Book Log 05/2015 - Patricia Briggs: Dead Heat - Alpha and Omega #4

This is a review of an advance uncorrected proof via Netgalley. It's due out in early March 2015.

The Fae's war with humanity, as depicted in the crossover Mercy Thompson series, is escalating and alpha werewolf troubleshooter Charles Cornick and his omega-wolf wife Anna are drawn into some nasty paranormal business while visiting an old friend to buy Anna a new horse.

A powerful fae is on the loose, kidnapping and killing (eventually) human children, replacing them with simulacra. Charles' old friend's grandchild is targeted via a particularly nasty piece of magic, and that involves the werewolves in the investigation.

This is Patricia Briggs usual tight plotting with a huge helping of will-they-won't-they dramatic tension, but what I found just as interesting is the continuing development of the relationship between Charles and Anna and also the examination of friendship between an (almost) immortal being (werewolves live a long time) and their human friends. It all hinges on the nature of love and whether it's better to love and lose, or to refuse to engage for fear of eventually getting hurt.

Charles' non-werewolf friend, Joseph is, indeed an 'old' friend. In the days of his youth he and Charles worked together, fought together and let off steam together. In the end Joseph married Maggie, whom Charles had loved. Now Joseph and Maggie are elderly and Joseph is on his death-bed. Charles steered clear for twenty years because he couldn't bear to see his friend's slow slide into infirmity. Now he has to say goodbye. There's an answer. Joseph could be 'turned,' made werewolf. His father, Hosteen, who still looks like a young man, is a werewolf and alpha of the local pack, but Joseph has chosen to stay human.

Also, the other side of this coin, Anna wants a baby. Werewolves can't carry children because the change from human to wolf causes spontaneous abortion, but Anna has a notion that invitro fertilization and a surrogate mother might work. Technically it's possible, but Charles doesn't want to see a child of his grow, age and die, or be endangered by the nature of the dangerous work Charles is often engaged in, dispensing rough justice to werewolves who become too dangerous to control their appetites.

Their problems are explored as the story progresses, which gives the book a good emotional kick as well as a solid whodunnit plot. As usual Briggs writing is absorbing and Dead Heat is a real page turner. Highly recommended, though if you're not familiar with Briggs' werefolf world, you may want to read some of the other Alpha and Omega books first, beginning with Cry Wolf.

Movie of the Week: Kingsman: The Secret Service

Since I'm not a comics reader, i didn't know in advance that this is yet another comic-to-movie project, but that certainly didn't spoil the fun. I really enjoyed this. It's fluff, but well-executed fluff, which suits me fine.

The film's blurb says: Gary "Eggsy" Unwin (Taron Egerton), whose late father secretly worked for a spy organization, lives in a South London housing estate and seems headed for a life behind bars. However, dapper agent Harry Hart (Colin Firth) recognizes potential in the youth and recruits him to be a trainee in the secret service. Meanwhile, villainous Richmond Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson) launches a diabolical plan to solve the problem of climate change via a worldwide killing spree.

Colin Firth is nails it as the posh spy, Harry Hart, suave and sophisticated with a very dangerous edge. Playing a character who can kill you with his umbrella requires a deft touch not to tip it over the edge into cartoonish comedy, and Firth is pitch-perfect.  Egerton gives an excellent perfomance, as the dodgy London layabout who is transformed into a mini James Bond. Spies don't usually have mums, but there's a good sub-plot about Eggsy's mother and baby sister and the street gang Eggsy is leaving behind. (Don't dash out the instant the credit6s roll or you'll miss the payoff scene.) There's a potential for this to turn into a series, though as a set-up film or a standalone this works well. Potenial Kingsman recruits have to go through intensive training and a rigoroius selection process. It's lovely to see Marc Strong for once not playing a villain, but rather playing 'Merlin', the recruits' trainer. The villainous Valentine's 'muscle' is Gazelle, a lithe and dangerous young woman with artificial legs, played by Sofia Bputella. It was also nice to see Mark Hamill in a cameo role as a university professor, barely recognisable, looking like an old man and with a credible British accent, which reminds me that I'm so looking forward to seeing what Disney does with Star Wars 7.