The Better to Hold You (Kindle Edition)

by Alisa Sheckley (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

“The sort of book that makes you want to invest in silver bullets before meeting the author.”
–Neil Gaiman

SHE KNOWS WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE.

Manhattan veterinarian Abra Barrow has more sense about animals than she
has about men. So when her adored journalist husband returns from a
research trip to Romania and starts pacing their apartment like a caged
wolf, Abra agrees to move with him to a rural mansion upstate in order to save her marriage.

But while there are perks to her new life, particularly in the bedroom,
Abra soon discovers that nothing in the bucolic town of Northside is
what it seems. The local tavern serves a dangerous, predatory
underworld. Her husband has developed feral new appetites and a roving
eye, and his lack of humanity isn’t entirely emotional. As the moon waxes full, Abra must choose between trusting the man she married, taking a chance on a seductive stranger, or following her own animal instincts.


From the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Alisa Sheckley is a native New Yorker. After years as an editor at Vertigo, the mature/dark fantasy imprint of DC Comics, and working on the phenomenally popular Sandman series, she is now a full-time writer. She is the author of several novels, including The Dominant Blonde and Flirting in Cars. She lives just north of the New York City with her husband and two children.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 461 KB
• Print Length: 336 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey (February 24, 2009)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B001S59CN2
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #82,385 in Kindle Store (See Bestsellers in Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Angsty and meandering, this shapeshifter tale finally gains momentum at the end., February 28, 2009

By	melindeeloo (sb,ca) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Better to Hold You (Mass Market Paperback)

In the Better To Hold You we meet repressed Abra as she deals with the husband who is going through a different kind of change of life, one in which her skills as a veternary intern may just come in handy. For the vast majority of the story Abra is the pathetic victim and her husband, Hunter, is selfish and not at all likeable as he pursues the call of the wild - uprooting their Manhattan lives to live closer to the magic of nature which will enhance the lycanthrope virus he carries and allow him to not be just more wolfish but to actually gain the ability to shift. Along the way Abra meets the shamanish Red, who has his own sort of animal attraction, and as her husband pulls away from her Abra finds herself more and more drawn to Red.

The Better To Hold You is incredibly meandering, the first three fourths of the book explores Abra's angst as she tries to keep her husband and save her marriage, even through Hunter's neglect and poor treatment of her. The book does finally have some moments near the end, as Abra connects with Red and she also starts to shed her inner doormat and her relationship with Hunter comes down to a violent confrontation. But it's a long time comming, and up to that point so much of the story is in Abra's head and is only marginally interesting. In the last few chapters all the setup finally pays off and the climatic confrontation was a suprising reward for having stuck with it to finish the book. Abra's story continues in Moonburn, but since the ending here represents such a big change for Abra it hard to guess what the future has in store for Abra and who she will be in her new life.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars to each his own, March 3, 2009

By	R. Sherman - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Better to Hold You (Mass Market Paperback)

If you like a strong heroine-this is not the book for you. It is slow to start and deals with a doormat wife and an unlikable husband. I ended up banging the book on the arm of my chair trying to get the heroine to buck up and see the light. The beginning was in a realism theme. The ending seemed too fantastical and theatrical.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wild wit and imagination!, March 3, 2009

By	T. J. Bourla (New York, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Better to Hold You (Mass Market Paperback)

I've been a fan of this writer's work as Alisa Kwitney, and this novel -- her first paranormal -- is in her signature style of wild wit and imagination. She understands the intricacies of being human, and completely persuades you of what it is like to be animal.