First of the Ukiah books; I should learn to trust Wen Spencer—she always sucks you in. ( )

Ukiah Oregon is a young man who had been adopted by his "mom" who found him in a live wolf trap in Oregon. He had been living with the wolves, but adapts well to human life. He grows up to be a detective with his partner, Max, because of his extraordinary senses and skill as a tracker. In this book, he discovers that he isn't really human and is adopted by The Pack who are also, not human. Together they must fight the Ontongard who intend to overrun the planet.

Years and years ago at a sci-fic convention I was gifted with a tiny little booklet with a portion of a story. It intrigued me enough that I bought the book and watched for sequels. I have all of them and haven't read the last three not because the story idea isn't good but my tasted had shifted off the genre and I have been waiting for it to come back. ( )

I've read this two or three times before, but it's been quite a while - I'd forgotten a lot of the details. Still, I remember the utter confusion of the first few chapters the first time I read it, before I knew who/what Ukiah was. It's a fascinating story, with some truly interesting aliens. It does seem a trifle convenient that Ukiah and Max run across the first hints of this, then things pile in - the Pack and the Ontongard both discover him in quick succession. On the other hand, it's kind of explained - the Pack never ran across him before and once they did they took action, and the Ontongard are taking more direct action than ever before (for good reason, not directly related to Ukiah). And the way Ukiah handles matters (or doesn't) is very nicely done - neither casual acceptance nor utter refusal to believe. Max is perhaps a trifle more accepting than I expected, but it fits their relationship. And Agent Zheng is also a long way ahead of where either Ukiah or I expect her to be. Fun - I think these are my favorites among Wen Spencer's books. Next! ( )

Literally raised by wolves in the Oregon wilderness, Ukiah Oregon (named for the town closest to where his Mom Jo found him - and yes, he was raised by a lesbian couple) has become one of the country's best trackers. So much so that he and his partner have been called in on what appears to be a bizarre and bloody murder/kidnapping. A bloodbath on the surface, it's so much more beneath. Ukiah and his partner are quickly pulled into a centuries old conflict between powers literally not of this world. The race is on to save the planet - and amazingly, the FBI is actually helping this time.

I'm so glad this showed up in my LT Recommendations list - what fun! Can't wait to dive into the next installment. ( )