Shifters #4 – Prey – Feminist Quill

Title: Prey
Author: Rachel Vincent
Year of Publication: 2009
Series: 4
Goodreads Rating (Avg.): 4.21
Goodreads Rating (Mine): 3

Cover Art for Shifters #4 - Prey by Rachel Vincent
Yellow background with faint leopard print pattern, A woman in a brown half sleeved shirt and denim skirt with a leopard print belt sits facing the camera. Top half of her face is not visible. Four red scratches on her exposed thigh and a diamond bracelet on her wrist — Shifters #4 – Prey by Rachel Vincent

Plot Description: Faythe, Marc and a couple of other characters are attacked by a group of strays while on neutral territory, and Marc goes missing soon after that. Prey chronicles the ensuing manhunt and the list of never-ending problems that rival Alpha Calvin Malone manages to lay at their door, both directly and indirectly.

Prey provides a very good set up for the next two books, complete with a high stakes finale. It also proves a turning point for Jace Hammond, who is the Adrian Ivashkov of the Shifters universe.

We need to talk about Jace. My reviews of the first three books in this series were taken up with Faythe’s complex personality, and how it fits into this incredibly contradictory and patriarchal universe, and with Marc Rants. But now it’s time.

Jace is the anti-Marc. In fact, his persistence is the only thing he has in common with Marc in the romance department. He is respectful and gives Faythe’s opinions a lot of importance. He doesn’t walk around beating people up just because they’re encroaching on what he sees as his territory. In fact, he recognizes that Faythe is a woman and not actually territory.

Jace also has every bone in his body broken (more than once) simply because he dared speak to Faythe. Thanks a lot, Marc. You’re clearly ideal Literary Boyfriend material, right up there with Christian freaking Grey.

In Prey, with Marc exiled ~~and therefore not around to protect his territory~~, Faythe and Jace end up getting drunk and hooking up. I’m honestly not a fan of the ‘Guy gets his s**t together for a girl’ trope. But that’s basically what happened here, (and with Adrian Ivashkov) and it’s not necessarily a bad thing, Jace-wise. Suddenly, Jace is exploring a possible future he’d never imagined before (marrying Faythe). He’s suddenly more mature and responsible – and also slightly more territorial. But he never lets his territorial instincts get in the way of Faythe’s agency.

This plot also superficially dips its toes into polyamory dynamics over the course of the last 3 books in the series, as Faythe tries to balance these two men while getting a tonne of other stuff done. It’s emphasized that it’s perfectly normal to love more than one person. In a society obsessed with monoamory, poly-amorous relationships rarely get the credit they deserve. Of course, as this is Shifters, what we get is more of what not to do in a polyamorous relationship.

The pros of Prey are that it provides an action filled mystery and a thickening of the political plot, the better to explain the alliances formed in future books. The cons of this book are that the action is often slowed down by what can only be described as sheer stupidity on the part of the protagonists forming the hunting party for Marc. Oh, and that it features child endangerment and neglect.

Like with all the books in this series, Prey is just interesting enough to make you wonder what happens next.

Next: Shifters #5 – Shift