Mortal Ties by Eileen Wilks

The World of the Lupi, Book 9

Synopsis: FBI agent Lily Yu is living at Nokolai Clanhome with her fiancé, lupi Rule Turner, when an intruder penetrates their territory, stealing the prototpye of a magical device the clan hopes will be worth a fortune–if a few bugs can be worked out . . . But the protoytpe can be dangerously erratic, discharging a bizarre form of mind magic—and it looks like the thief wants it for that very side effect. Worse, whoever stole the device didn’t learn about it by accident. There’s a Nokolai traitor in their midst. Lily and Rule have to find the traitor, the thief, and the prototype. One job proves easy when the thief calls them–and his identity rocks Rule’s world.  As they race to recover their missing property, they find Robert Friar’s sticky footprints all over the place. Robert Friar–killer, madman, and acolyte of the Old One the lupi are at war with–an Old One whose power is almost as vast as her ambition to rock the entire world . . .

Review: I was curious about this series especially with the release of the first book in French. And it is true that several years ago someone had recommended me the series, but I finally never got into it. It was then the opportunity to discover how it really was. So of course I start with book 9 so I think I missed a lot of events, but I managed to follow the story well in the end.

Lily is a young woman full of doubts at the beginning of the book. She asks herself a lot of questions about the people she killed, although she did not really have a choice and it was the right thing to do. I must say that she expected to do that as an agent of the FBI, but she fears that it could become banal. Besides, while being the mate of an important Lupi, she is constantly followed by bodyguards, something which is especially disturbing, although she understands why. Rule, her soul mate is a very intriguing character. He is quite secret, keeps his feelings for himself most of the time and perfectly knows how to control himself. This is something that is quite difficult for Lily but she understands the need to stay in control of events and leaves him the space he needs. I loved seeing them both together, gradually discovering and realizing that each one is trying to protect the other as best as they can, although the result is not what they expect. They will thus team up to find a stolen device within their clan, an object that seems to give some people hallucinations. But this is not everything and this invention has more power than it seems. I was really curious to know who was the culprit. I must say that we witness a hunt through the pack to determine who was truly guilty. But then, the thief calls announcing that the object was stolen from him and he needs help. This is already a really weird thing to do, but what is even more is the identity of this person as we can not predict it in any cases. The story is far much larger than I would have thought at the start and I loved to meet so many creatures.

I quite enjoyed the book although I had the impression of being a little back from the story itself. But it may be because I have not started it from the beginning. However, I found the ideas of Eileen Wilks really interesting. The mode of operation of lupi is quite interesting and it is true that I would love to learn more about it. I also wonder what happened during the other volumes. I’ll have to try the other to know that. This is an intriguing discovery.

 

Mortal Ties de Eileen Wilks (VO)



World of the Lupi, Tome 9

Résumé (traduction personnelle) :

L’agent du FBI Lily Yu vit à Nokolai Clanhomeavec son fiancé, le lupi Rule Turner, lorsqu’un intrus pénètre sur leur territoire, afin de voler le prototype d’un appareil magique que le clan pense valoir une fortune – si quelques bugs peuvent être réparés. ..

Mais le prototype peut être dangereusement imprévisible, développant une sorte de magie sur l’esprit – et il semble que le voleur veut de cet effet secondaire. Pire encore, celui qui a volé l’appareil n’a pas appris son existence par accident. Il y a un traître Nokolai parmi eux.

Lily et Rule doivent trouver le traître, le voleur, et le prototype. L’emplois’avère facile quand le voleur appelle et son identité va chambouler le monde de Rule.

Dans leur course pour récupérer leurs biens manquants, ils trouvent des empreintes de Robert Friars un peu partout. Robert Friar tueur, fou, et acolyte de l’Ancienlupi contre qui ils sont en guerre Un ancien dont la puissance estpresque aussi vaste que son ambition à chambouler le monde entier. . .




Avis : J’étais assez curieuse par cette série surtout avec la sortie du premier tome en Français. Et puis c’est vrai qu’il y a plusieurs années une personne m’avait recommandé la série mais je ne m’y étais finalement jamais mise. C’était alors l’occasion de découvrir ce qu’il en était vraiment. Alors bien sûr je commence avec le tome 9 alors je pense que j’ai raté pas mal d’événements, mais je pense que j’ai réussi à bien suivre l’histoire au final.
Lily est une jeune femme pleine de doutes au début du livre. Elle se pose énormément de questions sur les gens qu’elle a tués, bien qu’elle n’ait pas vraiment eu le choix ou qu’elle ait eu raison à chaque fois. Il faut dire qu’elle s’y attendait en tant qu’agent du FBI, mais la peur que tout devienne banal est toujours là. De plus en tant que compagne d’un des grand Lupi, elle est sans cesse suivie par des gardes du corps, chose qui la dérange particulièrement, bien qu’elle comprenne la raison. Rule son âme sœur est un personnage très intriguant. Il est assez secret, garde ses sentiments pour lui la plupart du temps mais sait parfaitement se maîtriser. C’est quelque chose qui est assez difficile pour Lily mais elle comprend ce besoin de rester maître des événements et lui laisse l’espace dont il a besoin. J’ai beaucoup aimé les voir tous les deux ensemble, les découvrant petit à petit et comprenant que chacun d’eux essaie de protéger l’autre du mieux qu’il peut, bien que le résultat ne soit jamais ce qui est escompté. Ils vont ainsi faire équipe tous les deux pour retrouver un appareil volé au sein de leur clan, un objet qui semble pouvoir donner des hallucinations à certaines personnes. Mais ce n’est pas tout et cette invention a bien plus de pouvoirs qu’il n’y parait. J’étais vraiment curieuse de savoir qui était le coupable de ce forfait. Il faut dire qu’on assiste à une chasse à travers la meute pour déterminer qui était véritablement le coupable. Mais quand ce dernier appelle, annonçant que l’objet lui a été volé et qu’il a besoin d’aide. C’est déjà un fait des plus étonnants, mais ce qui l’est encore plus c’est l’identité de ce voleur que l’on ne peut prévoir en aucun cas. L’histoire est partie beaucoup plus loin que ce que je ne l’aurais pensé au départ et j’ai beaucoup aimé croiser de nombreuses créatures de la sorte.
J’ai assez apprécié le roman bien que j’ai eu l’impression d’être un peu en retrait par rapport à l’histoire en elle-même. Mais c’est peut-être dû au fait que je n’ai pas commencé par le début. Par contre, j’ai trouvé les idées d’Eileen Wilks vraiment intéressantes. Le mode de fonctionnement des lupi est assez intéressant et c’est vrai que j’aimerais beaucoup en apprendre plus par rapport à cela. Je me demande aussi comment se déroule les autres tomes, il faudra vraiment que je tente le 1er pour voir ce que cela donne. C’est donc une intrigante découverte.

Stacking the Shelves #37

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Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews

 Gameboard of the Gods (Age of X, 1) – Richelle Mead

In a futuristic world nearly destroyed by religious extremists, Justin March lives in exile after failing in his job as an investigator of religious groups and supernatural claims. But Justin is given a second chance when Mae Koskinen comes to bring him back to the Republic of United North America (RUNA). Raised in an aristocratic caste, Mae is now a member of the military’s most elite and terrifying tier, a soldier with enhanced reflexes and skills.

When Justin and Mae are assigned to work together to solve a string of ritualistic murders, they soon realize that their discoveries have exposed them to terrible danger. As their investigation races forward, unknown enemies and powers greater than they can imagine are gathering in the shadows, ready to reclaim the world in which humans are merely game pieces on their board.

 A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest

On the evening of Sofia Claremont’s seventeenth birthday, she is sucked into a nightmare from which she cannot wake.
A quiet evening walk along a beach brings her face to face with a dangerous pale creature that craves much more than her blood.
She is kidnapped to an island where the sun is eternally forbidden to shine.
An island uncharted by any map and ruled by the most powerful vampire coven on the planet. She wakes here as a slave, a captive in chains.
Sofia’s life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn when she is the one selected out of hundreds of girls to join the harem of Derek Novak, the dark royal Prince.
Despite his addiction to power and obsessive thirst for her blood, Sofia soon realizes that the safest place on the island is within his quarters, and she must do all within her power to win him over if she is to survive even one more night.
Will she succeed? …or is she destined to the same fate that all other girls have met at the hands of the Novaks?

 Revelation (The Seven Signs, 1) – Erica hayes

A fallen angel with a mission and a medical examiner who’s lost her faith are fighting for their souls in a glittering, near-future Manhattan…

Blind faith is for fools. That’s what Dr. Morgan Sterling believes. And she’s going to prove it by curing the zombie plague ravaging her city’s slums. She’s certain it’s not a sign of the End of Days, but a nasty disease—until an angel appears in her morgue in a flash of glory.

Luniel is not just a fallen angel. He’s a powerful warrior sworn to fight evil in hopes of a chance at redemption. He’s after the demon princes who are stealing the seven vials of holy wrath which, when perverted, will unleash eternal hell on earth.

To stop the plague, Luniel needs Morgan’s help, and her faith. But Morgan believes science is their salvation. If the zombie plague is a demonic curse—and if Luniel is true—he’ll have to prove it. Even if he loses his heart to true love or his soul to Hell…

Ghosts of Memories (Vampire Memories, 5) – Barb Hendee

With her vampire protector Philip Branté and their human companion Wade Sheffield, a former police psychologist, Eleisha Clevon searches the world for isolated vampires — and offers them sanctuary. She wants to provide a home where she can teach them to follow the Four Laws that will protect them and their kind.

But not all vampires want to live by anyone’s rules but their own. Christian Lefevre has been posing a psychic, catering to the upper crust of Seattle society by making contact with their dead loved ones — and leaving his clients faint and weak after each encounter. Now Eleisha must confront the most deadly predator she has ever faced — or lose everything she has fought to protect…

 Mortal Ties (Workd of the Lupi, 9) – Eileen Wilks

FBI agent Lily Yu is living at Nokolai Clanhome with her fiancé, lupi Rule Turner, when an intruder penetrates their territory, stealing the prototpye of a magical device the clan hopes will be worth a fortune–if a few bugs can be worked out . . .

But the protoytpe can be dangerously erratic, discharging a bizarre form of mind magic—and it looks like the thief wants it for that very side effect. Worse, whoever stole the device didn’t learn about it by accident. There’s a Nokolai traitor in their midst. Lily and Rule have to find the traitor, the thief, and the prototype. One job proves easy when the thief calls them–and his identity rocks Rule’s world.

As they race to recover their missing property, they find Robert Friar’s sticky footprints all over the place. Robert Friar–killer, madman, and acolyte of the Old One the lupi are at war with–an Old One whose power is almost as vast as her ambition to rock the entire world . . .

 Shifting Plains (Shifting Plains, 1) – Jean Johnson

Centuries before the time of the Sons of Destiny, a female shapeshifter became the leader of the people of the Shifting Plains… Tava Ell Var never really knew her mother, but she did know her tragic fate at the hands of a band of cruel shapeshifters—a history set down by Tava’s father as a warning about life on the Shifting Plains. But after her father is murdered, Tava encounters a Shifterai warband fighting to rid the Plains of the terrorizing bandits. Shifterai leader Kodan Sin Siin is sympathetic to Tava’s suffering, but he’s determined to bring the wary young woman to the Plains. Because he knows her secret: She, like he and his men, is a shapeshifter. Once she joins them, he knows that she will see for herself the true fate that awaits her on the Plains, and most of all, lose her fear of his people. And, in time, he knows she will find her place is in their fight—and by his side.

 Le Serment du Titanic – Cathy Gohlke

Irlande, 1912. Michael embarque clandestinement à bord du Titanic pour fuir la misère. Alors qu’il est sur le point de mourir de faim, Owen le prend sous son aile. Quand le paquebot réputé insubmersible percute un iceberg, Owen se sacrifie pour sauver son ami. Il lui fait promettre de veiller sur Annie, sa petite soeur qui est en danger. Tout en travaillant d’arrache-pied pour lui offrir un avenir meilleur, Michael tente de convaincre Annie de le rejoindre et s’éprend d’elle au fil des lettres qu’ils échangent. Mais peut-elle vraiment laisser libre cours à ses sentiments et avouer son amour à celui qu’elle tient pour responsable de la mort de son frère ? Entre les hésitations de la jeune femme et la Première Guerre mondiale qui ravage l’Europe, Michael n’est pas au bout de ses peines…

Soif de Sang (Belladone, 2) – Michelle Rowen

Jillian Conrad va mourir. Si elle ne succombe pas à la Belladone – ce poison qui la rend irrésistible et mortelle pour les suceurs de sang –, ce sont des vampires fous en quête d’immortalité absolue qui auront sa peau. Depuis qu’elle est devenue le dernier rempart entre eux et la fille du défunt roi Matthias, elle n’a plus nulle part où se cacher. Pas même dans les bras de Declan, son amant dhampire. Privé de toutes ses émotions par un puissant sérum, ce dernier n’est plus que l’ombre de lui-même et c’est à Jillian que reviendra la lourde tâche de tous les sauver…