Alphas: Origins
(Alphas 0.5)
by Ilona Andrews
Publisher: Intermix
Publication date: April 19, 2016
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Rating:
Karina Tucker is driving a van of children home from a field trip when an unplanned detour to a seemingly ordinary rest stop changes her life. There, she witnesses a world beyond humanity’s sight, of frightful powers and chaos, where she is in death’s grip… before an irresistibly dangerous male saves her—only to take her captive.
For she is a rare commodity in the shadowy realm she’s entered.
Karina soon finds herself caught in a violent civil war where those with inhuman powers strive to destroy each other without mercy. And it becomes all too clear that she must make a choice: submit and become a pawn, or take hold of her own destiny and fight for survival against impossible odds.
Origins: Alpha is a novella set in a new world by Ilona Andrews. It revolves around Karina as she and her daughter are abducted by a group of men and whisked away to another dimension. In exchange for keeping her alive, she must feed one of their strongest soldiers who just so happens to be a demon. Since this is a short story at just under 200 pages, there’s enough to wet your appetite without it feeling like a complete story. Which is pretty sad considering that this is the story. It was written two years ago and the authors have no plans to continue the story line. 🙁
Now, I’d like to go on the record and say that I’m not really a huge Ilona Andrews fan. Everyone seems to love the Kate Daniels series, but I just can’t seem to get into it. So, when I saw that my library had this new series in their database, I decided to give it a shot. I actually enjoyed this one more than their more popular series. It was a bit dark and twisted. I mean, Karina stumbles across some sort of dimensional rift and accidentally passes over into another dimension where she’s attacked by demons who poison her. Another group of supernaturals show up to save the day, only their version is to save Karina by having her be a feeder for one of their members. The story reminded me of your typical group of random supernatural creatures who fight together to save humankind. However, instead of a vampire, a werewolf, and warlock, we get a demon, a wither (someone who can kill by just thinking it), and mind erasers. There’s some others in there but that’s just to name a few. I really liked that these authors thought outside the box and didn’t go with your more traditional line-up.
This was a great start to what could have been an interesting series. It sucks that the authors didn’t get the feedback they wanted and instead decided to nix the idea. I’d like to say that I will keep an eye out for a sequel, but considering it’s been a couple of years already, I won’t be holding my breath.
That stinks that this left you wanting so much more. If you’re interested in giving Ilona Andrews a try, her Hidden Legacy series is good, and it’s more action packed from the get go than Kate Daniels. I love Kate Daniels, but it took me two tries to get through the first book.
Great review.
I haven’t read any of her books yet but someone sent me a novella of hers so I might start reading her soon.