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

by Paige Tyler

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.