Dark and twisted, Briggs' takes us back to the beginning of Bran and Leah and the circumstances surrounding their meeting and reasons for their mating. Subtle in its horror with a nice balance of humor and spirited adventure, Wild Sign is yet another surefire winner.

CW: Rape, miscarriage, child/infant death, lack of consent.
Charles and Anna are off to California in this installment, to learn more about a settlement of people on Pack land who have disappeared. The land is owned by the Pack because it was where Leah was found two centuries ago. So readers are finally going to get Leah's background, and it packs a doozy.
There is a Pied Piper element to this one, with music being used to control, and interesting contrast for Charles and Anna as it is something they use to bond and it soothes them. I put the content warnings at the beginning but will not spoil further. The pacing is good, the story twists and unfolds as we learn more about what's happening - and what could be happening. Wild Sign keeps readers on their toes, linking together mythology and the supernatural.

Every year one of my most anticipated books is the new Patrica Briggs Mercyverse book. I'm so excited that this year's book is back to Charles and Anna and I am here for it! I have missed Charles and Anna and their crazy adventures keeping the werewolves (and by extension, humans) safe. This newest installment in the Alpha & Omega series was a ride!

I thought to read a couple of chapters before bed and the next thing I knew it was 2am and I had finished the entire book. I should know better by now than to start a Patricia Briggs book before bed because once I start reading I can't stop. And let me tell you that once you start Wild Sign you won't want to stop till you run out of pages and even then you will want more.

Charles and Anna are brought in to investigate the disappearance of an entire town that just happened to have been built on land that belongs to Leah, the Marrok's mate. And Tag gets to tag along for the ride and what they discover is that everything is not what it seems around the empty town of Wild Sign. I loved seeing how far Charles and Anna have grown into their mating and their love for each other! But what I wasn't anticipating was how fun it was to watch them interact as friends with Tag! It's a side of both dominant wolves that we don't often get to see. And they meet up with some of Tag's old friends who made me yell "NO WAY!" at my kindle.

This far into the series I don't want to say too much about the plot because so much is spoilery especially after the betrayal in Burn Bright. The mystery in this book was intense and I had to know what would happen next. I wasn't able to guess any of how it ended. The most exciting thing about this book is that we learned more Leah's backstory and it was so much sadder than I anticipated. Y'all! It made me cry. We even got to learn how Leah and the Marrok became mated.

I know this book just barely came out but I'm dying to get my hands on the next one after that ending! I need to know more! This is hands down my favorite Patricia Briggs book published in the last few years. It was a roller coaster of emotions and I kind of want to reread it again even though I just finished it. And that cover! It is absolutely gorgeous!

The events in this book have consequences for both series and I'm intrigued to see what it does to this world. I think it's really going to shake things up.

It’s been a while since the last Alpha & Omega novel came out, and I really enjoyed this new adventure for Anna and Charles.

It’s more of a side story in the overall series, I think. The adversary here doesn’t have much to do with the larger power plays that are going on in the world that Briggs’ characters inhabit. The book was maybe a bit darker than I expected, although perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised by that given that the plot revolves around the disappearance of an entire group of people. It’s not all grim, thankfully. I was entertained by the new type of supernatural creature introduced early in the story, for one thing, and the berserker werewolf who accompanies Charles and Anna on their hunt is fun.

The novel has plenty of callbacks to characters and events in both this and the Mercy Thompson series for fans to enjoy. Long-time readers will be interested to finally find out why Leah is the way she is and why her marriage to Bran is so troubled. We also get some background on Sherwood Post, as well as more information about black and white witches. Samuel finally gets a check in, too. (Poor Samuel, always an afterthought. I’d really love to get at least another short story about what he’s been up to.)

Oh, and here’s a just a little tease of a spoiler: Coyote eats breakfast.

Want to know what that’s about? You’ll just have to read the book, won’t you? 😉

A copy of this novel was provided for review through NetGalley; all opinions expressed are my own.

I really enjoy the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs, so when she came out with the Alpha and Omega spin-off series years ago, I was very happy. Even with all the books between the two series, Briggs is able to keep them interesting and fresh.

When I finished Wild Sign, book six in the Alpha and Omega series, I was a bit shocked to find out it was 364 pages because it was such a fast read. I thought for sure it would only be around 264. To me, that alone shows how good Wild Sign was, especially since there weren’t a lot of fight scenes which often makes paranormal fantasy books move along faster.

I was greatly amused with the main bad guy in the book, although we get some more action with the black witches from previous books in the series. It seems that I am seeing more of the main bad guy in other books and TV shows lately and I find this delightful since I’ve always enjoyed this monster and the myths surrounding it… although Briggs still manages to put her unique spin on it.

I think long time readers of this series will enjoy Wild Sign, especially since we get more insight into two of the characters that have been on the sides for a bit now. Even if you haven’t read any other books in the Alpha and Omega series, you could read Wild Sign and be able to follow along. But I highly recommend you start this series from the beginning with Cry Wolf, so you can get all the insights and depths of the characters.

"Wild Sign" is a great new book in the Alpha and Omega series. Even in a world of werewolves, witches, and vampires, this is a bit of a creep-fest. A small town of people has gone missing and Anna and Charles have gone in search of answers. They discover the town was a haven for white witches and with a black witch nursing-home-from-hell practically next door, it seems reasonable to assume there's a connection. But the more Anna and Charles dig into the few identifiable residents of Wild Sign, the stranger things become and the more questions are raised. What does the empty town have to do with the mysterious tune Leah has been singing for months- or with Leah's past that no one ever talks about?

This was a fast-paced, intriguing story from start to finish. You could almost feel the creepiness of the enemy's power crawling up your arms reading it. I do wish I had reread the rest of the Alpha and Omega series (and the Mercy Thompson series) before reading this one, because there were often references to things that happened in earlier books that I couldn't remember. That might be annoying for a newcomer to the series. But overall "Wild Sign" can stand enough on its own not to scare off new readers, and will certainly hook them as Patricia Briggs fans!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

The latest entry in the Alpha and Omega series sees Charles and Anna solving another mystery. This time, it's about a town in the deep wilderness that has suddenly disappeared. Bran's mate Leah has a distant history with that area and the strange presence that seems to have had something to do with the townspeople's disappearance. Anna and Charles journey out west to discover what happened and remove the threat. They take Tag with them, who makes a fun third wheel on the journey. What follows is a mystery about the past and the present, and a battle against a horrific monster. We learn a lot more about Leah in this one, which I enjoyed.

I'm looking forward to the next in the series. The relationship between Charles and Anna is a delight, and I like the mixture of mystery and paranormal.

There may or may not be a Sasquatch. Copy provided by NetGalley.

Charles Cornick and Anna Latham are two of my favorite characters. They are such opposites and that is what makes them such a good fit. Once again they are off on a mystery and it just keep getting bigger and bigger. While they work through what is going on we get to see more the two and their relationship. Big surprise at the end. I didn't. see it coming.

Another really fun installment of the Alpha-Omega series. I love the dynamic between Charles and Anna and I'm always looking forward to see what Patricia Briggs does with these two next. She weaves in different fairy tale and folklore creatures in very imaginative ways.

Wild Sign, by author Patricia Briggs, is the 6th installment in the authors Alpha and Omega series which takes place in the same universe as the authors Mercy Thompson series. Anna is an Omega wolf that has stabilized Bran's pack of unstable powerful werewolves. Charles is Bran's son and an enforcer who is sent where ever there's trouble. The book opens with two separate storylines. Dr. Sissy Connors has traveled all the way to a place called Wild Sign looking for her father. She finds the town abandoned and proceeds to get the FBI involved. Next, the author takes us to events right before the book Burning Bright with Rachel, Anna, Leah, and Sage having a girls night out. The mystery behind Leah's past may finally be revealed, but first we need to get to the meat of the story.

The book quickly moves next to Aspen Creek, Montana where Anna and Charles Cornick are about to get a visit from a pair of FBI agents. If you are a loyal follower of the Mercy Thompson series, you know all about Cantrip, and the fact that Adam's Columbia Basin Pack is no longer bound to Bran Cornick. Thanks to Mercy, the entire world knows about the Pack and the lengths Mercy will go to protect her territory. The FBI feels as though supernatural groups like werewolves, and vampires, pose a significant threat to the public. They've already experienced how dangerous the fae are. The FBI wants to avoid a zero sum ending between supernaturals and humans.

The FBI offers Anna, who they somehow believe is in charge, a case to solve. There's a town missing. It is called Wild Sign, and it is located in the Marble Mounts of Northern California. Since the town is in the middle of pack property, that makes their disappearance a pack problem. More specifically, it makes it Charles and Anna's problem. Since I gave you a hint of what's coming, this land belongs to Leah Fenwood Cornick who we know as Bran's mate. I'm not going to spoil anything else but to reiterate that much of this story is based on what happened to Leah before she met Bran, and how Bran ended up with Leah as his mate.

What's even more revealing is that Leah has been singing since the girls night out with Anna. What does it mean? Anna, Charles, and Colin "Tag" Taggart are sent to investigate. As a incentive to get readers to actually pick up and read this book, there's a very interesting new character named Ford who is introduced in this story. Let's just say for those who have been searching for THEM for a very long time, and have watched a movie called Harry and the Henderson, they're here! But the story gets even more twisted once Anna, Charles and Tag entire Wild Sign.

In this universe, there are things that grow more powerful when spoken about. Example fae, demigods, and spirits of the land itself. Anna, Charles, and Tag need to find out if there were witches involved? Are any of the residents still alive? What kind of malevolent spirits are Charles and Anna sensing? And what really happened to Leah hundreds of years ago that left her as the only survivor in her family? As another incentive to read the book, I know I suck, there is a brief appearance by Mercy's father. You should know who I mean, right?

I was never a fan of Leah's. I thought she treated Anna with unkindness and never really had intention of being friends. You really need to read Leah's story and what happened to her and I think the ending will leave no room for guessing whether she's a redeemable character or not. Wild Sign has some scary parts to it and our heroes are tested severely. Anna has come along way since she was a music prodigy and will end up fighting for her sanity let alone her life. This story may test Charles ability to save her. I adore Anna and Tag's banter. He is a very dangerous character but Anna's calmness allows him to be more open and jovial at times.

No spoilers, but you really, really need to pay super close to the ending of this story. This could have lasting implications for both series far into the future.

Anna and Charles are one of my favorite paranormal couples. This story was amazing and so tension filled. Wild Signs will also usher in some changes to the series.

In Wild Signs, the FBI come knocking on Charles and Anna’s door. Literally. Not Charles and Anna Smith’s but Charles and Anna Cornick’s door in Aspen Creek, Montana. Special Agents Leslie Fisher and Craig Goldstein are back and they are hoping that they can persuade the werewolves to form a partnership with the U.S. Government. They know they blew it with the fae and they aren’t willing to trust vampires. They are hoping to form a mutual aid alliance with the packs. They came to Charles and Anna rather than Adam Hauptman because Agent Goldstein is convinced that Anna is the elusive Marrok who leads the wolves since they noticed that several occasions the werewolves, including Charles, do whatever she asks. Even when Bran walks in with his sheepish smile and looking like a meek college kid and Anna tells them flat out that Bran is “He Who Rules the Wolves,” they don’t seem to believe her. I always wondered what would happen if the government knew about the Marrok since you know there will be people who fear his control over all the wolves and those who want to control the man who controls all the wolves. Will this mistake put a target on Anna’s back. Even Anna notes, “she contemplated the two FBI agents and wondered what this visit was about to change in their world.”

The FBI come to Charles and Anna for help with a missing settlement. About 40 people set up a little town in the middle of the forest which is partially federal land but mostly belonging to a company called Aspen Creek Inc. and before that it belonged to Leah Fenwood Cornick. While Bran isn’t willing to trust the government just yet, if at all, he does send Charles, Anna and Tag to investigate. Before they leave he tells them the story of when he first found and mated Leah which is far from a happy boy-meets-girl story. Bran came across Leah and Sherwood Post, both half dead, escaping from something which killed Leah’s entire settlement about 200 years ago. Sherwood thought he killed it but he wasn’t 100 percent certain whether it was dead or just wounded.

They find the abandoned settlement and end up with more questions then when they started. There are some hints that they were preparing to abandon the camp but also clear indication that they left everything behind. So did they walk away willing or not? Are they alive or not? It seems that this settlement isn’t just an average bunch of people wanting to get away from the stress of modern technology since there is there is the lingering magic of white witches in many of the tents and buildings. Were these witches up to something or were they the target of the entity that Sherwood and Leah faced or were they simply attacked by a coven of black witches?

And when they find a little amphitheater with neglected and abandoned instruments, Anna picks up an instrument and plays a song only to become the new focus of an entity she calls “The Singer in the Woods.” Charles has to solve this mystery of what happened to the people of “Wild Signs,” what this Singer is and more importantly, how to kill it because it doesn’t want to let Anna go.

This was a great story. I was so stressed out about this Singer’s hold on Anna and what happened to the witches. We also get a lot more information about Bran and Leah. We know from Mercy’s books that Leah was never a fan of Mercy and treated her harshly when she was growing up in the Marrok’s pack. We also knew that she was never friendly towards Charles or Samuel. But in the last few books, we see a little more into the person behind this cold, unfriendly woman and in Wild Signs we learn what brought her to that point. I think we will see changes in their relationship in future stories.

One thing I really liked in this story is that Brother Wolf has taken to heart the fact that Bran never learned to speak Blue Jay Woman’s language so they never really communicated verbally before she died giving birth to Charles and how Bran lamented the stories they didn’t get to share. Brother Wolf wants to be part of the relationship with their mate Anna. In this story, Brother Wolf has become quite the Chatty Cathy with Anna. Where he used to communicate with Charles with simple pictures and feelings, he now has conversations with both Charles and Anna.

There is also something else which happens at the very end which is going to change Anna and Charles’ relationship significantly and which I am not going to tell you about at all. So grab your copy and get reading!

This story is going to bring many changes to this series, good and bad, but Patricia Briggs has already announced that Soul Taken will be the next book and it will be Mercy Thompson novel. What? This is why fans become fanatical…that means it will be at least two years before we come back to Anna and Charles to find out what happened between them after the ending of Wild Signs.

I already wanted to do a Mercy Thompson series re-read and now I am really going to have to take time for it.

I love, love, love stories with Anna and Charles. There are always so many backstories woven into each new book, new revelations about the characters, new layers to the relationships. This one has a flashback featuring Sage. FBI Special Agent Leslie Fisher makes an appearance. Tag travels with the Cornicks as they follow up on information provided by the FBI and we get to see more of his personality and catch a few hints about past adventures with Charles.

So with an entire town that has gone missing there are plenty of mysteries, possible clues, and maybe even a few red herrings dropped here and there. Could it be witchcraft? Are there Native deities involved? Why is this happening on land that belongs to the Marrok's pack? Could it be an oblique attack at the pack or the Marrok himself? One of the big pulls of this book is the chance to learn more about Leah's past - where Bran found her and why he made her his mate. (All questions we have been wondering about.)

When the investigation is planned, Anna says, "So we three are going to venture into a situation that disappeared a village and brought a legendary werewolf - no...a legendary legend to his knees and killed who knows how many people. You and I and Tag." I've come to see sending Anna and Charles to handle something as a bit like the "one riot, one ranger" approach of the Texas Rangers. Sending Tag along seems like it might be overkill, but they have occasionally run into situations where a little backup is useful, so why not?

Existing fans of Patricia Briggs and the Alpha & Omega series will not be disappointed in this new story with its mix of ties to previous books and new revelations. For those just encountering Anna and Charles, there is enough detail to make the story enjoyable on its own - but they will probably wind up searching out the rest of the series when they finish this book.

Wow! WOW! WOW! Is all I can say after reading this latest installment in the Alpha and Omega series which is a spin-off of the wildly popular and one of my favorite series, Mercy Thompson series. This time, Charles and Anna are tasked to investigate something that is more than either anticipates or finds the past of their pack meeting with the present as it collides in WILD SIGN. What I love about this series is that the author delivers a set of characters that just grow with each book and deliver some amazing scenes together and apart. I love how soft Charles can get around Anna yet anyone looking at her crossly will get his back up and his title as enforcer of the pack is not all for show. Add in a mystery that is as complex and unique as ever well, the reader will get sucked in like I did with the story and get lost with all the twists and turns. I know some things I sure didn’t see coming and the ending alone, left my jaw on the ground.

With each book in this series, we get treated to more of the pack, the complex and unique dynamics that engulf Anna as the omega of the pack and Charles who stole her heart and is one scary guy/wolf. Ms. Briggs delivers an action-packed story full of interesting characters-some old faces, some new ones, a mystery to figure out and danger that comes closer with each page to Charles and Anna. When the climatic last chapter hit, I was on the edge of my seat, anxious to see if they would live or die. It was that intense. Ms. Briggs is a talented storyteller who knows how to weave a spell around her readers and in WILD SIGN, the readers won’t be disappointed. Get ready for an edge of the seat ride from start to finish and you will be amazed in the end of some secrets that were only hinted at in past books. I can’t wait to see where the next book will take these guys and the readers as well.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement.

Wild Sign by Patricia Briggs is reviewed in the March 2021 issue of SFRevu. The review is exclusive to SFRevu until April 1st, 2021. You may read the review at this link:
<http://sfrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=19286>

Even though I never forget how much I love this series, I do forget how much I miss Charles and Anna until I quickly become immersed in their story once more. Oh how I love this couple! Oh how I love this whole bunch of crazy werewolves!

This (and the Mercy Series) is such an amazing series. Such amazing characters, adventures, supernaturals, mysteries and really, just amazing writing.

Briggs never ceases to pull me right back into the world she has created and feel like I'm once again back home with old friends I adore and it feels each time, like no time at all has passed since I saw them last.

This quite the adventure and there is so much I loved about it compared to the last books that it's hard to get all my feelings down. The bond Charles and Anna have is simply amazing but the bond the whole pack has as well, is equally amazing. I loved learning so much more about so many of them but especially about Tag and Bran and Leah's relationship and Leah's past.

This was definitely a wild ride filled with ups and downs and many revelations and that ending? That ending makes me eager for the next book.

This series never gets old and in fact, some how just manages to get better and better as it goes. Full of more heart aches, more love, more friendship, more danger, more tender hearted moments. Really, just more of everything I love and crave in a good well put together story.

Yes! It's time for fans to sit down and read the sixth novel in Patricia Briggs' Alpha & Omega series: Wild Signs. This is by far the book I've been most looking forward to this month, and I am so excited to have read it.

Deep in the wilds, one small (and illegal) town has gone missing. Since they were in the middle of pack property, that makes their disappearance a pack problem. More specifically, it makes it Charles and Anna's problem.

It is a good thing that the supernaturals of this world have set out to solve what has happened, for there is no way that human law could have stood a chance. What is lurking in those woods is very old, and very, very dangerous. Those that know of it know better than to speak of it, and they certainly know better than to sing about it.

“As the daughter of a lawyer, Anna's natural inclination was to respect the law.”

My biggest regret about reading Wild Sign is that it's over, and now I must play the waiting game all over again. Wild Sign was an intense and thrilling read, as were all of the other novels in this series (as well as Mercy's series, obviously).

I love all of the wolves in Patricia Briggs' world, so I will always greedily read anything she writes about them. Be it in the form of Mercy's series, or Anna and Charles'. Naturally, that meant that Wild Sign was an automatic must-read for me.

It is a novel that did not disappoint. I absolutely adored the way the monster in this novel was introduced. No, that's actually an understatement. Everything about this being, from their first introduction to the aesthetic and way Briggs laid out the history was so horrifying and compelling. It's impossible to look away.

It also fits in so nicely with what we know of Charles and Anna. Thematically, it was all very appropriate. Though it did dredge up some of the worst moments from Anna's past – so for those readers out there who have a bit of trouble with those points, please consider yourselves warned.

“Anna would much rather be curled up with him in front of the fire or eating something one or the other of them had cooked.”

What's more, there's more than just that main plot (and threat) going on within these pages. There is a very human element, and I mean that in the most literal sense possible. The FBI are involved and I'm anxious to see where that leads.

Likewise, there are hints dropped about other characters over the course of Wild Sign, and I'm simply dying to see how all of that is going to unfold. Especially that major reveal at the end of the book. Gah! I wonder how long we'll have to wait to find out more? Either way, I'm sure it will be worth the wait.

Back to the Mercyverse!! One of my favorite fantasy worlds ever!

As an Alpha and Omega novel, we know Charles and Anna are frontpage. Ana, the Omega that has stabilized Bran's pack of unstable powerful werewolves and Charles, Bran's son, the enforcer. If Charles shows up, you know someone has misbehaved and death is close. Charles is only different around Ana. She sees parts of him that no one else does.

So what's Wild Sign about?

A new threat.

The FBI comes knocking (literally) on Charles and Ana's door. They're asking for help. A whole community that was living in the northern mountains of California has disappeared. No one has heard from them and the daughter of one of them has sounded the alarm. Her father used to communicate with her regularly and now there has been no communication whatsoever. So why ask Ana and Charles for help? Well, the community was staying on Leah's property!

Bran can't leave the pack so he sends Anna, Charles, and Tag to investigate instead. As soon as they get there, Carles can feel the magic. Witches have been there but someone older is lurking. All types of questions are coming up: What happened to the community? Are they still alive? What's the connection with Leah's past?

Well, I was not expecting this one. Leah and her past. Leah and her losses. Leah and the choices that were taken away from her and the ones she had to live with. It made my dislike for her simmer down a little bit. Don't get me wrong, I'm still not a fan and will never be. I've got a long memory and her behavior towards Mercy is still unforgivable.

Wild Sign has some scary parts. I didn't want Anna to lose what she had gained over the years. But, I shouldn't have worried. Ana is a survivor and a fighter and Charles is deadly to their enemies. I love them as a couple and Patricia Briggs proves that there is no need for a love triangle for it to work.

I love Tag in this one. He brought humor to the story. We all know he is lethal but Anna pacifies him in all the right ways. I was laughing when he introduced himself as the henchman.

I wonder if Patrica Briggs was checking to see if we were awake enough with the last part and that epilogue! It brought in a huge development and so many repercussions to come to so many: Bran, Sherwood, Samuel, Coyote, Mercy. You name it.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by Ace Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved how the book showed the evovlution of the characters and bringing more of the stories to a close, but also to a whole new beginning. It was also a book that grabbed my attention from start to finish. I plotted out a few hours to read, but I ended up not being able to put it down. Something I haven't done in a long time!

Wow! Patricia Briggs strikes again. I read this all in one day I just could not put it down. I’d recommend reading all her books in this series to fully understand the characters and plot. There is some serious character development in this one, and it completely absorbs you into the world she has created. If you enjoy fantasy and mysteries, you’ll love this book.

I don't know how Patricia Briggs keeps coming up with these stories. It seems like each one of her books is unique, but follows are beloved characters.

This book gives more of a creep factor, which I love, as we follow our characters to the desert of California where they are investigating the disappearance of an entire town, one that happens to be linked to their Alpha's past mate. Queue horror music...

There is a lot going on in this story, but its not so overwhelming that you get lost in it all. There's the introduction of a new race and possibly the redemption of Leah the old mate. This is all along the story line of the missing town.

I loved this story and how it turned out. Can't wait for the next installment.

My review will go live on my blog, Book Confessions on March 10th.