Review: Frostbite: A Werewolf Tale by David Wellington

For Cheyenne Clark, there's a bad moon on the rise . . .

There's one sound a woman doesn't want to hear when she's lost and alone in the Arctic wilderness: a howl.

When a strange wolf's teeth slash Cheyenne's ankle to the bone, her old life ends, and she becomes the very monster that has haunted her nightmares for years. Worse, the only one who can understand what Chey has become is the man–or wolf–who's doomed her to this fate. He also wants to chop her head off with an axe.

Yet as the line between human and beast blurs, so too does the distinction between hunter and hunted . . . for Chey is more than just the victim she appears to be. But once she's within killing range, she may find that–even for a werewolf–it's not always easy to go for the jugular. Fiction, Horror

Review:
Frostbite is a different kind of werewolf tale. There’s no big sweeping romance , no studly six pack ab werewolf racing in to save his damsel in distress.
In Frostbite we go back to a more deadly type of werewolf, cursed by an ancient spell, one that loses his humanity when the moon rises, can be killed by silver, a wolf that can never live among people.
Chey gets bitten by the wolf with the piercing green eyes. She knows this wolf – she has come to the Arctic to get her revenge but now she must rely on him, Monty Powell, and his wolf, to help her come to terms with what she has become.

“I saw her ankle,” Powell said. “She got herself scratched. She’s in the club, or she will be very soon.”

Dzo shrugged. “Sure that’s why I brought her here.”

Powell said……“I can’t let her turn, though. She’ll hurt somebody. Maybe even spread this thing. I can’t let her do that” He hefted something in his hands. It was an ax…………”the moon will be up in a few minutes. If we take her head off right now I think it will still be alright”

Frostbite is told in three parts. Part one relates to the attack on Chey and her trying to cope with how her life has changed with the help of Powell and Dzo. Part two deals with Chey’s past and we learn more about how Chey came to be in the Arctic in the first place and what her connection is to Powell. And in the third part she has to decide if she is going to cling to her long held beliefs about werewolves or embrace what she has become.
I really liked the gritty take on the werewolf legend. This is a love story of sorts but isn’t the typical wounded girl finding her alpha male, but a deeper connection between two people struggling with their inner beast and their past.
The only problem I had with the book was that I didn’t really connect with Chey as a character until the second part of the book when we found out her true motivations. The first section had a nice set up but it was clear that there was more to it and it was frustrating not knowing what that was. Part two clears that up in gruesome detail and I think this is the best part of the story – it really connects the dots and gets the story moving.
There were a few minor contrivances in Part 3 and I was a little tired of how Chey was “really dying this time” but by the end of the book I was sad to leave these two characters and I’m hoping there will be a sequel soon.
Liked: The fresh take on werewolves (or back to the old ways some might say). A deeper relationship between two people - not just sex (in fact there is no sex). I really liked Powell and Dzo and hope to read more about them in the future. And I LOVE that cover!!
Nitpick: Lagged in spots and I didn’t connect with Chey at first. A few subplots seemed contrived.

Rating: 3 out of 4 I had a few issues with it but still a good read and I hope there will be more to develop what could be a great series & I plan on checking out Wellington's vampire series as well.

Author's website: http://www.davidwellington.net/
Buy the book! Frostbite: A Werewolf Tale