Stolen (Women of the Otherworld #2) by Kelley Armstrong

It was in Bitten, Kelley Armstrong's debut novel, that thirty-year-old Elena Michaels came to terms with her feral appetites and claimed the proud identity of a beautiful, successful woman and the only living female werewolf.

In Stolen, on a mission for her own elite pack, she is lured into the net of ruthless Internet billionaire Tyrone Winsloe, who has funded a bogus scientific investigation of the "other races" and their supernatural powers. Kidnapped and studied in his underground lab deep in the Maine woods, these paranormals - witches, vampires, shamans, werewolves - are then released and hunted to the death in a real-world video game. But when Winsloe captures Elena, he finally meets his match.


Type: Urban Fantasy, Wolves, Magic
Heat: 1 out of 5
Rating: 4 out of 5

Wow. That was....something else! Stolen sucked me in from the very start. Armstrong did an amazing job making a nearly 600 page book fly by like it was nothing. The writing was nicely done. The storyline of Elena being captured by a group of scientists, while a bit crazy, was fascinating and creepy at the same time. 

My main struggle with book one had to do with Elena's character so I was a little nervous about going into a book where she'd be the main focus and the other Pack members, that I really enjoyed, would be playing very small roles. But I must say by the end of Stolen I was really liking Elena as a character and finding it easier to forget my complains about her. I was impressed with how strong she turned out to be and how intelligently she handled her situation. Going along with her captures when she needed to, fighting a little here or there, planning, etc. 

The time in captivity was interesting. Seeing how Elena reacted to being a prisoner and how her feelings changed over time. How it wore on her mentally and physically. The villains were insane. Each of them with different motives; financial, adventure, medial experimentation, playing games. There were some pretty surreal moments that would really mess with your head if you were experiencing them as a captive. Kind of weirded me out just reading about them. There was a good bit of gore and a few times where all I could do was shudder and go ew, ew, ew, Ew.....EW! Even if there was an ick factor with it the gore was well written and appropriate. And, maybe, on occasion I was kinda rooting it on. Some people really just need to die.

The little bits we did get with the Pack were fantastic. I really like Jeremy and Clayton . How much they care for Elena and trust her. Give her space to do what she needs but at the same time are very protective and do a bit of hovering. 

All in all this was an excellent book and I'm very much looking forward to book 3, Dime Store Magic. If you like Urban Fantasy I'd definitely recommend checking this one out. It's a bit gritty, a bit gory, has a couple little twists along the way and was just nicely done from beginning to end. 


Note! I read this for the Women of the Otherworld Series Challenge that Moonlight Gleam's Bookshelf is hosting. She's doing a great job! One book a month and we're up to book 3. If you're interested in the series come join in! You can do one month or all of them! And there's prizes :)