Prey: A Novel

I was just checking on Miss Howards new releases and see where "The Cutting Edge" is coming out in hardcover
with a $17.00+ price tag. This book was written well over 10 year ago as a paperback. Shame on Miss Howard
and her publisher for releasing this in hardcover with hardcover price. Unless the story has been completely re-written an updated then perhaps a paperback re-release would be acceptable. ....Note: This is the only place I could find to put a warning as the book has not been released yet....

This is an adventure story. The heroine (Angie) owns a failing guide business. She believes, Dare (hero) has siphoned off her customers and forced her to put her home up for sale. She leads one last set of hunters into the wilderness before the winter sets in.

SYNOPSIS:
One of the hunters murders the other one, and tries to kill Angie. They also have to contend with a man eating bear. Dare is involved in her rescue, and Angie and Dare spend a few days holed up in his hunting lodge, thawing out from hypothermia, waiting out a storm. Think they thought of anything interesting to do to pass the time? Hmmm? Anything?

OPINION:
Actually, as a Howard book goes, this one has an unusually nice love scene. The characters are pretty straightforward with their feelings, are honorable people, and the descriptions of the chemistry between them, especially their kisses make the book.

I love a happy ending. A lot of books leave it up to the imagination of the reader. Hey, why would I spend $8 to `imagine' an ending? I want to read it, and enjoy their moment of joy. This book delivers happiness in spades.

I enjoyed this one, it has a great flow, and would recommend it, but it doesn't stand out enough to be on my `to be read again' shelf.

This is only the third review I have ever written, but felt compelled after reading several of the reviews that have been submitted. As I began to read the book, I kept thinking the plot was familiar. The more I continued, the more the book reminded me of ICE, also by Linda Howard. Two people on the run, and nature is one of the protagonists. In ICE, it was the weather; in Prey, it was also the weather, and a black bear was added to the mix. Come on, how often do authors need to re-work plot lines? ICE was a disappointing read and Veil was more entertaining, but nowhere near Howard's best. Where are her famous stories? Howard took so long to release this book, I was hopeful the wait was worth it. I agree with the reviews that indicated a disappointing read. I believe the positive reviews were submitted by the Publisher or those who are paid to do so. Or, the readers who enjoyed the book have not read Howard's previous works. I will be very reluctant to buy books written by Howard.

Below is the the store Product Description for Linda Howard's Up Close and Dangerous: A Novel. It is the SAME description for Prey.

"smoldering attraction . . . and a deadly game of cat and mouse"/"Stranded in the wilderness, and struggling to douse her feelings for the ruggedly handsome man by her side...",/ "Cut off from the world, and with little hope of rescue, Bailey (Angie in Prey) must trust her life-and heart-to Cam (Dare in Prey), as they battle the harsh elements to find a way out of the unforgiving wilds and back to civilization . . . where a killer may be waiting to finish the job."

Why stop there? Here is the the store Product Description for Ice: A Novel.
"A battle for survival against an unforgiving winter-and an unrelenting killer" /... (In the) "winter woods".
In Prey there is an unforgiving rain and an unrelenting (but stupid) killer.

This is not an original story unless you count the bear. A bonus in Prey is that the reader will learn how a bear views his prey. I still don't know exactly what the villain was all about. I probably zoned out because the story was too heavy on descriptions and narration. There wasn't enough dialogue among the characters.

The only thing good about the past few Linda Howard books are the covers. That makes me a sad Linda Howard reader, but I'm not giving up.

The first Linda Howard book that I just paged thru to get to the end. Very disappointing. I don't know if she had a contract that was due and she had to fill it with this book. I have always enjoyed her books in the past.

I don't know what some people were expecting, but this book was precisely what it claimed to be. If you read the back of the book, you will then have a clear encapsulation of the plot. This story was a wonderful romance/suspense book, with the perfect balance of the developing romance between Dare and Angie, and the suspense of the lurking danger of Krugman and THE BEAR. It was wonderfully written, I felt dread every time I read about the bear. The pacing and development of the relationship between Angie and Dare was perfect and plausible, and I fell in love with them as they fell in love with each other. Dare and his cussing are hilarious! A name like "Dare" also comes with its own pitfalls, and Angie herself points this out in her ruminations on him. I think Howard did a fabulous job with this story, and the ending was very, very satisfying. A sweet read!!

Other reviewers have provided a synopsis, so I won't reiterate what has already been said in that respect.

Ms. Howard is one of my favorite authors and I'd love to be able to provide a glowing review. Unfortunately, this novel falls far short of her best and I can only give it two stars. We get to know the characters by too much internal dialogue (including the bear which was WAY over the top and really pulled me out of the story) are TOLD about the main characters and why they are admirable rather than being shown it by action until far to late in the novel all of which makes it a less interesting read than I expected. Frankly, if this were the only book I'd read by Ms. Howard, I don't think I'd buy another.

Very entertaining and enjoyable! I love Linda Howard, have read a few I didn't love but liked. This one was a little different but will definitely put it on my list of keepers. I thought it was a sweet love story between Angie and Dare and enjoyed their characters. Some of the scenes were a little gory but they really brought you into the action. I thought the writing on Chad was a little long. I mean, there was a point early on when I started jumping through some of his stuff because it seemed a little overpalyed. I got his thoughts and reasoning the first time and felt like that was a little overdone but other than that, a really decent romance novel, one I very much enjoyed. And now on to the wait for the next one...

Angie hated Dare for taking away her hunting clients and Audi g her to lose her home and business. One last guided trip and she would be done. Had it not been for Dare, she wouldn’t be alive. Then she found he wasn’t so bad after all

Since Linda Howard has been my very favorite author for years, reading this book was a pure pleasure. When I first started the book I was concerned that perhaps this time was going to be a misstep for the writer. I am a westerner..I know the land, the animals and the people. And one of my pet peeves, is people writing about thing they know next to nothing about. Well, once again I enjoyed the humor and intelligence, with which Linda Howard writes. I'll read it again in a couple of months.

This book had good character development of the two main characters and the interaction between the characters was entertaining. However, there wasn't much sexual tention, or much romantic excitement. There was too much story devoted to what the (boring although creepy) bad guy was doing. As for the bear's behavior, I know of a black bear incident in Canada where the bear killed two people and was going for a third at Laird Hot Springs when an American with a rifle arrived and shot it. The bear was just out of hibernation and hungry. So, maybe the bear stuff is pretty realistic. I have heard that in the case of a black bear attack one should fight, because they are after food, whereas a grizzly might lay off of their victim if they seem dead. Of course, unless you had a big knife and were very lucky, it doesn't seem like that would be effective. When I lived in Alaska there was an incident where a woman actually did that. At any rate, it seemed like there was one too many bad guys featured in the story.

Horrifyingly gruesome at times, this is an absorbing, suspenseful, and detailed survival story with strong themes of tenacity, trust, and passionate unyielding commitment. Dare and Angie get my vote for most likely to succeed at ... anything and everything!

I liked this book better the second time around (but this time I totally skipped over the truly gory scenes and the pages wih the bear's point of view). The first time I read it, the survival aspects overwhelmed the romance, so I would rate it 3 stars, at best.

However, on the second read, I concentrated mainly on Dare and Angie. I felt like I really got to know the characters -- and more importantly, they began to bond with each other. A trusting, devoted relationship developed nicely, even though the entire book -- except for the epilogue -- takes place in about 48 hours.

Umm. No. Dare has had his eye on Angie for the past two years. Actually, he's had "his eyes on her world-class ass" since the first time they met. But she wanted nothing to do with the guy who was "stealing customers" from under her nose. As you might guess, the course of true love (yada yada yada).

Now, two years later, Dare goes up the mountain to keep covert watch over his hostile love, who is leading a hunting expedition with two men. Good thing, too. He found her crawling in the mud, at night, in the icy rain, with her ankle on fire and two killers behind her, one with two feet, the other four.

Dare -- a former army sergeant -- is alpha all the way. He rescues her. It's soooo not easy, but Angie is alpha, too -- never a quitter and stubborn to the core, despite suffering pain, fatigue, shock, and borderline hypothermia. Lots of intense survivalist stuff goes on for many pages, but I liked that. So many of these modern romantic suspense books make the life-or-death rescue look like a piece of cake (not a piece of wedding cake, though -- that will give Angie nightmares).

Once the immediate danger is alleviated, they recuperate for a while. In a snug cabin, amidst torrential rains, Dare FINALLY gets the girl to look at him, talk to him!! So...lots of lovely relation-shipping (J) is packed into two cloistered days in a cabin, leading to a fabulously passionate love scene. Dare is also tender, and funny. I chuckled at their sexy banter.

But...the danger is still there, and they gotta get off that mountain.

In the epilogue, they get married (of course) and celebrate with a "big-ass wedding cake" (you'll see, the white icing is important).

I've been reading Linda Howard books ever since I read The Woman Left Behind, which was phenomenal. There have been a couple I got a few chapters into and couldn't finish, and there are some that have been good but none as good as TWLB. I did finish this book and liked the characters, didn't think the plot was too far-fetched like some other reviewers have said, liked the strong female protagonist, BUT it was way too long. So much repetitive inner dialogue that it made me think Angie was borderline neurotic. We're talking overanalysis of EVERYTHING, including descriptions of every bathroom break Angie takes. The Kindle version was 410 pages long-- the story could have easily been condensed.

Loved everything about this book. ? Loved the two main characters and also that it was more than just a typical romance story. The excitement the other characters brought into the story was good. But it was mostly the bear that had you excited about what was going to happen next. Love how this author makes her lead females strong but still feminine. Worth your time to read! ?

Unlike several readers I thought this book was very well done. I liked the romance which was between two mature people working out their own issues, as most of us do. I thought the sex scenes, which appear to be of more importance to many readers than the plot, we're natural and progressed perfectly. There was a lot of tension, which kept me glued to the story. The only thing I didn't care for was the hunting theme. Murdering animals for sport using hi spec rifles doesn't seem any more moral than murdering people. I'm not a vegetarian by the way, I just don't understand how people can find pleasure in killing, it sure isn't sport for the animala. Ironically, the bear is demonized for killing humans, but humans hunting bears is apparently something to take pride in.

This book started off interesting enough, although it was a bit of a slow starter. When it did pick up, it was a fast pace that may have been a little too fast. The suspense portion wasn't all that suspenseful. Angie is a witness to a murder and tries not to get herself killed for what she seen.

The novel takes place over a couple of days, with her trying to elude a killer in the wilderness, with the help of a man she loathes, but secretly lusts after. They fall in love while camping out, eluding this killer, which was a bit too quick for my tastes.

Both Angie and Dare likeable enough, it was their love connection that I didn't buy. Yes they both had been lusting for one another from afar for some time, but that didn't translate into love and marriage for me

Almost vintage Howard. I liked both Dare and Angie, plenty of chemistry between them but not enough sizzle for what I expect from this author. The only reason I didn't award 5 stars. The story is great and while there is a human villain, the bear is a much better protagonist. I REALLY liked this book. This as close to Son of the Morningstar as Howard has written in years.

I agree with the people who critiqued this book saying there were too many descriptions of thoughts, especially of the bear and killer. But I still really liked this book. If it hadn't been for that issue I would have given it 5 stars. I liked the main characters, and I was okay with the fact that they didn't talk a lot. I am not always that talkative, either.

And I liked reading a book that was not just about the sex. I don't consider myself a prude, but I like my stories with a some sex; not my sex with a little bit of a story. I read far too many of the other kind of books these days.

Love Linda Howard, and while this is not my favorite of hers it is still very good.

Below is the the store Product Description for Linda Howard's Up Close and Dangerous: A Novel. It is the SAME description for Prey.

"smoldering attraction . . . and a deadly game of cat and mouse"/"Stranded in the wilderness, and struggling to douse her feelings for the ruggedly handsome man by her side...",/ "Cut off from the world, and with little hope of rescue, Bailey (Angie in Prey) must trust her life-and heart-to Cam (Dare in Prey), as they battle the harsh elements to find a way out of the unforgiving wilds and back to civilization . . . where a killer may be waiting to finish the job."

Why stop there? Here is the the store Product Description for Ice: A Novel.
"A battle for survival against an unforgiving winter-and an unrelenting killer" /... (In the) "winter woods".
In Prey there is an unforgiving rain and an unrelenting (but stupid) killer.

This is not an original story unless you count the bear. A bonus in Prey is that the reader will learn how a bear views his prey. I still don't know exactly what the villain was all about. I probably zoned out because the story was too heavy on descriptions and narration. There wasn't enough dialogue among the characters.

The only thing good about the past few Linda Howard books are the covers. That makes me a sad Linda Howard reader, but I'm not giving up.

I personally loved this book. I loved the rough calloussed yet tender character for Dare, and I loved Dare's desire for non makeup non overly girly girl Angie, and I loved the refereences about how much he liked the view of her world class ass. I dont view myself at all as a crass gal that cusses but I love how Howard made that rough gentle contrast between Dare's character and even made me like the cursing even though in real life Im uncomfortable with cursing. And I couldnt put the book down and I re read it occasionally. Im not the type of reader that needs 4 or so lovey scenes in it. I totally am content with a few times of lovey romantic stuff.I just personally think that I like a little realism when it comes to the love stuff and I love the climatic build of a love coming to action. I think with an adventure life or death situation comingling a developing love, Howard did a good job with the realism of where the focuss needs to be. Loved it. It was my first Linda Howard book, and Ice was my second,and Im looking forward to my library stack of her books next to me.

There are some negative review on this and it should be taken with a grain of salt. It is more of a survival than romance and it works. I know quite a few women like Angie who don't fit into the normal female role (yes even in the year 2015.) I like the 2 main characters and the bear. The only quibble is the villain and a little more insight into his background. It's a good book.

I was surprised so many people disliked this book on the reviews here. I picked it up at the library and was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it so much. I like the female character, who seemed consistent for someone who had been on her own for a long time. I thought the two romantic charachers were so well suited it was fun to see how well they fit each other. They were both extremely introverted kind of people who enjoyed being in the wild and had enough social skills to take people out/keep them safe so they can get paid to be in nature, but weren't really the social type. It was fun to see this type of romance where you don't often see two introverts fall in love. It was also very aborbing to see the female character confront her fear of bears. I think about this book from time to time and have thought I will read it again.

I loved dare and angle together. Two strong individuals finding a life together. You went from your heart in your throat to tears in your eyes. The story kept you on your toes. I listened to it and the reader was fantastic.

This book had good character development of the two main characters and the interaction between the characters was entertaining. However, there wasn't much sexual tention, or much romantic excitement. There was too much story devoted to what the (boring although creepy) bad guy was doing. As for the bear's behavior, I know of a black bear incident in Canada where the bear killed two people and was going for a third at Laird Hot Springs when an American with a rifle arrived and shot it. The bear was just out of hibernation and hungry. So, maybe the bear stuff is pretty realistic. I have heard that in the case of a black bear attack one should fight, because they are after food, whereas a grizzly might lay off of their victim if they seem dead. Of course, unless you had a big knife and were very lucky, it doesn't seem like that would be effective. When I lived in Alaska there was an incident where a woman actually did that. At any rate, it seemed like there was one too many bad guys featured in the story.

I was very displeased with this hardcover novel for which I paid full price. I agree with the comments regarding mind numbing details. Pages devoted to the thoughts, motivation and moods of a BEAR. In addition the book was poorly edited. For example on page 47 Angie remembers meeting Dare and him asking her for a date which she refused. She refused him again a couple of months later. She remembers this all again on page 209. Also, someone should have caught the impossibility of Chad, the bad-guy-city-slicker, mounting a horse bareback in a thunderstorm with a bear attack occurring after multiple gunshots AND leading three other horses out of a corral to escape! Were the horses left bridled in the corral?? How was he able to lead the three horses he was not riding?? If these were the only flaws in this book, I would have not written to warn others not to waste their hard earned money. This book is full of half-thoughts and loose ends. I hope Ms. Howard's next book is back to her usual standards.

Linda Howard never disappoints her readers. Strong and interesting female character. Very masculine and rough male character. Linda brings both together with engaging drama. The suspension and action never take a backseat to the romance.

The action combined with a somewhat interesting plot make for light reading which I prefer when I am tired in the evenings - my sleeping pill!. The characters are not very realistic which gives it a fairy-tale quality and offers an escape from the every-day realities.

Liked the two characters,and the adventurous female.Action in the mountains as it involves a killer bear,makes it seem all too real,also has a great ending,as the guy is a great guy once the female gets him.

Very fast moving. The author keeps the reader tuned in with suspense and romance in Big Sky country, so there's adventure too. Go ahead, pick it up---you won't want to put it down till the last page.

I got this Kindle version online (obviously) and didn't even see the cover until after I'd read the book. It would have been beneficial for me to see it beforehand, as I didn't know it was a romance novel so read along thinking 'There's no way this is going to be SO predictable, there's got to be a twist.' No such luck. I knew what was going to happen within the first twenty pages. If you like romance novels, you might like this but I think even then it's just ok. I was not impressed.

Despite the many bad reviews, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and read it in one afternoon. Other reviewers have criticized the many pages devoted to the bear. To me, this feature only added to the story and gave me a stronger appreciation for the danger the bear posed. Both the hero and heroine were likeable and strong characters and it was satisfying to see their relationship develop. This novel is a very entertaining mix of both suspense and romance.