On the Prowl
by Patricia Briggs, Karen Chance, Eileen Wilks, and Sunny
The short story offers a great deal of insight into one of the less explored characters mentioned in the Mercy Thompson series, Charles. Charles is the son of Bran, the Marrok and leader of the werewolves. Due to troubling events that have unfolded in Chicago, Bran sends Charles in to get to the bottom of the issues with the Chicago wolf pack and to protect the young wolf who brought the danger to the Marrok’s attention. For those who have already read Moon Called you’ll be treated to the first hand events that had to be glossed over in the novel as well as some more of Brigg’s excellent story telling and character design. For those that have not read Moon Called before, do not fret, Briggs manages to tell a tale that not only incorporates enough of the need to know information without spoiling the events of Moon Called while weaving a short story fully capable of being read and taken on its own.
The second story in this anthology is Eileen Wilks’ Inhuman. I had a very difficult time getting into this story. Perhaps it was because of the way it was started off, with the characters already so comfortable with each other and speaking of things I had no knowledge of, but I honestly felt like the newcomer at a party who has stumbled upon a circle of friends and has no idea what they’re talking about. This feeling never truly dissipated and upon the story’s conclusion I couldn’t help but feel that there was a lot I just didn’t understand and missed out on. That feeling returned anew when I read Sunny’s Mona Lisa Betwining.
Mona Lisa Betwining is an excerpt from Sunny’s Mona Lisa series, a series which I have yet to read. There are many references to events that fail to make sense and are not truly explained either. However, the excerpt did succeed in perking my interest in the story to an extent. The story almost feels like Laurell K Hamilton’s Meredith Gentry series, but to a lesser extent.
In Karen Chance’s Buying Trouble we are introduced to a young woman who is not all that she appears to be. She has a gift that would make her a powerful weapon for any seeking to conquer an enemy and to he shock she is betrayed by her employer and put up for auction. With the help of a Fey Lord she escapes and together they embark on a rather interesting tale of self discovery and adventure. Chance manages to throw quite a few interesting twists and turns in this tale that will have any fantasy lover (especially dragon and fairy fans) oohing over the events.
In this novella Chance manages to create a world that will suck the reader in and keep them entrenched until the very end. And yet, the reader does not leave feeling cheated or slighted in the least, but content at where things end, which is something you don’t see very often.
While I was, for the most part, disappointed with the contributions of Eileen Wilks and Sunny, Karen Chance did not disappoint and between her and Patricia Briggs’ stories I feel that this anthology is definately worth purchasing, if only to own these two short stories.
Joana’s rating: 
