11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Could The Most Unlikely Leader of the Pack be Sophie Garou? Maybe!, Aug 4 2009
By Fiendishly Bookish "fiendishlybookish" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Leader of the Pack: Tales of an Urban Werewolf (Mass Market Paperback)
One of the reasons why MacInerney's series is not "just another werewolf tale" is that it really has its own flavor. The main character, Sophie Garou hasn't grown up in a Pack. So the reader is not withered down immediately with all the hierarchical rule weaving that most authors strain to include at the very beginning of a series. And it's refreshing because the reader goes on the journey of discovery with the character.
So in addition to not growing up in a pack, Sophie's natural talent of shielding herself has enabled her live right under the noses of the Houston pack of werewolves for most of her natural life. This has come with its advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantage being that when she is finally discovered by a rogue packette, and a werewolf enforcer, she is thrust into a series of events that she won't be able to wiggle out of.
Leader of the Pack is the third in this urban werewolf series and usually in the third book there is a big payoff. In On the Prowl, readers were left off with wondering exactly who and what Mark was. Was he some type of demon or spirit? Perhaps both. Wondering if Tom Fenris and Sophie were ever going to make a love connection. Wondering if the mission she completed would get her out of owing any allegiance to the Houston pack. But while there were some resolutions, I expected just a tad more.
We see more development in Mark, Tom, Lindsey's and Heath's character and overall that makes them more interesting in relation to Sophie. And the introduction of Sophie's absent father who is now on trial by the Houston pack plunges her and her friends into new territory of pack politics and a battle for succession, which has a surprisingly satisfying ending.
Readers might be reminded by the Kitty Norville series by Carrie Vaughn with regard to pace and plot development. I'm a fan of MacInerney's and I'd say, let's up the ante just a bit. But Leader of the Pack doesn't disappoint and it was an incredibly good bubble bath read that I enjoyed.
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
One big disappointment....., Aug 6 2009
By Marie Annette - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Leader of the Pack: Tales of an Urban Werewolf (Mass Market Paperback)
I was really disappointed with this book. The first book was okay and I really liked the second book, I was hoping that as the series progressed that the book content would as well. I was wrong. It seems the writing completely regressed to that of the first book, the first third of the book was filled with inane ramblings and humorless attempts at sarcastic humor--which I consider a very sad attempt at page fillers--that completely annoyed me in the first book. This book read like some tawdry soap opera mixed and shaken with drama from a bad talk show.
The storyline is weak, predictable, cliche, and in most cases so unbelievable. The whole story for the most part was poorly contrived. There was no character development on part of the heroine. Sophie is still the same selfish, thoughtless person she was in the previous books, and throughout the book I felt she was getting dumber. She has a history of dishonesty, immorality, and withholding the truth. She doesn't ever tell the truth until she's forced into a situation. I was sooooooooo disappointed, for the most part I didn't really count on the characters to be very well developed because....hey...they've never been before but I normally get many laughs and enjoy the story which was not the case for this book. I will admit, there were some good moments but they were just too few to overshadow the feelings of disappointment, disgust, and regret for having purchased this book.
SPOILER BELOW!
I thought that author's ending was despicable!
Here's the situation: Sophie and Lindsay are friends. Lindsay is dating Tom. Sophie who has been in relationships with two guys wants Tom. She even kissed Tom while he and Lindsay were dating and while she was seeing someone else. Not only that, she slept with another guy while she was seeing someone else. Sophie has been wanting Tom and would have given it up to him as soon as he gave her the okay, to hell with whoever she was seeing and her best friend. I find it very distasteful that the way the author made it okay for those two to be together was to put Lindsay and Heath together so Sophie and Tom can feel okay to get together. That was just wrong!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
a bit disappointing, Aug 8 2009
By Minda Ann "MindaAnn" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Leader of the Pack: Tales of an Urban Werewolf (Mass Market Paperback)
I was really looking forward to this book. I read the first two and I thought it was a good read, but it left the reader feeling like "that's it".
It is a bit redundant, several of the little remarks and funny saying were repeated thoughout the series and it is at the point where, while they were funny in the first book,by the third, I was already tired of them.
Another area where it is redundant is when it gives a run down of the two previous books. There is a lot of summary and I found myself skimming over sections of chapters.
I think the last thing was the ending. THe reactions of people to certain events were unrealistic almost irritating.
Other than that, the book was likable. I liked the twists, and I would hope there is a book to follow; otherwise, it would be a really sloppy ending.