Hungry Like the Wolf (SWAT: Special Wolf Alpha Team, #1)

by Paige Tyler

Julie Ann Walker's Black Knights Inc. meets the Black Dagger Brotherhood in this high-octane shifter romance filled with alpha wolves, red-hot romance, and thrilling action from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Paige Tyler.

The Dallas SWAT team is hiding one hell of a secret―they're a pack of alpha werewolves. They can take down threats no one else can handle without breaking a sweat, but SWAT team commander Gage Dixon wasn't prepared for the intense heat investigative journalist Mackenzie Stone can bring with a single look...

Mackenzie never backs down from a story when her gut tells her something is up. And the fact that Gage Dixon has handpicked his perfect team of officers and keeps everyone else at a distance doesn't sit well with her. They must be hiding something...and she's determined to find out what.

Keeping Mac at a distance proves impossible for Gage. She's smart, sexy, and makes him feel alive for the first time in years. But she's getting dangerously close to the truth―and perilously close to his heart... Can he protect his wolf brothers and be honest with Mac at the same time, or will she expose the truth of who's really keeping Dallas safe?

• ISBN10: 1492608475
• ISBN13: 9781492608479
• Publish Date: 6 January 2015 (first published 1 January 2015)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Sourcebooks Casablanca
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

It depends on what you're looking for. A romance with the slightest touch of paranormal and action? Sure, this is for you. An actual plotline with intrigue and paranormal beyond hey he's a werewolf? Not so much.

Basically it was fine. The world building was pretty thin - the SWAT team also happen to be werewolves - that was pretty much the extent of the paranormal. Like Tyler's X-Ops series, these werewolves are the product of a DNA mutation although differs slightly - in this series, the gene activates when the body undergoes a severe trauma. Gage Dixon, the main heroine, has tracked down a bunch of these people from all branches of military and all over the country to form his own pack. And that was it for the world building. Supposedly they have a myth about The One - their fated mate - but it was never explained where that came from considering no one mentions any other werewolves than the ones in SWAT. It also bothers me when he asks if she has a condom and she asks if he can even get her pregnant. And he says yes but it won't be with fangs and claws or whatever. Here's the thing - how the hell does he know that exactly? As far as I can see from the world building - they're it for the werewolves - there's no lab of scientists or genetic research - so do tell how you know for sure a baby wouldn't be born with an active werewolf gene? They barely know why they've got it. So this conversation bothered me. A lot.

The story outside of the paranormal plotline was alright. It wasn't anything exciting. Journalist investigates squeaky clean SWAT team because she thinks they're hiding something. I didn't really like Mackenzie at all. She was irritating. For instance, why on earth would you try to enter a building that is in the middle of a hostage situation? For someone who was supposed to be smart she was just dumb. She not only almost got shot, but she also distracted the SWAT guys from doing what they were supposed to be doing - rescuing innocent hostages. It was just dumb. And she wavered too much with her supposed rigid morals. She believes everyone should have the truth but then is willing to lie and scheme and manipulate whether with her sexuality or otherwise, when it suits her. It was so hypocritical. Either you're straight up honest and blunt, or you're not. But pick one and stick with it.

Gage was okay. There wasn't really anything I loved about him - but I didn't hate anything either - I just didn't really care. I thought he deserved better than Mackenzie though. So maybe that's why the romance between them fell flat for me. It's hard to root for the couple when you kinda hate one half.

I liked Zak and I mostly liked the rest of the SWAT team. Zak has great advice and is a very down to earth nerd. I loved it. My favourite part was when Zak participates in the hostage training. I loved that he got to participate and "save" himself by crawling out of windows and arming himself with a paintball gun. It was highly amusing. Mackenzie and Gage hear about it at lunch from the boys, but I would've preferred to have that scene written from Zak's viewpoint. But I also liked the idea that no matter how many or how big the stories are that Mackenzie writes every child in the world will still rather meet Mickey Mouse than her. It was a funny and intriguing view. Now if she followed it and realised her story wasn't worth hurting the whole team and the guy she's supposedly in love with - I may have actually liked her. And I also liked the passage about zombies. “Hey,” she practically shouted. “Did you know they make zombie targets that bleed?”
Gage looked around the filing room, then reached over and switched off the light. “Yeah, I’ve seen them. Unfortunately, they’re not suitable for real training.” “Really?” She hadn’t expected him to do more than laugh at how silly bleeding zombies were, not respond seriously to her question. But now he’d gone and made her curious. “Why not?”
He came around and plunked himself down in the chair beside her. “For one thing, they’re too damn expensive. For another, it encourages bad shooting habits. Everyone wants to shoot the zombie in the head instead of the center of the chest.”
She couldn’t help but laugh as she envisioned the SWAT team being pelted with bad press because they were caught preparing for the coming zombie apocalypse.
“I guess I see your point. It could turn into a PR nightmare.”

Tyler, Paige. Hungry Like the Wolf (SWAT Book 1) (pp. 107-108). Sourcebooks. Kindle Edition.
But it's 300+ pages too much for me to care. 2.5 stars, rounded down to 2.

[Melanie]

3.5 stars

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

This is only my second book from Paige Tyler. I read the first book in the X-Ops series. I enjoyed it and plan on reading more of that series. I was excited to get the opportunity to review the audio for the SWAT series to experience more of her work.

This story is about a SWAT team made up entirely of werewolves. This draws the attention of an investigative journalist (don’t call her a reporter, she makes about $30k more than a reporter, thank you very much). The attention isn’t for the reason you would think, they are too perfect. They have done nothing wrong, like ever. Mackenzie (Mac) finds this hard to believe. She also thinks that they are taking some sort of performance enhancing drugs to make them as good as they are.

Gage, the SWAT team leader and alpha werewolf, and Mac have an instant connection. There is some lore that werewolves have “The One” but Gage had never believed it. Xander, one of the team leaders, is convinced that Mac is The One for Gage. Mac and Gage have instant lust, but it does take time for the love to build and even longer for both of them to accept.

There is a ton of action in this story. Gage and his team have killed a mob boss’s son in a clean kill while doing a raid (kill mob boss’s family members always goes well). The mob boss is out for blood. All the while, the SWAT team is trying to hide who they are from Mac’s ever watchful eye.

Overall, I enjoyed the story. I’m hoping to get more information on the werewolf lore in future books. We didn’t learn a whole lot in this book. We did learn that they are born werewolf and are turned completely during a traumatic event, say like being in the military during the war. That was a nice twist. I can’t wait to see where the story goes next. I’ve already got book two download to listen to very soon.

Narration
I’ve already been listening to Abby Craden with the FUC series by Eve Langlais, so I knew some of what to expect. I greatly enjoyed her narration. I thought she did a great job with this series. I had no problem jumping straight from one series to this one. As a matter of fact, I listened to them back to back. She did a great job. This series has much more action and less humor than the Eve Langlais series and Ms. Craden still handled it all very well.

I like to thank Tantor Audio for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

[Cocktails and Books]

When the police force encounters a situation they can’t manage they call in the elite of their kind… SWAT.

Perhaps I am showing my age here, but I grew up watching SWAT on TV every week. However, I have never encountered a SWAT team quite like this one. It would explain a lot. Bigger, faster, stronger, these men are the type of police officers just about anyone would be afraid to encounter in a dark alley or otherwise. Now add the wolf factor and you’ve got an unstoppable force. Unless, you’re a reporter looking to expose their secret. In which case, you suspect everything and everyone.

I absolutely loved the SWAT team. Every last member, even the scary ones, was fully developed and could easily carry their own books right here and now. My only point of contention was really the heroine’s. Although it was obvious that her main objective was always to expose the underlying story she felt the team was hiding, so you can’t really hold that against her. After all, it’s her job. However, her philosophy of expose the story, no matter who is hurt ion the process, and let the readers decide what to do with the information is irresponsible journalism in my book and a huge point against her. How do you claim to love someone then turn around and try to betray them? She started off as a strong character but quickly turned into a very unlikable character.

Overall it was a fantastic story. I found it well written and filled with enough action to keep things interesting. I especially loved the characters and can’t wait to read the next book.

Reviewed by Iris for Cocktails and Books