In Review: Alpha by Rachel Vincent

Released 10/1/10 472 pages.
Publisher: Mira
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0778328186

War is in the air, the end is finally here and it couldn't have come sooner. Alpha is the sixth and final book in Rachel Vincent's Shifter series. It's been a long road, with the most annoying, self righteous companion, but this last leg was a wrap-up at least.

It opens up back in Montana, back in Bruin country, and Faythe is still in trouble. You'd think the girl could learn to control her mouth, but the small amount of self control she's learned doesn't take her far, especially not where Calvin Malone and the council are concerned.


The smoking gun evidence she thought she had turned out to be little more than circumstantial, which anyone with half-a-brain knew. Hello? Wise Alpha how could you really walk into the biggest trap ever? Seriously, Wile Coyote's traps are better disguised than this one. As if Faythe was just going to walk in, hand over some bloody feathers and everyone was going to believe her, that even one person was going to give up their formed alliance because of some petty accusations when your hands weren't clean either. But I forgot this is Faythe, and that's the way things are suppose to happen. She rolls with the punches, and comes out on top because she's tough enough to play with the boys.


But she's not really tough enough, she never really was, and I love that finally, FINALLY that point is driven home, even if only for a second. In every fight, punches were pulled because they needed her, and that fed into her childish behavior. And she's not the only one being childish. With a huge loss to the Pride, you would think that the two men vying for Faythe's heart and to help lead the Pride could put aside their petty squabbles? No, they are constantly butting heads, doing everything to make a difficult situation more difficult except marking their territo- err, actually one of them did that too.


The love triangle was for a shining second even, where Faythe could have gone either way. I don't know about you, but I'll take the tingling encouraging make you a better person live wire kind of love, over the bitter angry jealous manipulative kind any day, but hey that's just me I guess. But then there was a sudden change, as if Ms. Vincent lost sight of Jace and needed to make him less so that you'd be ok with how things were looking. I'm not ok, I feel cheated. Because under the surface, the end of the war, the restructuring of prides, the whole shiny veneer is actually horribly tarnished. If I'd have know where the road would have ended and where all the players would be, I'd have long thrown Faythe from the car and found a new less annoying path to follow.