Marc Daniel (1)

When Yellowstone Ranger Michael Biorn gets a call from old army buddy turned Houston cop, Steve Harrington, asking him to fly to Texas to help with an unusual cop killing, Biorn doesn’t hesitate. When he realizes werewolves are involved, he becomes intrigued – but when those werewolves kill Steve and his wife, he becomes determined to see justice is done. Walking the line between the human and preternatural worlds, Biorn finds himself dealing with the Russian Mob, the Houston Wolf Pack show more and the power struggle between them. Uncovering an intricate conspiracy involving either, both, or some unseen enemy, Biorn must solve the case and avenge his friend’s murder even as he, the last of his kind, is being is being hunted by his hereditary enemies.
I received this book as free review copy from a link on the author’s site in exchange for an honest review and almost regretted it. Rather tired of the recent deluge of sub-par werewolf, vampire and fantasy books on the market of late, I was afraid this would be yet another – I was wrong.
I was so engrossed in the story that until my phone rang, I didn’t realize I’d been reading for three hours: Daniel’s ability to weave multiple characters into a complex story line held my attention. Shadow Pack seems less of a paranormal story to me than it does a good old fashioned mystery complete with an unexpected twist at the end- it just so happens there are praeternatural and supernatural beings in the mix. A mystery of this type requires organizational structure, clean writing, plausible scenarios and fast moving action- all of which this book has. I enjoyed Daniel’s writing and liked our protagonist- a good hearted demon with demons of his own. I look forward to reading the next in this series. show less

(Really more like a 3.5)
When Yellowstone Ranger Michael Biorn gets a call from old army buddy turned Houston cop, Steve Harrington, asking him to fly to Texas to help with an unusual cop killing, Biorn doesn’t hesitate. When he realizes werewolves are involved, he becomes intrigued – but when those werewolves kill Steve and his wife, he becomes determined to see justice is done. Walking the line between the human and praeternatural worlds, Biorn finds himself dealing with the Russian show more Mob, the Houston Wolf Pack and the power struggle between them. Uncovering an intricate conspiracy involving either, both, or some unseen enemy, Biorn must solve the case and avenge his friend’s murder even as he, the last of his kind, is being is being hunted by his hereditary enemies.
I received this book as free review copy from a link on the author’s site in exchange for an honest review and almost regretted it. Rather tired of the recent deluge of sub-par werewolf, vampire and fantasy books on the market of late, I was afraid this would be yet another – I was wrong.
I was so engrossed in the story that until my phone rang, I didn’t realize I’d been reading for three hours: Daniel’s ability to weave multiple characters into a complex story line held my attention. Shadow Pack seems less of a paranormal story to me than it does a good old fashioned mystery complete with an unexpected twist at the end- it just so happens there are praeternatural and supernatural beings in the mix. A mystery of this type requires organizational structure, clean writing, plausible scenarios and fast moving action- all of which this book has. I enjoyed Daniel’s writing and liked our protagonist. Biorn is a good hearted demon with demons of his own. I look forward to reading the next in this series. show less

I really wanted to like this book, as the premise was good -- who wouldn't be interested in a thousand-year-old shapeshifter as the main character? The book started out well but then there were just too many plot holes, the writing overall felt stale and lifeless. The main character, Michael, doesn't seem to do ANYTHING except be attacked by various people. He spends over a month living in a hotel in Houston and literally doesn't seem to do anything productive during that time there, except show more speculate on what is going on, never guessing at anything the reader doesn't already know (thanks to liberal use of point of view from the side of the villains). Michael wants to solve the mystery behind who killed his friend but doesn't seem to do any actual investigating.

This book was disappointing, but despite that I'm almost tempted to read the sequel. As I said, the premise is good and I like the overall world created, I feel like some improved writing (with an actual moving plot) would really make this series stand strong. show less

Amazingly well written fast pacing book.
The plot is full of surprises, you never see what's coming till the end.
Michael is the perfect character for the book, the author did a very good job in creating him and also in making Sheila, the journalist who helps him along the way.
Michael is over a millennium old and the last of his species, he's a park ranger in Yellowstone and expert in wild life. His friend from Huston calls him to have an expert opinion when a cop gets killed and they find show more wolf prints in the crime scene. This event will only be the start of his adventure that will take him in a fight against the Huston pack of werewolves and that will also involve the Russian mob.
I loved how the story kept me interested, how the author made me put all the clues together.
Can't wait to read book 2 :) show less