Welcome to the second day of our focus on Kathryn Mackel’s Trackers, book 2 of the Birthright Project. (My apologies for the unclosed links yesterday; that should be fixed now.)
Trackers is the continuing story of the characters we met in Outriders—Brady, Niki, Cooper, Stasia, and all the others—including bad guy Baron Alrod. The tale contains adventure, ingenuity, self-sacrifice, forgiveness, and love on many levels, not just romantic.
I loved Outriders, but will admit—since hearing that WestBow had decided to cancel the series contract after book two, I dreaded reading Trackers. I’ve seen what happens when an author is told to cut a series short and so has to try to tie up all the loose ends and cram storyline from two novels into one—continuity suffers, and pacing, and numerous other things. But Kathy does a good job of keeping the crammed feeling to a minimum in this volume, and I only felt jarred or rushed a couple of times.
Several other things happened while I was reading. More than once I had to put the book down and just let the tears flow … for my own longing to write and be in print, for Kathy and the disappointment of the series ending, for the beauty of the story itself. (I also decided that it’s probably not a good thing for me to try to write objective reviews for books whose authors I know personally … ) I especially loved the moment when Ajoba is finally restored … and there’s a brand-new character whose longing for freedom is heartwrenchingly sweet.
If Kathy never has another title in this series in print, Trackers is a satisfying enough “ending” to the story—but it’s also wide open for more. And I, for one, am hoping and praying WestBow changes their mind …
But more on that tomorrow.
Don’t forget to post a comment to be entered in my drawing for a signed copy of both Outriders and Trackers, and to check back either Friday or Saturday to see if you’ve won.
Other stellar posters:
Jim Black, Jackie Castle, Valerie Comer, Frank Creed, Gene Curtis, Chris Deanne, Janey DeMeo, April Erwin, Beth Goddard, Todd Michael Greene, Karen Hancock, Elliot Hanowski, Katie Hart, Sherrie Hibbs, Sharon Hinck, Joleen Howell, Jason Joyner, Karen and at Karen’s myspace, Oliver King, Tina Kulesa, Mark Goodyear, Lost Genre Guild, Kevin Lucia and The Bookshelf Reviews 2.0 – The Compendium, Terri Main, Rachel Marks, Rebecca LuElla Miller, Caleb Newell, Eve Nielsen, John Otte, Cheryl Russell, Hannah Sandvig, Mirtika Schultz , James Somers, Stuart Stockton, Steve Trower, Speculative Faith, Chris Walley, Daniel I. Weaver
Must say, I really like that cover.
This was a good series, I find it sad she had to cut it short. Sounds like she pulled it off, and left the door open for future possiblities.
There’s always the chance they’ll change thier mind, or someone else will pick it up. Let’s hope.
Great post as always, Shannon. Love the way you always seem to pour out your heart:)
Sounds like a really good book, might have to check those out 🙂 Miss you and love you!!
Am I too late to be entered in the book drawing? I hope not! I love Kathy’s books and have been dying to read her newest.
God bless,
Karri