Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #136090 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 624 pages

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.

It got better...
Like others I found that the start of this book 'Stray' had much in common with Kelly Armstrong's Bitten; Females striking out on their own against pack advice; and male boy-friends not born pack and being usurped by human boyfriends in the new life of women they felt were theirs; plus it had the whole pack non pack members going on too. I have to admit that this did not, in my opinion, work in the favour of the author or characters initially. Not because I have a problem with the premise of Armstrong's world becoming the norm - just that initially the characters of Vincent's world were stilted and immature both female and male. Thankfully, once the real action stared in the second half of the book one could stop comparing the worlds and could become embroiled in the action and a rather good story. Strangely it was the partially drawn characters that will have me looking out for the second in the series rather than the main protagonists ... however, this seems like a series with possibilities.