Stray (Shifters, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Vincent's debut, an urban werecat fantasy, is a good story that suffers from about 200 pages of bloat. Faythe Sanders is a Texas grad student with a secret: she's a shape-shifting werecat. After she's attacked by a Stray—a werecat without ties to any pride—Faythe's father, the Pride Alpha, orders her to return to the family compound. As it turns out, two other werecat tabbies have gone missing, indicating an organized effort by the formerly go-it-alone Strays. The author's world building is intriguing but overly narrow, reducing the range of jungle feline behavior to a keen territorial instinct. Secondary characters abound, including Faythe's intended, formerly human werecat Marc; five years earlier, she escaped the pride on what was supposed to be the eve of their wedding. Unfortunately, they both have frustrating character tics that are only exacerbated by the novel's length: Faythe is more often too-stubborn-to-live than kick-ass, and all the tears Marc wells up over Faythe don't forgive his insufferable jealousy. A polished tale may hide within this one, but Vincent needs to rein herself in a bit if she wants to build a readership.
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Review

"A high-octane plot with characters you can really care about. Vincent is a welcome addition to the genre!" -- Kelley Armstrong, author of the Women of the Otherworld series

"Compelling and edgy, dark and evocative, Stray is a must read! I loved it from beginning to end." -- Gena Showalter, acclaimed author of Enslave Me Sweetly

"Rachel Vincent is a new author that I'm going to be watching." -- New York Times bestselling author Kim Harrison

"Well written, fresh, charming, great voice -- Buffy meets Cat People. I loved it, and look forward to much more in the future from this talented author." -- New York Times bestselling author Heather Graham

Vincent's debut is fast paced and cleverly written, and it should find favor with fans of the shape-shifter subgenre. Even those not usually enamored by it could be won over by the sheer power and clarity of her voice. Plus, some of those male werecats are choice! -- Romantic Times Book Review, June 1, 2007

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 624 pages
• Publisher: Mira (June 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0778324214
• ISBN-13: 978-0778324218
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (81 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #132,062 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 1 in The Werecats Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars TSTL heroine, Derivative of Bitten, September 9, 2007

By	SereneNight (California, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Faythe Sanders is a were kitty with a problem. She is one of the few females of her species (ala Elena), and her father sends her ex-boyfriend Clay... Oops... Marc to escort her home. What nefarious reason does Daddy have to do this? He wants to protect her and keep her safe? What an awful guy! The problem is Faythe broke up with Marc and broke his heart and would rather stay at school and be yet another over-educated nitwit than return home and help her people. When Faythe does get back to the ranch, she finds herself the center of a love triangle between Marc and Jace two of daddy's hot bodyguards. Is Faythe happy with the situation? No! She must make everyone miserable, including her father, her brothers, and her mother. Is she satisfied then? No! She must assert her independence AT ALL costs, even if it means risking her life and everyone else's' in the process.

Seriously what the heck? I thought characters like Faythe belonged in 1970's harlequin novels. She never gets off the Self Pity train and her bellyaching about her independence constantly (while consequently relying on her parents to pay for her college education and future grad school) left me cold. Seriously this girl never works a day in her life...She is a total spoiled brat... This would be somewhat more palatable if she changes in the story... But it doesn't happen. Not only is she spoiled but she is TSTL at times. Yikes!

Ironically, I LIKED the male characters. But even they came off as TSTL for their utter love of Faythe which seemed undeserved and frankly a little hard to believe. Considering how she jerks them around.

Many plot elements reminded me of Armstrong's work, down to the Kitties not wanting their blood tested because it was `different' to the alpha cat having a cage in his basement. I agree with the other reviewer who said the ecology of the were animals in the story remind me more of wolves than large cats. Frankly I am surprised so many males would be content with a monogamous arrangement of their only females when there are so many young healthy men running around single.

Overall this novel which started off promising ended up being a disappointment. Faythe was annoying as a heroine could be and the similarities to Armstrong's work were difficult for this reader to choke down.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good considering, July 2, 2007

By	Neker (Duson, Louisiana United States) - See all my reviews

This novel definitely has promise. Granted, the one of the few females in the pack/pride has already been done (and better) by Kelley Armstrong, but Vincent's Stray does manage to produce a book with a lot of action and an interesting plot line. The interaction between Faythe and her brothers is fun. The extra men in her life are sexy. (Makes you wonder what's with the were-cat gene to make all the men beautiful?)

I do have a few complaints about the novel. Granted, I don't find them so unbearable that I didn't enjoy reading the book. First, Faythe is a ginormous B****. She is so stuck up on herself that she puts herself before her family, her friends, and even the people who believe they love her. She realizes in the story what she is doing and has no remorse whatsoever. Yet, later she takes the place of her cousin to prevent her from getting hurt. HUGE contradiction in character. I let it go and hope that the author does this on purpose to show growth of character. Second, is the fact that the were-cats act more like wolves than they do an actual pride of large cats. I don't remember reading or watching any specials were large cats are monogamous. Nor any reasons why there would be so few females (5-1). Also, it's the female cat that does the hunting. Vincent has them at home protected and guarded to the extreme. Why don't more men fight over the women if there were so few? Lastly, what do the other men do for pleasure? For families? Can they have children outside of the pride? For such a long book, she answered few of the questions that I consider important in establishing a new world.

I'll still read the next. I think this book has great potential and I hope to see a marked improvement in the next.

28 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A tale of toms and tabbies--more like 3.5 stars ***SPOILERS***, May 30, 2007

By	R. Kyle (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Faythe is not just your average MA student at the University of North Texas. She's a werecat--and one of only eight females in the US of breeding age. It seems, girl-children (aka 'tabbies' in Vincent's parlance) among this species are extremely rare. There are only a few females and daughters are limited to only one girl per alpha were-couple. Faythe's furious when she's attacked by a `stray' werecat and Daddy calls her home to the ranch instead of being allowed to finish out the summer semester.

What Faythe doesn't realize til she gets home is that Sara, one of the other 7 female werecats, has been kidnapped, plus several normal human girls have been mauled and murdered with werecat evidence on them. The family is concerned that Faythe's next and her over-protective father will literally put her in a cage before he will allow her to be at risk.

Faythe's scared, too--not just of the abduction of werecat tabbies, but every woman's primeval fear. She's scared of becoming her mother, as she describes her, `the June Cleaver of werecats.' Her relationship with the Pride's chosen mate for her, Marc, is out of control. That and drunken grief over Sara's death propels her to make mistakes that put her in jeopardy.

At 600 plus pages and approximately 120,000 words, "Stray" is surprisingly long for a new author investment. That number of pages was too long for the plotline. Vincent needs to learn to evaluate her novels more closely to see what is essential and what material could be shortened or cut altogether without any serious loss to the novel.

While the book comes highly recommended, "Stray" does suffer from some debut novel flaws.

One of the most serious of those flaws is originality. Kelley Armstrong, one of the blurb circle for this book, wrote a very similar plotline for her "Women of the Otherworld," series. Writers really need to think of a more scientifically plausible explanation for few females in a race if they are going to use it as a literary device.

Additionally, while the immediate bad guys are caught, we don't precisely have closure as to why the women were stolen. In 600 pages, it seems like we should have had some resolution to the main storyline and move on to something else for the next book.

Vincent could do a little more research into big cats before her next venture into this world. Her "Pride" structure works more for a wolf pack than felines. My chief complaint here is that cats in Prides are monogamous pairs. Lifetime bonding is a wolf trait. Also, considering the well-known fact that the male of the pair determines the sex of the children, it's a sound idea for the 'tabbies' to mate outside the Alpha-pairing not just for the possibility of having better odds at female children, but also to provide a more diverse gene pool.

There's a fine line authors walk between creating a [...]heroine and a bully with a Jane Wayne complex. Vincent crossed that line with a heavy-handed hunting scene where Faythe knowingly killed "Bambi's mother". Faythe managed to redeem herself somewhat when she offered herself up to her kidnapper instead of a younger cousin. Faythe still has maturing to do before she's much more than primarily self-involved, but I don't doubt there will be more novels in the "Stray" universe to come. I think near the end, she discovered a passion and purpose in defending those who cannot defend themselves. I really hope that Ms. Vincent continues writing with that vein in mind.