Wild Sign (Alpha and Omega)

Through fractured memories, dreams, and premonitions, we finally get the story of Leah and Bran's meeting and mating and who she was before. And more hints about plenty of other ongoing mysteries. Babies loved and lost, wished for, feared, regretted, and welcomed. This book was all about family matters. And I loved it.

I love Mercy's books for sure but Charles and Anna are a close second...this is amazing and I hope we will be seeing them again....I also LOVE that we got some Leah and Bran clairity...

I have always enjoyed pretty much anything Patricia Briggs has written, but this installment within the Alpha & Omega series is really a cut above the rest. It was well paced, didn't get boughed down in detailed explanation of the inner working of bonds and breaking curses (cough Smoke Bitten cough), and had legitimate character growth of several characters. I am so excited to read what comes next, it just sucks that we probably won't see another installment for 2-3 years.1. Loved Bran and Leah's subplot from start to finish, including glimpses into Charles childhood and the quick interaction with the FBI. I wish their last scene together was longer.2. Charles hidden well of untapped power, definitely need to see that being utilized in the future. Making peace with that side of himself and learning to embrace it would be interesting to read.3. So much Brother Wolf, which is always a plus. This story finds Anna and Charles in a stable solid point together, which is so much better than rehashing the "Oh I'm such a monster" trope. I don't think either series needs to go down that route again.4. Sufficiently creepy/evil monster and setting that set an atmosphere throughout the entire book that kept you on the edge of your seat. I've seen this book compared to River Marked, but I think this one has the edge. The personal connection to this monster made it scarier in my opinion. Trigger Warning: SA was a part of the MO of the antagonist, but I didn't feel it was exploitative. Other's may disagree.5. Tag was great, loved learning more about him, though I kind of wished he's got the finale he accepted.6. Oh my god that heartbreaking ending! While it provided an answer to one series question, it also opened a whole world of implications that I can't see having anything but a tragic end for two characters I love. Really trying not to write spoilers here. Going to need that whole story and conflicts to be explored in it's own book. I don't want a tragic ending for them, but how could they abide by the path they've selected? Unless Mrs. Briggs is planning a time jump in the future with a new heroine and series, I don't see that storyline ending positively in the present.Several characters either had their stories reformed/broadened to truly show them and their motivations in a new light, while also developing significant changes in their arc. I hate to say it but the Mercy series has been a little stagnant as of late. Though even a decent book from Mrs. Briggs is better that most stories out there. I almost wish the Mercy series would wrap up so that the Marrok pack/Charles and Anna story can take center stage. Maybe Mercy can handle getting the Fae/Government conflict wrapped up, because I truly need there to be a no holds barred battle in the future with Wellesley/Frank Bright, Sherwood Post, Charles and Bran against the Hardesty witches. That story line has to end in the Alpha & Omega series.The only negative I have is that a character from Smoke Bitten book, who was exposed as a Hardesty spy during the rushed ending of that book, was never brought up or dealt with in Aspen Creek. But that's my only minor complaint.I rarely write reviews, but I really enjoyed this story. There was a sober menacing quality to this story that I think has been missing in the last few installments. I'm sorry Smoke Bitten was a little hokey and almost felt like an episode of that old fairytale show Once Upon a Time. No one really felt in danger in that story and everything was wrapped up neatly with all the characters in pretty much the exact same position as the start of the book. This story had more depth in my opinion, and I would recommend this story and series to absolutely everyone.

There is so many enjoyable things in one book. I can't stop reading!When I'm on my break, its a good way to kill time. Being immersed in this world helps me make better choices in mine.

Wild Sign is deeply disturbing, and not in a good literary way. I ended up skimming through multiple chapters, just reading enough to get the gist of what was going on, then slowing down for the more compelling sub-plots.While this story tried to be a redemption arc for the unpleasant Leah, it only gave me the reason as to why she's an unlikable person, rather than making her seem acceptable. Overall, I dread re-reading this one as I go through a re-read of the entire series because I do not like this particular "Eldrich horror of the week" storyline at all.That said, like all of the books in this series, it is well-written and well-edited, and shouldn't be skipped because there are very important sub-plots that are vital to other characters' development and the overall story arch of the Mercy Thompson/Alpha & Omega universe.

I've always loved this series, even more than the Mercy Thompson series. The characters seem more complex. I can't wait fir more of them to be published.

This book is off to a slow and measured start. Charles and Anna are asked by some FBI agents (who are aware of the existence of werewolves and with whom they had dealings in the past) to investigate the disappearance of a small group of people, who had established an off-grid community in a remote location in Northern California. As it turns out, the small settlement was located on land belonging to the Marrok and his pack, though the why of how the land exactly came to belong to Bran seem a bit foggy, except that the story is connected to the past of the Marrok’s aloof mate Leah. But what starts out as a seemingly straight-forward investigation soon turns into a fight that has Anna, Charles and Tag (who is tagging along, haha) up against a primordial being of quite formidable powers… But even as it tries to tear Charles and Anna apart, they are connected by their mating bond and by drawing on it and the pack bonds, in the end they are able to banish the evil entity forever. Coyote makes an appearance, too, ostensibly to help, though he does it in his own trickster fashion…What impressed me and what I liked most about this book is the incredibly dense atmosphere it evokes. With the unhurried start – there is no urgency, as the inhabitants of Wild Sign have disappeared months before the situation is brought to Charles and Anna’s attention - the reader is lulled into a false sense of complacency. Although there are little hints here and there that something isn’t as it should be, they all seem innocuous enough, especially in the beginning, it’s only through their accumulation over time that they take on this ominous feeling and reveal their importance. And the atmosphere gets more and more oppressive so that you even feel it weighing you down through the pages. Obviously, Patricia Briggs appears to be quite the horror movie buff, but actually Wild Sign didn’t remind me so much of Rosemary’s Baby (which is referenced in the book and which has some bearing on the plot), but rather of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, mostly because of the atmospheric density that in Wild Sign acquires a cinematic quality. The road trip driving down from Montana to California, with the curving roads through vast forrested areas, was somehow reminiscent of the iconic opening sequences of the movie. And the description and the ominous feeling of the retirement facility Angel Hills reminded me of the Overlook Hotel and last but not least, the title giving "shining", the ability to perceive the horrible past of a place, and the notion that those horrific acts somehow get inscribed into the very fabric of a place. The whole book is infused with a sense of what Freud termed the "uncanny", that feeling that something is simultaneously strangely familiar and wholly mysterious.A wonderful book and a truly magical reading experience.

Another great story, intricate and detailed drawing the reader into this world created for us by the authors. I look forward to the next journey.

Scrittrice che personalmente non sbaglia mai un libro. So già che neanche questo mi deluderà

Como sempre a estória é excelente!! O que estraga, é ter que esperar 2 anos pra ler mais 😅❤️ mas vale a pena!!!

J'attendais avec impatience la suite de Alpha et Omega. Et c'est génial, toujours aussi bien écrit et passionnant.

Note: to get the best reading experience, I recommend to read the books of the „Alpha and Omega“ series together with the older „Mercy Thompson“ series in the order of their respective publication. The series are intertwined and since they’re both excellent UF, you can only gain by doing that.ReviewWow, the atmosphere of this book definitely has to be mentioned first, because it’s like another main character. And it is eerie, rather dark, although the hilarious dialogue moments are still there and Charles and Anna’s relationship is just as great as ever. But the tone of this book really isn’t on the light side. But probably even more gripping for it. I surely couldn’t lay the book down, once I started reading it, I was totally sucked into the main characters’ quest.In a rural Californian mountain area that belongs to Leah Cornick of all people, a whole camp of people disappeared and Bran sets Charles, Anna and Tag on the task of investigating it and, if there is a problem to be solved, deal with it. Meaning the whole story takes place in the wilderness that has a magical (not of the benevolent kind) touch. Subsequently, the three of them have to come to grips with everything that is thrown at them all alone. And what their enemies confront them with! Wow! Not for the faint of heart. And the how and why of Bran’s relationship with Leah is exposed and let’s just say that I still don’t like her for everything she did to Mercy, but I get her a lot better. And Bran... well, he ain’t no angel either... but of course I can’t tell too much because spoilers and such. I loved the story, the setting and how the overall story arc of both series develops. There is an epilogue that is not connected to the plot of the book, but that does have a lot of cool implications for this and the Mercy series. I can’t wait to learn about it all!