The Blood of The Covenant - Andy J N McRae

SYNOPSIS:

Something is taking people from the highland woods.

First they go missing, then they show up dead, like clockwork every full moon.

The pack know it has to be another werewolf --- one that's choosing to act like an animal.

Three years have passed since Mitch was turned in the attack that killed his sister, Mel. Life has continued somewhat normally; he's starting HRT and planning on proposing to his girlfriend, Val. He should be happy, but he's still buried in a den of trauma from the attack that he doesn't know how to get out of. And unearthing this may be his only option to save his friends.

Val, was Mel's best friend. Despite years of therapy, she still sees intrusive visions of her friend everywhere and wrestles with the ideas surrounding fate and control. There has to be a better way for her to protect her loved ones than the constant obsessive rituals she finds herself entangled in. She's the one who brought them all together. She can get them out of this.

 Radwa was turned the same night as Mitch and Val, but being a werewolf hasn't been nearly as hard being a newly out trans teenager. If anything it's given her a strange sense of family; she's found a sister in Val, a new kind of understanding in Mitch, and something else entirely in Lolly that neither of them are brave enough to address.

 Lolly was with Radwa the night of the attack. They heard the screams then ran towards them. They've always been like that, impulsive, a spark burning hot and fast. But despite their jovial exterior, Lolly has known horrors far worse than their monthly transformations, and they have more to lose than just their life.

 Prompted by the arrival of Mitch's new neighbor Wren, who is suspiciously interested in their pack, the group must come head to head with the evil lurking in the woods. An evil they're all too familiar with. One that seeks to control their bodies and minds and doesn't like being told no. The problem is that this type of evil looks like everyone else.

  As the alpha, everyone expects Mitch to save them, but what if his trauma runs too deep to let him? Will each of their pack survive unscatched? And if they do, what long-buried feelings will be unearthed?

REVIEWS:

McRae is the master of suspense, red herrings and

surprises and a true magic wielder of unique character

voice. Prepare yourselves for a thrilling page-turner

full of darkness and joy in equal measure, exquisite

handling of the queer experience and characters you

will never forget. Andy J N McRae is here to leave his

mark on the reading world and his moon is about to

rise.

— J. M. Rose, author of Usurper

A love-letter to queer youth and found families.

— Jake Vanguard, author of First Snow, First

Rose and Higanbana