Stray

Shifters, Book 1

By: Rachel Vincent

Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck

"I look like an all-American grad student. But I am a werecat, a shape-shifter, and I live in two worlds.

"Despite reservations from my family and my Pride, I escaped the pressure to continue my species and carved out a normal life for myself. Until the night a Stray attacked.

"I'd been warned about Strays (werecats without a Pride) that are constantly on the lookout for someone like me: attractive, female, and fertile. I fought him off, but then learned two of my fellow tabbies had disappeared.

"This brush with danger was all my Pride needed to summon me back for my own protection. Yeah, right. But I'm no meek kitty. I'll take on whatever and whoever I have to in order to find my friends. Watch out, Strays, 'cause I got claws, and I'm not afraid to use them."

Listen to more in the Shifters series.©2007 Rachel Vincent (P)2007 Audible, Inc.
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A. All characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Found myself screaming at the computer.

Would you try another book from Rachel Vincent and/or Jennifer Van Dyck?

Probably not.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Different heroine whose emotions matches her circumstances. She just seemed not to think anything through. Some parts of the story were clichéd, some just downright 'convenient' for the storyline. Some of the heroine's reactions made me think she was still in grade school.

Which character – as performed by Jennifer Van Dyck – was your favorite?

Lucas - he was mostly believable.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

NO.

Amazing, simply amazing!

Twilight, Watch out! If Rachel gets a movie deal, she is going to blow you out of the water!!!!! There was only one problem with the novel... It had an end.... I'm going into withdrawal for the next book... oh Mr free credit, please come soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A filler while you are waiting

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

The reader is a good one but a little too old style for the role. The story was slow in the beginning but picks up in the middle. I do not like rape in stories so that took away from the enjoyment. When I out of good options I will listen to the next one.

pulled me in

Where does Stray rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This audiobook pulled me right into the whole series by Rachel Vincent, great story builder!

What about Jennifer Van Dyck’s performance did you like?

great narrator

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes, I could barely hit the pause button once my commute was done.

Fantastic

Rachel Vincent is a new author to me. however I absolutely loved listening to this book. I highly recommend it!

Good overall

It lost my interest for a bit but I came back and finished it. It's a good story overall.

Loved it!

Loved this! And that surprised me for a couple reasons.

First, it very much mimics Kelley Armstrong's first two Otherworld books plotwise, at least initially. Luckily Vincent does have a very firm grip on her world and knows what to do with it, so by the end I was just taking things as they came.

Second, Faythe is a spoiled, thoughtless brat for the first half of the book. I just couldn't like her much. But looking back now it totally fits, so instead of being annoyed I'm actually pleased that the author decided to be real with her character. Given her environment it was unlikely that Faythe could have been a considerate sweetheart, so writing her that way would have been a cop-out on the author's part. It also made a better backdrop for the action-packed second half of the book, and leaves plenty of room for Faythe to grow in later books. (Which I hope we'll see!)

It's the second half of the book that made me love it -- I was all keyed up and couldn't stop listening. If you're a fan of the genre and you like suspense, hold on through the first half and the initial adventures of Little Miss User of Men -- the real story comes midway. I started off not very impressed and ended up ready for a relisten!

Oh, and I was pleased with the narrator as well!

5 *- Action packed, had me on the edge of my seat

I absolutely love a story where the heroine is strong, independent and realistic. Faith has all of those qualities (Girl Power) and flawless. In fact I just wanted to shake her at time. Faith is no wimpy girl. She can kick some serious butt. Now add into that that this story has romantic elements and a sexy male lead (well there are several very sexy male characters) and bad guys that you just love to hate. There are two very sexy guys who want Faith and she has a choice to make. This alone would make a great story line, but these folks are shape-shifter: werecats. If you like authors like Karen Marie Moning (Fever Series), Kim Harrison (The Hollows Series) Christine Feehan, well let’s just say you are going to love Rachel Vincent and this series. I actually purchased this a while back and listen to it while waiting on the releases from some of my favorite authors. Now Rachel Vincent is one of favorite authors. This book gets 5 stars from me and I have several of my friends reading this series now! Did I mention that I have actually listened to this at least two or three times, it’s that good!

loved Shift

really enjoyed this book. would recommend it to everyone. thank you for a wonderful series.

I didn't realize this was a series when I started.

The narrator was good. I didn't really get engaged in the story. The heroine,, Faith, was in her early twenties but came across as spoiled and entitled. She wanted the same treatment as the guys but changed her tune when things got real. there's a love triangle that is frustrating because of the immaturity of the heroine. The overall story was good and got better once we passed Faith's poor me stage. other characters were interesting and kept me interested in learning how it all ends. hopefully the next books see growth and maturity in Faith. Decent story, but room for growth.