Nocturnal Bites: ALPHA by Rachel Vincent

Saturday, October 2

ALPHA by Rachel Vincent

Saying Goodbye….

I can’t believe it’s over. Rachel Vincent’s Shifter series caught my eye in June of 2010 and after devouring the first five books in less than a week, the wait for the sixth and final book, Alpha seemed like eternity. During that wait, I made a personal pact to stay away from Alpha spoilers. I wanted the full experience of reading this last book without the opinions of others tainting my reaction. I knew this book was the final wrap-up, that many things would change, and decisions would finally be made.

With this said, when I finally got my hands on Alpha, I literally devoured it. From page one, I was fixated and finished the book in one sitting. One word…WOW!!!

The book starts off immediately after Shift, where Faythe, Marc, and Jace are faced with trespassing, kidnapping, and murder charges. In addition to this, the unscrupulous Calvin Malone is gunning for the Head Council chair and with the majority of were-cat allies backing him up, no doubt he inevitably triumphs. The overtaking of the council is only the beginning of a series of blows Faythe and her family face.

The Faythe/Marc/Jace love-triangle picks up right where it left off in Shift. Faythe still can’t choose between the two men she loves. “…He’s the only thing keeping my heart beating. I love him so much that it feels like I’m dying a little bit each time he won’t smile at me. Or touch me. Not even a hug. He keeps that distance between us now. And Jace has to do the same, because they have this weird, fragile truce that isn’t quite working, but I know better than to make them break." (pg. 60) But this truce is going to break me. In the end, Faythe does make a choice, and it is all her own. No one dies and no one backs down.

Everything is at stake… pride, justice, freedom……and a full-scale war seems to be the only solution. Unfortunately, and so sadly, Faythe learns all too quickly what the real cost of war is. And in one single moment, her life is forever changed.

This was such an emotional read for me!! Faythe goes through so much in this book, pain, suffering, anxiety, love, loss, anger…. I am still left with my mouth open in shock at what went down. That’s how great this book is. There are book series that start out great, but then they go on and on, slowly become boring, and lose my interest. This was definitely not the case. Vincent was right to end the series the way she did. Faythe went out with a bang and a blaze of glory and I couldn’t be happier or more satisfied. Now, off to replenish my Kleenex supply!:].