this style of writing is that it works better on the screen than on the page. When you add this to shifting POVs on the various chapters: Lucy, Xotchi, one of the minor characters, news clippings, memos, texts, etc that the authors use to set the scene and build the backstory, I can see why some readers may have a difficult time getting this volume off the ground.
However, the writers do find their groove early on. The reader, however, may struggle a bit – as I did – to really get into the characters and their personalities until the book is well along. My advice is to treat this more like an epic fantasy in TWW (Book 1), rather than Urban Fantasy/Thriller. The series does steer hard into UF/Thriller territory, but the world building and backstory need time and chapters outside of the Main Characters’ POV to develop.
I’m providing my rating on this book as part of the cohesive whole of both Book 1 and Book 2 together. If I had to rank the two, TWW would get a 4.5 star because of the dual timeline narrative. Book 2 (TA&O) give the UF/T readers what they’ll crave. But, be warned. You’ll need to have book 2 already loaded on your tablet. Like any good TV series, the writers are counting on the second season to give you the payoff for the questions they created in the first season.
This is a great book on so many levels. It’s unique (a female, West Coast buddy story with no need for romance to bolster the plot), it’s badass (one of the main characters runs around with a set of knives and a shotgun), and it’s full of heart (there are dogs in it – they had me at the dogs) without having the saccharine after taste of a Hallmark movie. Bonita Gutierrez and Camilla Ochlan’s writing style is cinematic, so scenes fly together seamlessly. The characters are genuine and even though they’re flawed in all the right places, don’t feel contrived. This book is such a treat given the number of similar titles out there that have a good concept but are lacking in their execution. So much fun!
Finally, a believable werewolf story. I usually read science fiction, and this really is a science fiction story, not fantasy. People are transformed into werewolves due to an infectious viral pandemic instead of all that magical who-haw. No sparkling here. Realistic characters who have believable, plot driven character arcs. It’s fast paced and full of action, with no chosen ones or sappy, unlikely romances cluttering things up. Highly recommended.
This book is a great read. The characters really come to life. The further I got into the story, the more I got to know them and was rooting for them. The authors did a great job intertwining the two time lines. The story is written in a way that doesn’t distract from the story. You can immerse yourself completely.
I recommend this book to anyone who loves dogs, werewolves, has a sense of humor, and loves a kick-ass heroine!
This was a good story that kept me interested. I still have questions, and I hope the second book will answer them. My only complaint is the frequent use of Spanish. I don’t speak any Spanish, and apparently, a lot of what was in this book was slang because google translate didn’t know what to make of it. It could mostly be gotten by context, but it was still a pain, and I felt like I was missing out on some of the intensity of the story by having to stop to translate and often coming up blank.