Release Day Post/Reviews: Viper Game: Christine Feehan

by - Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Viper Game  (GhostWalkers #11)
Christine Feehan
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Hailed as "the queen of paranormal romance" by J.R. Ward, #1 New York Times bestselling author “Christine Feehan continues to amaze readers” (The Eternal Night) with her phenomenal novels. Now, from the author of the Dark Carpathian series, comes the newest in Christine Feehan's explosive GhostWalker series…


GhostWalker Wyatt Fontenot knows the price he paid for the secret military experiments that gave him his special catlike abilities. After all, he left his bayou home a healer and came back a killer. While Wyatt and his GhostWalker brother Gator may have known exactly the sort of game they were getting into, Wyatt never anticipated where it would lead—or to whom.



The swamps hold many mysteries, but few are as sinuously seductive as Le Poivre de Cayenne. The woman the locals call Pepper is every bit as enigmatic as the three little girls she’s desperately trying to protect. From what, Wyatt is soon to discover. Right now Pepper needs a man like Wyatt. Passionately. But her secrets are about to take them both deeper into the bayou than either imagined—where desire is the deadliest poison of all.


NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED

INCLUDES A BONUS EXCERPT FROM CHRISTINE FEEHAN’S GHOSTWALKER NOVEL, NIGHT GAME 


View the Trailer
Read the First Chapter



Wyatt Fontenot is bringing his team mates Malichi and Ezekiel Fortunes back home to the swamp and his "Nonny". Seems Nonny is is being threatened in the Bayou where she lives. Since Wyatt and his friends are enhanced soldiers, they don't plan on wasting time just talking to the suspects. But their investigation leads to a mysterious guarded building and strange occurrences that surprise even them.

Pepper is an enhanced women with seductive and deadly properties. But she just wants to protect three little girls from further harm and experimentation. They have all been hurt they the experiments of Dr. Whitney and never had a chance at any kind of a normal life. 

Wyatt and Pepper become tightly bound as he tries to help her with his White Knight complex breaking free, But she is tough and independent an afraid of expecting anyone to help and understand fully. The entire situation is dangerous--not only the unstable woman and girls--but also those out to hunt them.

In a game where there are many game pieces and danger at every turn...
Who is really the predator and who the prey? Is it all some big elusive trap?

I loved Wyatt as much as I loved his brother Gator. 
His Cajun charm and magnetism are a perfect companion to his alpha, bossy tendencies. He has such a love and devotion to family. He is protective, highly intelligent, caring and committed once he decides on a plan of action. 

Pepper is interesting and unique. At first it was hard to get a handle on her, but once she became more open with Wyatt it was easier to see that she was equally devoted and protective of the girls. She has traits she has to control around others that make it hard for her.  She also has fears, insecurities, and worries. She has never had anyone to trust before or known kindness or care. 

She and Wyatt share a link with passion and pain. Their mating is feral, raw, intense and out of control. Two dominant sexual beings fighting for control and being completely out of control when together. Merged in their passion, compatible in their determination and fierceness, wild and uninhibited.

They were all manipulated by the same man/organization in different ways with differing results, Some experiments were apparently considered successes while others were considered failures and when their usefulness was over, then they risked termination.

But there are so many factors at play that it is hard to tell if it is a trap and who they are really after. Wyatt, Malichi, Zeke, and the rest of their team Mordichai, Draden, and Trap need to save Pepper and the girls and keep Nonny safe, but they are putting targets on their backs as well. And it could be one huge manipulative power play by the powers that be.
This one has mysteries, secrets, hidden agendas, danger, suspense, and passion. What I love about Christine Feehan's GhostWalker series is that no matter how long in between books (2 1/2  years since the last one), I am immediately drawn back into their world. Each character is so unique and has so many different special traits and abilities, The plot lines always have mystery, danger, suspense and I always feel the intense connection between the couple. Their enhancements exacerbate their bond and chemistry ans their couplings are always raw and explosive. Throw in some cat and viper DNA into this mix and it adds even more issues to deal with. And no matter how many times GhostWalker teams seem to defeat their true enemy and creator, he seems to find more way to manipulate them. All of the complexities, details, and danger make these fast-paced, nail-biting action reads, but they have a heavy does of lust, longing, passion and love. Differences often just make them complement the other more. 

There have to be  more stories to come for this newer group of GhostWalkers.  I became attached to t
he brothers Malichi, Mordichai, Ezekiel and their team member, Draden. I am totally enthralled with the Iceman, Trap. His reaction to the black Widow, Cayenne was very interesting.  I wish we had been able to visit with his brother Gator and Flame (Night Game), but at least we got to spend more time with the fierce Cajun Grandma Nonny. And I loved the girls and how all of the characters interacted with them. I love the camaraderie and trust the team have in each other and I can't wait for more in this series. Even though the ending is resolved well enough, she did leave room for more to come from this group and their story line in the future. 

I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.


Wow, it has been close to three years since Ms. Feehan has given us our last GhostWalker couple. The book and series held a mix of excitement and nervousness for me. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to immerse myself back into Peter Whitney’s world again, as my taste have totally changed since I read my last Walker book, which was longer than three years ago. Furthermore, since I never got around to reading book 10 in the series, I wasn’t too sure if the author could still pull it off, and I didn’t want to ruin one of my top favorite series. I’m happy to say that I adored Viper Game. I found it to be a great addition to the series. 

I was not sure if I was going to enjoy the extra “animal” element, but I think her new formula added a bit of a twist to the story. It didn’t take long to quickly adapt to the change, and I found myself finishing the book in one day. Both Wyatt and Pepper were fun new protagonists, a bit different from our other heroes and heroine’s in the series. There were love/hate moments with these two, but nothing major I couldn’t work my way around. Wyatt was the typical enhanced Walker, who once he found his “mate” became possessive; however, with the combined “cat” component, he could sometimes be a bit over the top. Like Gator, Wyatt’s brother from book 3, Wyatt worked that amazing Cajun charm. You could not help but become engaged from the very first page. 

Pepper took some getting used to as the author designed her character to have some major character flaws, such as lack of self-worth and a ton of insecurities. She was built from the ground up by Whitney to be a “soldier.” I wasn’t sure which way to lean with her. There were moments I loved her, and then there were the ones where I compared her to past female protagonists such as Flame and Tansy, and she didn’t quite measure up. Pepper definitely had some great strength underneath all the layers of vulnerable uncertainty that endeared me to her character. One of my favorite things about her was her natural maternal instinct. The scenes with her and the littles were heartwarming, these moments prove that even the toughest “soldier” can break even the hardest cycle of conditioning to show love and affection. 

The secondary characters helped make this edition to the series be what it was. In my opinion, they played a major part in the reason I adored this book so much. I just wish Feehan had given us less of the “dominating” sex and more of the little vipers. The babies were wicked cute. I can’t actually remember reading about any other GhostWalker tots. I remember a few being pregnant, but the babies were not actually born and active yet; therefore, they definitely brought an intriguing aspect to this unique series. 

Was it my favorite GhostWalker book? No, but it also was not my least favorite. I loved that Feehan gave us a completely new team to look forward to. Although, I sometimes found Wyatt’s team more engaging than the actual MCs, especially after getting a taste of Trap and his “black widow.” I am more than antsy to get to their story. I have a feeling we are going to see some major sparks and chemistry fly there. Here is to hoping it doesn’t take us another 2+ years for the next Walker book. 

I would recommend this book to longtime fans and new readers alike. Since it is a new team, it can definitely be read as a standalone. I would actually say all of the series could be read out of order or as a standalone and still be well liked and understood.

Thank you, PENGUIN GROUP Berkley, NAL / Signet Romance, DAW, for a complimentary copy of Vipers Game.
GhostWalkers Series on Goodreads and Author's website


Christine Feehan Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon Author Page

#1 New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan has over 40 novels published, including four series. Each of her four series has hit #1 on the NY Times. Her debut novel Dark Prince received 3 of the 9 Paranormal Excellence Awards in Romantic Literature for 1999. Since then she has been published by Leisure Books, Pocket Books, and currently is writing for Berkley/Jove. She also has earned 7 more PEARL awards. 

IN HER WORDS:

I am a mother, first and foremost in my life. Family is very important to me. I have several children all of whom drive me crazy on a daily basis. And I have four Maltese that are even worse. LOL! I love living in the country and I find that it continues to inspire my writing.. which is my ultimate passion in life.

I am a writer and have been almost my entire life. I have to write every day or I'll drive my family crazy. I first became a published author in 1999 with the release of Dark Prince. Before that I had a wide variety of jobs including being a full time mom, a martial arts instructor, a telephone operator, and I even worked for a newspaper. Now I’m able to write full time. I usually have four new books released per year. (www.christinefeehan.com)




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