Frostbitten by Kelley Armstrong

Kelley Armstrong was the first urban fantasy author I read, and the first to get me hooked on this genre. I always really look forward to her new releases, and always tear through them in two days. Luckily, she puts out enough material that I never have to wait long for something new!

Frostbitten is the 11th book in her Otherworld series, and marks the return of Elena Michaels as narrator. For those of you not familiar with her series, Armstrong alternates between different female narrators for her books. In many ways, Frostbitten is a return to form for her. Her last 3 Otherworld releases have been different from her previous ones. Personal Demon and Living with the Dead had more than one narrator, including (for the first time) some of the story from male point of view. Men of the Otherworld was a short collection about the men of the Otherworld.

In Frostbitten, Armstrong returns to her first narrator, and returns to telling the story from just one point of view. It is a testament to her talent that the 11th book in her series is still as fresh as the first. Each different narrator has a very distinct voice and point of view.

I'll confess, while Elena the werewolf is a fan favorite she's my least favorite narrator. Elena can be angsty. That doesn't change in this book. It's not that I don't like Elena, she's just not my favorite. However, this book did make me warm more to her character. The angst works well, and really helped me relate to her in a way I hadn't before.

Quick plot synopsis:

Elena is chasing a mutt that might be involved in several human murders. She ends up in Alaska and quickly finds herself in over her head. There's a pack of mutts to contend with, missing local girls, and something strange in the forest. While dealing with all of this, Elena also has to deal with part of her human past. It's seeing Elena trying to reconcile that part of her life with her present life that really warmed me to her.

Kelley Armstrong knows how to write an action packed book. There are plenty of fight scenes and twists to keep you entertained. It's not all action though. While she's great at writing action packed books, she's also amazing at being able to straddle the line between action driven and character driven. The Elena books (Bitten, Stolen, Broken, Frostbitten) are some of the most character driven in the series. It's easy to see why she wanted to write another book from Elena's point of view.

The book works well as part of the series, but could also easily stand alone. My only (very minor) gripe with the book was that the other characters from the series hardly make an appearance. It works very well, and I totally see why Armstrong chose to not have them around, but I still missed being able to check in with them.