Emory Hilliford, an unassuming anthropology professor, is drugged, held captive and interrogated by a mysterious stranger who wants only one thing: the truth about an ancient race of beings known as the lupinotuum, half man/half wolf, who have walked among humans for centuries. Once they ruled the tundra, now they rule Wall Street. Once they fought with teeth and claws, now they fight with wealth and power. And Emory Hilliford, an orphan who was raised by a family of sophisticated, influential lupinotuum in twentieth century Venice, is uniquely positioned to chronicle their culture, their history, and their secrets.
Unknown to all but a select few, Emory has also been carefully groomed to play a crucial role in history, one that could have deadly consequences for his own race, and theirs. Now forced to tell his story, Emory must decide how much of the truth he can afford to reveal, and what secrets he will take to his grave… because his own time is running out.
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My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I have not read any of the other Devoncroix books, but didn’t feel that was a disadvantage in reading this book. In some ways, I suspect it might be a summary of the rest of the series, filling in some of the blanks between the books.
I found the story compelling, the switches between time-slots, genres and pace made for a rollercoaster ride. Moving from an action-packed flashback story to the current day in the kidnap location, where everything was gentile and calm was an effective technique.
The writing was eloquent and visual. This is obviously a well-developed universe and I didn’t spot any internal inconsistencies.
The werewolves in this book/ series are different from those in many other stories. I liked the premise behind these better; it owes a lot to the sange real hypothesis, which then gives an explanation of how humans and werewolves might co-exist.
An excellent book I would recommend to readers of suspense and mystery books as well as lupus-lovers!
I’m claiming this book as No. 3/150 in the Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge and No. 9 in the Why Buy the Cow? Reading challenge.
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englishrosec 
Great review…what a diverse collection of reads here!
Thank you very much – I’m just starting to catch up on 2 months of reviewing backlog (about 40 books).
My reading is eclectic – if there are words, I’ll read them. Which reminds me, I ought to review the dictionary sometime!
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If you haven’t read the other books by Donna Boyd, The Passion, and the Promise, I highly recommend you do. The renegade took forever until she wrote it, I believe 10 years! but it was awesome! I do hope she continues this series. Another book that is an excellent read by her, is The Alchemist, not related to the werewolf saga, but a good read by itself!