Product Description

Female werecats are disappearing and the Pride is helpless to stop the stray responsible. Confined to home for her own protection, Faythe Sanders must face everything she went to College to escape: the family she left behind, the love she turned her back on, and the destiny tradition says she s bound to fulfil. And when it all becomes too much to handle, an emotionally charged error in judgment leads her into the unsheathed claws of the kidnapper himself. Armed with nothing but animal instinct and a serious attitude, Faythe must free herself and stop the kidnappers before their horrific plot robs her Pride of its most valuable asset: its own continued existence.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #71802 in Books
• Published on: 2009-02-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 624 pages

Review
'I look forward to reading the next book in the series' --Charlaine Harris

'A high-octane plot with characters you can really care about. Vincent is a welcome addition to the genre.' --Kelley Armstrong

'Stray is thoroughly enjoyable with no gaps and all go.' --Kim Harrison

About the Author
Born in the American Midwest and raised all over the south, Rachel had lived in six states and attended twelve different schools by the time she graduated from college. From a young age her reading interests have centered around the dark side of literature. Monsters held a special fascination for her, be they human or beast. And eventually 'I love these books' became 'I think I can write these books' and she began creating fictional worlds of her own.

Customer Reviews

Thrilling Debut
I'd been awaiting this novel for months. I had my local bookstore import it from the U.S., even though it cost me $20.50. ($1 Aussie is circa 80c American, and the U.S. RRP is $6.99 - you do the maths.) STRAY is 618 pages, so I definitely got a lot of bang for my buck. I'd read about shape-shifters before, but not werecats. This is a society where females are rare, and thus highly valued. But Faythe Sanders needed distance from her Pride, and so attended university for five years. But when she's attacked by a stray (a bitten werecat with no Pride), and her fellow tabbies around the country go missing, Faythe is dragged back to her Pride. Pissed off with her all-hours watch, she's overdue for some time to herself, but when she finally gets it, it's at a dangerous price. Without all her guards, it's up to Faythe to save herself and her fellow tabbies. The second half of the novel is worth the cover price alone. Greg Sanders is the most admirable character by far: parenthood and team-leading is difficult enough without all the werecats, ferocious tempers and territorial disputes he has to deal with. Add all that to keeping his own emotions at bay, and he's overqualified for the Father of the Year award. Who needs Hogwarts when you can have the Pride? The release of ROGUE (and any other works by this fabulous author) can't come soon enough.

Stray - Rachel Vincent
I feel like I've been waiting forever to read this book. Since I stumbled across Rachel Vincent's blog last summer, I've been checking Amazon frantically for "Stray" to become available. It was well worth the wait. As a fan of all things shape-shifter and were-related, I found this an exciting and gripping read.

Faythe Sanders is trying hard to be a regular American grad-student. That's not easy to do when you're really one of the last eight breeding female werecats in the country. And when a stray werecat attacks her on campus, she's pulled back home by her overprotective family for her own safety. It seems that she's not the first to be attacked - two of her fellow tabbies have gone missing as well.

In the high-energy story that follows, Faythe is determined to prove herself capable of the independence she so desperately craves. Clashing with parents, her brothers and her ex-boyfriend Marc, she ultimately makes a fatal error in judgement that lands her in the hands of the stray. Can she escape, save her fellow tabbies and prove herself worth more than just marriage and kittens?

Rachel Vincent has a lush, evocative voice that perfectly captures Faythe's character and world. The atmosphere and mood throughout the book is richly described. I was swept along, unable to put the book down because I became so absorbed in Faythe's journey and experience. The family structure of her Pride is at once familiar and alien, and her relationships with her loved ones are well-portrayed and utterly believable.

Although Faythe does prove herself to be capable and kick-ass, she's far from a flawless character and this serves to make her seem very real. She does make mistakes, she can be unlikeable (though never unsympathetic) and I was left with the feeling that I'd like to be friends with her. She'd be a lot of fun to hang out with. I'm now frantically checking Amazon for "Rogue," the second book in this series.

Entertaining way to pass a few hours
When this book was recommended to me by amazon I was initially reluctant to read it. I had the distinct impression that it was just going to be a poor Kelley Armstrong rip off featuring cats instead of wolves. I'm not exactly fond of cats and my opinion of werekittys has been badly tainted by Laurell K Hamiltons drivel so I had pretty low expectations for this book.

I was actually pleasantly surprised. It was very similar to Bitten and Stolen but not a totally shameless rip off. The plot in a nutshell - Faythe (one of only a handfull of female werecats) is summoned home from college by her family after another female werecat is abducted. Conflict with her (understandably) protective parents, brothers and the ex boyfriend she left behind ensues. Through her own stupidity Faythe then manages to get herself kidnapped.

Despite some irritations that I had with the immaturity of the main character the book was pretty well written and it moved at a good pace. The action kept developing and I kept reading. I've given this 4 stars - amazon's rating description has four stars meaning I liked it, which I did. I'll probably be buying more from this author but I hope the plot of her next book will be more original than that of this one as I think this writer show a lot of potential.