A mixed bag

Collections of short stories can often be a mixed bag, and this one is no different. Predatory contains four stories which have nothing to link them except for their genre (paranormal romance), and it makes for a rather disjointed whole.

The first story, ‘Out Of Control’ by Alexandra Ivy, is the best of the bunch. PhD student Angela Locke's sexy professor turns out to be rather more than a scientist: he is a Sentinel, sent to protect her because she isn’t a normal mortal. But others are after Angela, and Niko has to kidnap her to keep her safe. Will she be able to live the life now required of her?

The second story, ‘Ties that Bind’ by Nina Bangs, is just too unrealistic for this reader. Cassie Tyler takes over a shift at the funeral home on behalf of her friend and soon finds herself dealing with zombies and more. I didn’t really get into this story at all.

‘In Still Darkness’ by Dianne Duvall is apparently part of a series, and I found it a little difficult to get into. Immortal Richart finds himself drawn to Jenna, a woman he rescues from vampires and who gets drawn into the fight between Richart and his compatriots. I enjoyed aspects of this story, but it's difficult to keep tabs on such a large cast of characters in a story this short.

The final story, ‘High Stakes’ by Hannah Jayne, just doesn’t fit this anthology. The tone and feel of the story are markedly different, not helped by it being even more unrealistic than most. I couldn’t get into the fashion competition angle at all, either.

This is an anthology like many others: loosely connected stories, no congruence between them, pot luck on quality. None of the stories gripped me enough to inspire searching out more by these authors, but they do entertain in their own way. This book might well appeal to some readers.