SILVER

Werewolves are threatened by a mysterious antagonist in Held's fantasy debut.

The Roanoke pack occupies most of the east coast of the U.S. Rory is the alpha, and Andrew Dare his enforcer, responsible for security. Now Andrew's tracking a lone Were who persists in retaining her human form; inexplicably, she doesn't seem capable of shifting to wolf. When he catches her, the puzzles multiply. She calls herself Silver: she's been tortured and injected with silver and her wolf self is suppressed or lost. And quite possibly she's insane, claiming to be able to see a Were's wolf shape while they're in human form and holding long conversations with Death as if he were sitting nearby. Rory wants nothing to do with her and orders Andrew to find her home pack and return her. Wracked with guilt over the actions he was forced to take while in Spain—Spanish packs sometimes use silver against each other—Andrew complies. Maneuvering carefully to avoid offending the West Coast alphas, Andrew finally tracks Silver's origins to an offshoot pack, all of whom were slaughtered by a powerful antagonist. Unfortunately, Seattle's alpha, John, won't give Andrew the help he needs, and Andrew's forced to challenge John and assume control. The plot itself doesn't amount to much and neither does the existential threat. What's of far more interest are the developing characters and their interactions, individual to individual and  pack to pack, the position of female pack members and the way the packs operate. Held carefully works out the details, and although it's all a little too civilized to be fully convincing, there are signs that the series will gain some real heft as her confidence grows.

Certainly worth a try for existing lycanthrophiles.