Customer Reviews

Mortal Danger (World of the Lupi)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

While I agree with many of the comments from other reviewers here, I wouldn't exactly qualify this sequel as a complete disappointment. "Tempting Danger" was a tough act to follow, and for the most part, "Mortal Danger" is a well-written and compelling story. Author Wilks has a unique and very entertaining 'voice'. Her characters are vividly drawn, dialogue sparkles, and the universe she has created is certainly fascinating.

That said, MD is much more of a plot-based novel than the debut, and if you're looking for emphasis on characters, relationships and their development, you aren't going to find a ton of it here. The main characters, FBI special agent Lily Yu and her werewolf prince Rule Turner, spend more than half the book essentially separated, and while their journey back to each other has its own special moments, including a heartfelt payoff, the read seems a tad long in between.

I realize Wilks is expanding the detail of her universe and setting the framework for future novels, so I'm willing to be patient. I'm hoping that future installments are a bit more balanced between the plot and the characters. TD was very successful in that regard. Still, there's a lot more I'd like to know about Rule and Lily, secondary players like Benedict, Cullen and Cynna -- and what the conflict between spiritual realms is actually heading for in the "Danger" series setting. That curiosity is definitely a result of Ms. Wilks's writing skill.

In the context of future novels, MD might sit a little better in line with the whole series, but it's too early to tell. If I could, I'd rate this one at 3 1/2 stars -- worth the read, but not quite as inspiring as the first. Whatever the case, I'm still looking forward to hearing more.

I just finished this book and was curious what others thought of it. I was shocked to read some of these reviews. I'm not sure what they wanted--maybe more romance and less plot. I thought this was one of the most enjoyable books I've read recently! The two main characters are fascinating; Lily is a strong, compassionate woman (somewhat like Anita Blake before the author thought a story comprised mainly of sex instead of a plot made for good reading)and Rule, the prince of the Nokolai werewolf clan makes a perfect foil. The magical world that Wilks has created is fascinating and looks to become more so in future books. Don't be swayed by the above reviews; if you like the earlier Anita Blake books---minus some of the blood and gore---you'll enjoy this book.

Mortal Danger
Eileen Wilks
Berkley Sensation 2005
PB 393
ISBN # 0-425-20290-9

Imagine a modern world where a large percentage of the population has special gifts, and are accepted, well. . .by most people anyway. This world hires individuals with specific talents suited for special jobs. Sensitives might be hired to find others with gifts and magic can't stick to them. Finders might be used in crime investigations because they're good at finding patterns of things and people. They might also sort the energy detected and then find its source. Now if empaths, gnomes, faeries, and magic co-existing with regular humans aren't enough for you, Wilks adds werewolves, whips up a romance between a FBI agent and a werewolf prince. Oh, and the werewolf's pack contains its own unique system and interesting abilities.

Lily Yu is a former homicide cop who recently became a FBI agent and mate-bonded with a werewolf prince. She is a Sensitive and her gift is useful at her job with the Magical Crimes Division. What Lily Yu doesn't know is that an ancient evil is planning something unimaginable. As the trap is set, Lily Yu draws closer to a dividing precipice where her life, abilities, sanity, and bond with her mate, are all on the line. Trust isn't her thing, never was, but she's not given any choice. Can she give enough to her mate Rule?

The author of `Temping Danger' is back with another tale of speculative romance, but not the syrupy kind. This one focus' more on a strange world and in Lily Yu's aptitude. The stakes are high in this unusual world. The line between worlds is super charged and Wilks pries open a glimpse. `Mortal Danger' is a legal thriller meets Fantasy type of story.

The setting is a delightful leap for lovers of magical beings mingled with modern urban society. The plot gathers momentum, places characters into precarious situations, and stirs up excitement, emotions and amazement. Besides the main plot, Wilks knows to add intriguing sub-plots, twists and suspense.

A non-stop fun ride through a world filled with danger, magic and romance. Intriguing and immensely entertaining.

If you're looking for a paranormal romance, Eileen Wilks' World of the Lupi series may not be quite your cup of tea. While there are romantic elements in the book - more in Mortal Danger than in Tempting Danger, the series opener - those elements are not the driving plot of the book. If you like your books more along the lines of urban fantasy, than give Wilks a try. You won't be disappointed.

Lily Yu is no longer a homicide cop, but her life and her job as an agent for the FBI's Magical Crime Division certainly hasn't gotten any easier. Assaulted at her sister's wedding, trying to come to terms with her Were mate, Rule Turner, the prince of wolves himself, and still trying to find the ever-elusive Reverend Harlowe...and more importantly the big staff of necrotizing badness introduced in the series premiere Tempting Danger, she hardly has the energy to deal with the bodies that start piling up. Or the note left one one: This one's for Yu. Deal she must, however, and with the gritty determination and force of personality that is inherently Yu. She can't help it though, when events in her life put her positively beside herself.

I really enjoyed Mortal Danger. It lacked most of the pleasing police procedural of Tempting Danger, but it did introduce more of the fantasy side of the world that Wilks is creating. It's a well drawn and complex world, and I like seeing it unfold a little at a time. I also very much enjoyed the both the reacquaintance with established characters - I'm a huge Cullen fan - and the introduction of new ones. Cynna Weaver is an enigma and a treat.

It wasn't quite as much a self-contained thriller as Tempting Danger, and it's certainly not anything I'd consider stand-alone, but it was a definite bridge for the series and a significant step in world building. The only minor complaint I have is that the plot was sort of split between worlds and the more urban parts were dealt with disappointingly quickly. The fantasy parts, however, were well written and interesting, and I very much enjoyed seeing more of the were clan dynamics and politics in action. There's a lot of depth and a sense of history in this series that totally appeals, so it balances everything out nicely.

I'm not entirely sure where the series is going yet in its overall arc, but I'm enjoying the hell out of getting there. Nicely done.

I'll admit it. I bought this book merely to "tide me over" until one of my favorite authors came out with something new in the genre of paranormal romance. I honestly was surprised!

I jumped into it mid-series, but I didn't feel overwhelmingly lost. The characters are well written and its steamy but not embarrassingly so. The beginning was a little rocky. I can't remember if this story had a prologue or perhaps it was the opening chapter...but it did make me wonder if I had made a mistake. I kept reading though and after that it was pretty smooth sailing for me!

You have lycanthropes, demons, mortals, dragons, and magic users oh my! Bad things bent on world domination, and good things bent on stopping them. The main female character in the story is well written with the title of pragmatist and budding tough chic invisibly stamped on her forehead. The main guy character...alpha with a heart. I'd give you a run down on the story, but frankly its a little hard to put into a one paragraph blurb.

I'm giving it 4 stars, simply because its better than a straight three and there isn't say a 3 and a 1/2 or 3/4 star option available to me. It's not the very best thing out there on the shelf but its pretty good. I am looking forward to the sequel. As far as would I recommend it? Sure, I would...to someone who enjoys the genre.

Since Tempting Danger, Lily Yu and Rule Tanner have been united in a mating bond, and as thrilling as that might be, it's just one more thing on the lovely human cop's plate. Her family has a dozen things going on that she's obligated to participate in, and her work in homicide is always, well I won't say hairy, since that's what Rule becomes when he turns into a wolf, but you get the idea. It seems even a world where magic is part of daily life is not without its cult figures, and the latest is more dangerous than your average nutcase, and he has decided he needs Lily's soul as an element to unleash demonic forces into the world. To stop him, Lily and Rule must work with one of Rule's old girlfriends, from twenty years ago. As a werewolf, Rule ages slowly, and looks just as he did or better than when he was part of Cynna's life. Yet, when Lily is torn in half and part of her sent to Hades with Rule, Cynna will prove to be a good friend to them both.

There is a lot going on in this book. The lead couple still makes sparks fly as they try to solve the case and figure out what their bond means. The secondary characters also have strong voices, and more than one makes you want to know more about them. The main drawback is that at one point, there is a stretch of space that will leave you saying "huh? What's going on here?" However, after a couple of dozen pages, it does become somewhat clearer.


Amanda Killgore

Hmm...I really don't know what to say to Ms. Wilks newest book. Tempting Danger was sooooo riveting and gave you such a great new perspective on werewolves. But this...it read Very Science Fiction- Not like Sherrilyn Kenyon, Lynsay Sands, or Mary Janice Davidson. More like Dune or (a not as good) Lord of the Rings.

Mortal Danger is an apt title as our heroine, Lily Yu, spends the entire book in peril of loosing her life or her soul.Patrick Harlow, crazy priest from the first book, still bears a grudge a few weeks after Tempting left off. In league with the irritated goddess he plots to strip her of her Sensitive powers and possess her with a demon. And he's partially succesful. But of course Rule, prince of the werewolves is there to try & stop this.

Caution: most of the book takes place in Hell, our main characters are stranded there. Rule is stuck as a wolf & Lily has amnesia. Needless to say there is only one brief love scene which took up all of about 2 paragraphs at the begining of the book. Also four main charcters have only the briefest parts to play & are otherwise non-existant- Grandmother Yu, Croft, Benedict, & Isen.

I initially found myself quite confused. Of course, I hadn't read the first book. I stopped reading this one and hunted down the first. After reading the first book, Tempting Danger, this book was LESS confusing (it was still somewhat confusing). I would recommend reading the first book before starting this one.

This book could have used a bit of simplification. I found myself skimming pages at a time because I was bored/distracted by all of the unnecessary little details. The writing clarified toward the end, but that was only because the book rushed to resolution after plodding along from the beginning through the middle.

I was disappointed that the first half of the book was spent setting up an arch-villian only to have that villian quickly dispatched in a brief battle, which occurred in the middle of the book. The second half of the book was spent setting up the next book. In the second half of the book, the author suddenly has two separate versions of the heroine wandering/laying around in two different dimensions. The book ends with the reunion/consolidation of both heroines as well as the rescue of some dragons and the hero from the non-earth dimension. We only meet one of the dragons in the book (this is done via a couple of brief conversations); the rest are a complete mystery. Good? Bad? Are the dragons there to help save the world or to destroy it? Would it have been better for the heroes to perish in the other dimension rather than bring the dragons into the earth-dimension? Beats me. The author provided the reader with absolutely no preparation for this second storyline.

The first book, Tempting Danger, was much more interesting as well as being better executed. This book elaborated where it should have simplified and skimped on what it should have fleshed-out. However, the main characters are fairly likeable. I hope the next book, which I will still probably read, is better.

After Tempting Danger, this sequel was definitely not as compelling as the first book. When I read this book I kept thinking about JD Robb's Glory in Death. Lily seemed to be awfully similar to Eve Dallas to the point that both don't want to move in w/ their lovers, determination to work despite injuries, hard nosed policy on procedures, love interest conflicts, and their edgy attitude. The only thing missing was a side kick.

Rule, the werewolf prince, was relegated to side character. I had expected him to have a bigger role, so it was disappointing to find that he was a minor character and their weren't very many scenes w/ Lily and him.

The plot was a little confusing, because we don't understand why Lily is so important to the bad guys, and nothing gets resolved at the end other than the staff of power which was in the first book. The book somehow felt a little incomplete. It felt like more of a filler for the next book, which I'm assuming there will be another book if not more to conclude the overall plot.

I wouldn't recommend this book as a stand alone book. To read this book, you have to read the first book, Tempting Danger. I am still interested in the main characters, so despite the lackluster writing in this book I will probably give one more try to another book in this series.

Overall, other than the parllel reality thing and the fight at the conclusion of the book, there didn't seem to be many paranormal aspects. Nor did the book feel like a romance, because Rule and Lily's relationship does not progress any farther than the last book, nor do they spend much time together. It was more like a Day in the Life of Lily.

After the events of the last book, it was inevitable that there would be repercussions for Lily. Harlowe, the leader of the cult serving the goddess whose name cannot be spoken, is out to destroy Lily. Since she is a sensitive and magic does not work on her, he uses the goddess to help form a plot to enable a demon to possess Lily. Things go wrong and Lily finds herself split in two with neither half knowing about the other.

While Lily has finally accepted that she is bound to Rule for life, she still is fighting him tooth and nail on pretty much everything. Sometimes it seems she is just refusing something for the sake of fighting. She refuses his help and protection. She is keeping him at an arms length as much as she possibly can. I keep hoping she will relax a little and let herself truly feel, but that may be an impossible wish.

Rule has the opposite problem as Lily. He wants to be with her at all times. If he had his way, Lily would live with him and quit her job so she would never be in danger. I do find him to be a little bit of a hypocrite because he wants her to completely open up to him, but there is so much he is still hiding from her.

The book was overall decent, but I find the impasse between Lily and Rule to be very frustrating. They both need to give a little and learn to accept the other one's nature. Hopefully in the future books, they will start to grow together, because as of right now I'm having a hard time feeling for them as a couple.