Thrown to the Wolves

Thrown to the Wolves (2019) Charlie Adhara

Cooper is (again) recuperating, having had his leg badly broken in their last adventure–the one that got Park suspended for a month.

They are still hiding their relationship from the BSI, but neither is sure if that will work once they are both back at work together.

Every official communication was carefully uninterested about the private lives of their agents but reaffirmed their stance that BSI agents engaged in a personal relationship could not be partnered together in the field.

Now they’re headed north for Park’s grandfather’s funeral.

Cooper put the guidebook down and cleared his throat. This was getting ridiculous. “Did you tell them I was coming?”

Park blinked slowly, like he’d been dragged from deep in thought. “Yes, of course,” he said after a long moment. Then, “Don’t be nervous.”

“I’m not,” Cooper said. Well, I wasn’t until you said that.

Unfortunately, it gets worse for Cooper, as they wreck their car before even reaching the house.

Park said. “We need to get you to the hospital.”

“No!” Cooper groaned against his own arm. “No more doctors.”

“You lost consciousness.”

“Didn’t. I was just closing my eyes,” he muttered. Park was silent. “I can sense your disapproval from here. Surely that means I’m not concussed.”

“You’d have to be dead not to.” Park sighed.

Also unfortunately, it seems likely that someone killed Joe Park. And the Park family refuses to allow the authorities to be called in.

On of the aspects of the world building I particularly like about this story is the focus on how the government and policing agencies would deal the supernatural. Because anyone who put more than three seconds of thought into it realized that humans are not going to be happy to discover non-humans, and that government agencies are ill-suited to deal with the strange and unexpected.

Bribes for humans getting too close, land purchases kept undeveloped for runs, bail money for wolves who end up in jails where they can’t shift, et cetera.”

Cooper absorbed that. He hadn’t thought much about what went into keeping werewolves out of the news. Now he couldn’t seem to stop thinking about it.
…
No wonder the antiquated system of pack control flourished. The wolves had no one to turn to when they were in trouble and couldn’t rely on the police without endangering their secret.

The other interesting thing about this story is what we spend no time in Park’s head, so we know only what he has told Cooper about wolves and about his past. It’s not especially unusual for mysteries, but it is less common in romances, and it works very well for these stories.

If Cooper were an armchair psychologist, he’d guess the early abandonment Park had experienced by his parents paired with Joe’s extremely conditional love had shaped him into someone who’d do anything, be anyone, for love. That sounded romantic. It wasn’t.

I really like this series. I also like that although there could easily be more stories, it will be okay if there are not.

Publisher: Carina Press
Rating: 8/10

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