Secrets & Truths, by Kimberly Hunter
For untold centuries, the history of the Regem Lupus, the Wolf King, and his Regem Conjugem, the Royal Consort, have been hidden. Many times they have surfaced, putting the Pack back in order. Only to have it all fall apart again after their deaths.
Until now.
This is the personal account of Caleb Lamont and Jett Valen. Told in their own words, follow along with them and discover how an ordinary human and a powerful Alpha Prime learn of their birthright, their heritage, and most importantly, their destiny.
So in the immortal words of Caleb Lamont, “Buckle up, bitches! It’s going to be a wild ride!”
Rating: 2.25 out of 5
This book started out so well. I have always been a complete sucker for the whole ordinary-guy-destined-for-greatness storyline, so I loved the premise here. Caleb, a soldier in a shifter defense force, is nearly killed but saved by a bite from a werewolf compatriot, making him a werewolf as well, and a very powerful one at that. Woohoo, right in my wheelhouse!
But then you have the standard werewolf insta-mate trope (“I have just met you and I love you!” Wait, does this mean Dug was a werewolf? Never mind.) I’m willing to put up with this if it is written well. The problem is that we don’t get a lot of glimpses into the personalities of the two main characters, Caleb and Jett, so the whole thing falls kind of flat for me.
There is really very little action here. There is a lot of discussion about the history of the Regem Lupus (I agree with the earlier comment that it should more properly be Rex Luporum, “King of wolves”) and the politics of the human and shifter worlds. OK, so we spend 75% of the book talking and talking and talking and then things go completely off the rails.
I really can’t get around the ethics of what is proposed in this story. It is definitely au courant in dealing with income inequality and poverty and need across the world. The solution that is proposed, though, is for all intents and purposes mass murder. This is NOT OK. What can I say? I like my good guys to at least try to be good. This is pretty much amoral trigger-happy BS.
Regarding the writing, the story is told from first-person POV, but it jumps between Caleb and Jett. I frequently couldn’t tell through which character’s eyes we were seeing and it made the story confusing as heck.Finally, a bit more proofreading would be helpful. There were also a good number of places where incorrect words were used, like “diffusing a situation”.
I’m afraid I really can’t recommend this one, unfortunately.
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