Who’s Afraid?

This fast-paced urban fantasy kicks off a series featuring Tommi Grayson, a young Scottish art curator, muay Thai practitioner, and—as she’s just discovered—werewolf. Her mother’s death prompts Tommi to go to New Zealand to search for her estranged Maˉori father. Her meeting with her father’s family, a powerful werewolf clan, is far more traumatic than she expected, and her half-brother tries to rape her. She escapes and returns to Scotland. With the help of her model-gorgeous supernatural guardian, Lorcan, she works to make peace with her werewolf nature and the complex supernatural world it connects to, only to find that the danger she tried to flee has followed her. While the plot is largely engaging, its racial dynamics are often uncomfortable: most of the Maˉori characters are antagonists, and a man with a Native American eagle tattoo is nicknamed Poc, short for Pocahontas. However, Tommi is a well-crafted and charismatic—though not always likable—character, and the detail Lewis uses to describe everything from Tommi’s mundane life to her excruciating transformation from human to wolf helps ground the narrative and draw the reader in. Agent: Alexandra Adsett, Alex Adsett Publishing Services. (Sept.)