Mortal Ties (Lupi) [Mass Market Paperback]

Eileen Wilks (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 2, 2012 | Series: Lupi (Book 9)

“Eileen Wilks is a truly gifted writer,” (Romance Junkies) and her Novels of the Lupi have drawn readers into a seductive world of action, suspense, and passion. Now, FBI agent Lily Yu tracks a traitor into the darkest shadows yet…

 

FBI agent Lily Yu is living at Nokolai Clanhome with her fiancé, lupi Rule Turner, when an intruder penetrates their territory, stealing the prototpye of a magical device the clan hopes will be worth a fortune--if a few bugs can be worked out . . .

 

But the protoytpe can be dangerously erratic, discharging a bizarre form of mind magic—and it looks like the thief wants it for that very side effect. Worse, whoever stole the device didn’t learn about it by accident. There’s a Nokolai traitor in their midst.

 

Lily and Rule have to find the traitor, the thief, and the prototype. One job proves easy when the thief calls them--and his identity rocks Rule’s world. 

 

As they race to recover their missing property, they find Robert Friar’s sticky footprints all over the place. Robert Friar--killer, madman, and acolyte of the Old One the lupi are at war with--an Old One whose power is almost as vast as her ambition to rock the entire world . . .

Editorial Reviews

Review

“One of the best Were series I have ever read.”--Fresh Fiction

"Wilks’s storytelling style is so densely layered with plot complexities and well-defined characters...There is no better way to escape reality than with a Wilks adventure!”--RT Book Reviews

“Eileen Wilks writes what I like to read.”--Linda Howard, New York Times bestselling author 

About the Author

Eileen Wilks is a national bestselling author and a four-time RITA Award finalist, and has been nominated for a Career Achievement Award by Romantic Times.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Berkley; Original edition (October 2, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425254925
• ISBN-13: 978-0425254929
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.3 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #195,755 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Eileen Wilks was born in the dusty little town of Monahans, Texas to the usual number of parents. She's done a lot of wandering since then, having lived in Canada and Venezuela as well as twelve U.S. cities in five states. She wandered a lot professionally, too, before finding her home in writing. A three-time finalist (update: now a four-time finalist!) in RWA's prestigious RITA contest, she is the recipient of a Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars More Urban Fantasy than Paranormal Romance, but still very enjoyable all the same October 2, 2012

By A Book Obsession.. TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Forced to live at Clanhome due to the many threats on their lives, Lily and Rule are trying to make the best of things. But when someone slips into their territory and steals one of Cullen's magical devices, things go a little haywire. Since the device was a secret, Nokolai has a traitor in their midst and Isen goes over the edge in his determination to find the traitor on his land. Meanwhile Robert Friar and the Old One he serves are still causing devastation in their wake, and this time it may just hit a little too close to home.

In my review of the previous installment I had expressed frustration at the lack of emotion between Lily and Rule. I was hoping to see a turn around in that department this time around, but while there was some progress, their relationship is still missing that compelling spark that drew me to them in the first place. In the earlier books, despite Lily fighting against the mate bond, there still was an all consuming feeling about things between them. I realize that relationships are always more intense in the beginning, but they should still retain at least some of that original frenzy to keep things fresh. Sure, the words were there on paper that they love and need one another, that's really all it felt like, words. I just would greatly prefer to be swept up in between them and their emotions.

Another one of my issues with the last book was that the threat was more in the abstract rather than front and center. I'm happy to say that was not a problem at all in Mortal Ties. Sometimes while writing reviews I have a difficult time figuring out exactly what to say as to avoid spoilers, I can't really get into any specifics. That is definitely the case here as there were several new elements added to the story that made a major impact on both the characters and the overall story arc as well. I'd love to go into depth about a lot of that as some things were rather shocking, but I'll just leave it at that so you can enjoy those things for yourselves.

If I had to categorize these books, I would place the first several installments firmly into the paranormal romance category. While there was plenty of plot momentum, both in the books themselves, and the overall series arc as a whole, there still was a great deal of focus on the romance between whatever couple had the limelight at the time. However, with the last few books it seems that these books are moving more and more into the Urban Fantasy genre as the romance has taken a severe back seat at this point. Granted, this is more of a grumbling complaint from me rather than a real flaw with the books as I'm really a hopeless romantic at heart. Once you show me any potential for romance in a book, I want to see it and keep it. So while rating the book, I have to force myself to take a step back and away from my romantic preferences and really look at the enjoyment factor of the book as a whole. And, once I did, I realized that I actually enjoyed this book a great deal. In fact once I picked it up I couldn't seem to put it down despite other obligations weighing on me. If that isn't a sign of a good book, then I don't know what is. So I'm hoping that the next book will go smoother for me now that I've finally accepted the feeling of the slight genre switch. So all together, Mortal Ties will more than please fans of the series as it brings the threat front and center and will leave your heart pounding from the incredibly high stakes.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fast paced mystery that keeps you turning pages and staying up late October 2, 2012

By D. Antonio

Format:Mass Market Paperback

I do love this series. Poor Lily can't catch a break. She is living at the Nokolai Clanhome planning her wedding to Rule when one of Cullen's magical experiments gets stolen. Is there a traitor in the pack? Who would've stolen it? Then there is the fact that Lily's sister Beth is living in San Francisco and working for and crushing on Robert Friars half-brother who suddenly goes missing. Rule gets some rather disconcerting news from Isen and why is ex-cop Drummond's ghost still hanging around?

What a romp! Fast paced mystery that keeps you turning pages and staying up late. Welcome to the world of the Lupi a mix of urban fantasy, mystery thriller, and paranormal romance. You can't beat it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars 4.5 stars - It's all the little things that make this series so good. October 2, 2012

By melindeeloo TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Mass Market Paperback

When a magical object is stolen from the Nicolai Clanhome it looks like the Lupi have a traitor in their midst, and the fallout from the hunt for the traitor and the revelation of the identity of the thief both have some personal repercussions for Rule. And as Rule stuggles with those issues, he and Lily attempt to unravel all of the plots and plans surrounding the object's whereabouts in order to recover it before it falls in the hands of an old enemy.

I absolutely love this series and the start of the book is really really good because it highlights all the reasons for my fan-girl love: there are such wonderful nuances to the Lupi world, and so many of the characters are insightful and intelligent. Mortal Ties has many great moments where those insights and that intelligence is put to use, and Isen's manipulations in the hunt for the conspirators and Lily's part in the search for the missing item - including an interesting 'interview' with one of the players in the actual game which precipitated the theft - are just a few. I also really liked watching Rule sort out his feelings about a change in his role as Leidolf Rho and attempting to deal with his emotions when a long held secret associated with thief's identity opens an old wound.

Always a big plus in a series with a large continuing cast, it was fun to see more of some old favorite characters - though some have just short cameos - I am greedy for as much Cullen, Cynna, Isen, and Madame Lu as I can get. (Sam, Benedict, Arjenie and Ruben are off-screen though, sniff.) And I thought that the new characters introduced in the story - Jasper, Tony and Alycithin all added some wonderful elements to the story too. But above all, I love Rule and Lily together - I don't think that I will ever get enough of them.

The last part of the book, when all of the elements of the plot start unfolding and all of the players start making their moves against Rule and Lily, is good too, and as events built up to the big finish, I was so worried that Wilks was going to leave us with a cliff-hanger ending that I sneaked a peek at the final scene to prepare myself for that eventuality. In case you are wondering, the events from this story do come to a resolution before the end of the book, which is good in some ways but the way things wrapped up - and as much as I enjoyed Mortal Ties - I am not sure what this book actually 'added' to the forward motion of the series arc itself. But then again I was confused about the final fate of the object that caused the entire mess, so it maybe that is the piece that will stir things up in the next book or maybe some changes in Rule will cause some shake-ups in Nicolai.

Either way, I can't wait to find out what happens next when the story continues in 2013 with Ritual Magic and even though I am not sure where Wilks will take us in the next book, I hope that there are still a few more books left to go in the series before the final confrontation between the Lupi's mortal enemy who is not named and the Lupi's Lady goddess, because I am going to be sad when this series is finally done.