Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Review: In the Company of Wolves by James Michael Larranaga





In the Company of Wolves by James Michael Larranaga is the fast paced thriller that is unlike any that I've read in a long time. Quin Lighthorn is picked to be an intern for Safe Haven insurance company in Minnesota. No this company doesn't sell insurance, they are "death brokers". They buy policies for cash from terminally ill people hoping to enjoy what last time they have. This is a fascinating aspect for me because I'd never heard of this. People who buy dying peoples life insurance and cashes them out for a fee. Because this is a thriller, the fact that people are dying of unusual reasons is a given.

Larranaga couples each chapter with insightful information about wolves, their habits, and the similarities they share with humans. Using wolves habits to distinguish the difference in all the characters is really great... at first. That gripe will come later.

Quin Lighthorn is a likeable character. He seems to genuinely care about what's happening to this broker's clients. There are people disappearing and he's anxious to find out where or why this is the case. Believing he is on an assignment for the FBI, Quin appears to be a person of sound mind... until Larranaga peels off more and more layers of his psyche.

As stated earlier, I really was fascinated by In the Company of Wolves because it's rare that I can learn information from fast paced thrillers. Ater awhile I was more interested in the movements of wolves than what was actually happening in the story.

Amongst my gripes are that what was amusing at first of the constant wolf classifications of the human characters, suddenly became annoying and repetitive. I almost lost track of who "stray dog" or "alpha dog" were a few times. There's no way we can ignore the similarities when comparing wolves to (greedy) humans so there is no need to beat us over the head with it.

One other gripe I have is something I don't want to spoil so I'll be as cryptic as possible. There's a character who divulges information way too freely... actually a couple who give private info way too openly. This is so unbelievably wrong and I'm certain is highly unethical. That is all.

In the Company of Wolves seems to be a prelude to James Michael Larranaga's next book. I really hope to read the next in this series because of how absorbing his read is. I recommend this read to lovers of thrillers and suspense. I really hope that death brokers don't function this way. It appears the cure is worse than the illness. ****

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