Prey is a romantic suspense set in the wilderness, complete with deadly thunderstorms, a sociopath, and a man-eating bear. Between the weather, the wildlife, and the dark side of humanity, Angie is in a world of trouble.
We begin with Angie, who had made a living taking tour groups (mostly hunters) into the Montana wilderness until Dare Callahan came to town and siphoned off her business. She’s putting her home up for sale to try again somewhere else when she takes one last duo of hunters into the wilderness. She should have quit sooner. Dare will, of course, come to her rescue.
I thought this was okay, but not at all up to Linda Howard’s usual standards. The beginning was long and info-dumpty, and we spent far too much time in the point of view of the sociopath who booked this trip as a convenient way to off his boss before he fled the country with millions of stolen dollars. The romance between Angie and Dare had little to recommend it, and it missed it’s moment. (By which I mean that I was thoroughly ready for them to take their unique survival opportunity to its inevitable conclusion looonnnngggg before it happened. By the time it did, I was bored.)
The bear seemed to be a bit of a sociopath as well, if bears have sociopaths. I guess black bears normally avoid humans, but this one got the taste for them. The scenes with the bear (including a few from the bear’s point of view) were gruesome and vivid, and in a horrifying way, the best parts of the book.
Overall, I don’t really recommend this, at least not until you’ve read all of Linda Howard’s other books. 🙂
Title: Prey
Author: Linda Howard
ISBN: 0307577651
Published September 6, 2011