I am somewhat new to the world of graphic novels, but having seen quite a few lately, I can tell you that Cry Wolf is a perfect example of the blend of good storytelling with amazing artwork to paint pictures that before the mind could only imagine. Bestselling author Patricia Briggs introduces her “Alpha and Omega” series of shape-shifting werewolves with intriguing characters and a quest that is much bigger than one book can contain. Better still, she does it in a way that has great appeal to mainstream readers who may have in the past been put off by the comic book format.

The love of book series seems to be exploding in fiction, whether graphic novels, YA, middle grades, or even adult mainstream, and Briggs (working with some incredibly talented people) creates a powerful and magical world where a woman named Anna Latham and a man named Charles Cornick team up to find a rogue monster werewolf that threatens all of their lives. The thing is, Anna and Charles are both werewolves themselves, but of a different type. He’s Alpha and she’s Omega, and their union is the heart of this story, told in images and words, that make this more than “just another werewolf tale.”

Briggs, who has a number of other series out (Mercy Thompson, Sianim, and Raven Duology) is no stranger to the world of the supernatural and paranormal, as her legions of fans can attest. Here she works with writer David Lawrence, artist and designer Todd Herman, and illustrator Jenny Frisos to create a world filled with depth and suspense, passion and attraction, and of course a journey that will have readers anxiously wanting to read the next in the series. Cry Wolf is actually a bound collection of four comic books which originally made up this first of four novels in the series.

It is a different experience, reading a graphic novel, because it is such a delight for the eye as well as the mind. Cry Wolf brings the story of Anna and Charles vividly to life and will capture the reader in a way a text-only book could not. I’m sold.