Silence of the Wolf
Author: Terry Spear
Reviewer: B.
Rating: B+
What I’m Talking About:
The latest addition to the Heart of the Wolf series, Silence of the Wolf, follows a familiar, yet welcome, pattern that has been a hallmark of the series since I began reading it. Elizabeth Wildwood is independent, self-sufficient, a skilled photographer, and completely uninterested in finding a mate. Ever. She is also a lone werewolf who is being hunted by someone from her past. Tom Silver, sub-leader for the Silver pack of Colorado, isn’t interested in finding a mate right now, either. Pack business, as well as helping out with his brother’s pups, among his other duties, keeps him busy. Fortunately for them both, fate has other ideas, and the rest of Tom’s pack are more than willing to give them a helpful shove or two in the right direction.
While Silence of the Wolf primarily revolves around Elizabeth and Tom’s journey, it is also an enjoyable mystery, the task of answering the many questions driving the story thereby contributing to the main characters’ acceptance of one another. Even though I had a good idea who was behind all the trouble fairly early in the story, a subplot involving a few of the secondary characters was prominent enough to make me second-guess myself, which made it difficult to put this story down.
In addition to providing the suspense I’ve come to count on in this series, Silence of the Wolf offers a closer examination of pack dynamics and prejudices than I’ve seen before. Not only does each member of the Silver Town pack have a unique place within its numbers, compared to the other main group of wolves mentioned in the story, they are impressively open and inviting, giving more weight to an individual’s skills and strengths than their DNA. Once they began to consider Elizabeth one of them, they were immediately protective and nurturing towards her, even though she hadn’t made any sort of commitment to them in turn, leaving the decision to stay or leave entirely up to her. Attributes like this made me like the Silver pack a great deal.
As has been the case with most of the stories I’ve read so far in this series, all of the characters have strong, distinct personalities. I’ve always had a soft spot for Ms. Spear’s shifters, in part because the women are so adept at keeping the men off balance, and the females of the Silver pack certainly deliver. While Tom isn’t really overbearing to begin with, Elizabeth presents a fitting challenge for him. As much as he worries himself over her stubbornness, a complacent little beta wolf simply wouldn’t complete him the way she does, and he knows it. Although Elizabeth establishes her status as an Alpha early and often, I especially enjoyed watching one of the other wolves, Silva, take her would-be mate, Sam, to task over and over. Their scenes provided some of my favorite moments throughout the novel.
Although Silence of the Wolf touches on some serious topics, it doesn’t get too bogged down in the darker days of its characters, instead giving them repeated opportunities to demonstrate their resilience and, maybe more importantly, allowing them to believe that they are deserving of love. Elizabeth and Tom are as well matched as expected, and I truly did enjoy seeing her hold her own against the Silver pack, even as she was drawn to them and their promise of “family.” While it can easily be read on its own, Silence of the Wolf has become so intertwined with other novels in the Heart of the Wolf series that I recommend reading at least some of the earlier stories, if possible. Falling into the category of what I term “lighter reads,” Silence of the Wolf is a sweet, often funny, heartfelt tale of two headstrong individuals overcoming the past and knocking down obstacles on their journey towards a happy ending.
Rating: B+ Liked It A Lot
About the Book:
Life For the Silver Pack Just Got Wilder…
Elizabeth Wildwood has been a loner all her life, ostracized because of her “mixed” half-wolf, half-coyote blood. When she ventures into gray wolf territory on a dangerous quest of her own and his thrown together with the sexiest shifter she’s ever met she begins to wish for the first time that she could be part of a family.
When this unusual shifter female comes into his pack’s territory, it’s Tom Silver’s job to protect her—if only she would let him.
Release Date: March 4, 2014
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Series: Heart of the Wolf #13
ISBN: #978-1402266898
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Format(s): Paperback (352 pages), e-book
Book Source: NetGalley/Publisher
Purchase Info:
Silence of the Wolf (Heart of the Wolf #13)
Reviews in the Series:
Wolf Fever by Terry Spear (Heart of the Wolf #6)
Heart of the Highland Wolf by Terry Spear (Heart of the Wolf #7)
Dreaming of the Wolf by Terry Spear (Heart of the Wolf #8)
A SEAL in Wolf’s Clothing by Terry Spear (Heart of the Wolf #9)
A Howl for a Highlander by Terry Spear (Heart of the Wolf #10)
A Highland Werewolf Wedding by Terry Spear (Heart of the Wolf #11)
A SEAL Wolf Christmas by Terry Spear (Heart of the Wolf #12)