FERAL PRIDE

A battle pitting a group of werepeople and their vampire compatriot against demons in disguise concludes this trilogy that began with Feral Nights (2013).

Escaping to the same imagined alternate Austin, Texas, first created by Smith in Tantalize (2007), teen werecat Kayla lies low with her new friends after having been outed to the world, caught on video transforming into her feline form. It’s not due to embarrassment but rather because her recorded shift coincides with the abduction of the state’s governor by a creature claiming to be a weresnake who insists that people accept that shifters are their superiors. As in previous volumes, the wickedly funny, quickly paced style is anchored by the novel’s underlying theme of the marginalization of people and its effects, both those obvious (“Our legal rights are slippery,” explains Kayla) and more insidiously subtle (like the wedge driven between Clyde, a werepossum/werelion hybrid, and his human girlfriend, Aimee, because of her father’s prejudice). Alternating narration among Aimee, Clyde, and werecats Kayla and Yoshi makes for an interesting blended perspective but can also be a bit confusing, particularly when combined with the intricately detailed plan that evolves to take out the demon masquerading as a weresnake with nothing other than an angel’s sword.

A final episode that is witty, smart and moving—sure to satisfy those who’ve been following the series.