That's right, we've got some award winners here at Supposed Crimes. That's what makes us the best in our niche! Anyway, this isn't about us, it's about Geonn Cannon and his award winning series: Underdogs.
Alright, quick summary for those of you unfamiliar with this work. Underdogs is a series of 4 books (the 5th book, Wilder Animals, will be released in July 2016), in addition to the prequel Wolf at the Door, and the free Underdogs: The First Stories. The series follows Ariadne Willow, a private investigator who is also a canidae--she has the ability to transform into a wolf. She is able to use her heightened senses and shapeshifting abilities to track and follow people. Those are the basics of it, but the plot is rich in character development, detail, action, and twists.
The third book in the series, Dogs of War, has won a 2015 Golden Crown Literary Society Award for Paranormal/Horror and a 2014 Rainbow Award for Best Lesbian Sci-Fi/ Futuristic & Fantasy. The fourth book, Red in Tooth and Claw, just won a 2015 Rainbow Award for Best Paranormal Romance. Of additional note, Geonn is the only man to ever win a Golden Crown Literary Society Award, quite an accomplishment! This series has also consistently placed in the top 100 werewolves books for Amazon Kindle.
Here is a brief excerpt from the 2015 Rainbow Awards for Red in Tooth and Claw:
"The author has created an interesting story but quite different from other Shapeshifter novels I've read. The ability to change from human to animal is both a blessing and a curse for the main character but not in the typical manner readers would expect. Character development was extremely good. I could almost feel the 'pain' of Ari, and the love and compassion of her partner Dale as well as Ari's. I believe this is a story that paranormal readers will enjoy."
For those of you interested in the paranormal, romance, books with strong lesbian characters, or a combination of the three, then you will want to pick up the Underdogs series. You can grab Underdogs: The First Stories for free! But be warned, you won't be able to stop yourself from ordering the other books in the series, they're just that good.
Underdogs: The Novel (Underdogs #1)
Everyone in Seattle knows the name Melody Louise Scott. The little blonde girl with a mischievous grin disappeared three days ago, and every night since her photo has appeared on the news with pleas for any information that leads to her being found safe. Not everyone knows the name Jenna Morris who was just reported missing. The only difference between the two girls is that Melody is white and Jenna is black.
Fearing the worst and knowing the police won’t give her daughter priority, Jenna’s mother hires Ari so she’ll know that finding her daughter is the top priority for at least one person. Ari agrees to take the case, putting her at odds with a Detective Lorne, whom she first encountered during the Gavin debacle. Lorne has grown suspicious of what happened that night and uses the opportunity of working together to try and figure out what secrets Ari is hiding.
Meanwhile Ari becomes friends with a British canidae Millicent “Milo” Duncan, another wolf whose intentions may not be as pure as they first appear. With Ari distracted by the case and keeping Detective Lorne at arms’ length, Dale becomes more suspicious of the new arrival’s true motives for being in Seattle.
Dogs of War (Underdogs #3)
Seattle is under siege. An ancient ceremony known as “wolf manoth,” in which human hunters kill as many canidae as possible, has been revived. The hunters have arrived in force, focusing on the Pacific Northwest due to its high wolf population. Ariadne Willow, alerted to the danger by her mother, goes undercover with a group of hunters in an effort to minimize the damage. Unfortunately the hunters have a new weapon, a drug that brings out the feral side of any canidae exposed to it. With her safety and sanity both at risk, Ari is forced to trust a friend turned enemy in order to stay alive. Meanwhile, Dale is cut off from her friend and partner and faces the wrath of drugged canidaeand hunters who are eager to make an example of a human who has been consorting with a wolf. Chased through the city and forced to take refuge wherever she can get it, Dale receives help from unexpected corners. Separated by circumstance and under attack from threats both human and wolf, Ari and Dale must do everything in their power to keep the body count down while also staying alive long enough to find each other again.
Red in Tooth and Claw (Underdogs #4)
Canidae private investigator Ariadne Willow and her girlfriend Dale have had a hectic couple of years, dealing with murderous clients while attempting to stop an all-out war between hunters and wolves. After stopping the onset of wolf manoth, Ari decides it’s well past time that she and Dale take a vacation. Two weeks of rest and relaxation at the cabin where their relationship went from business to romance sounds like exactly what the doctor ordered. Dale hopes the opportunity to slow down will ease some of the pain Ari has been suffering from her transformations.
Their plans are thrown for a loop when Ari goes for a run and stumbles over the body of a dead girl hidden deep in the woods near the cabin. When she returns with the police the body has vanished and the scene hastily cleaned up. The police don’t see any evidence to confirm Ari’s claims but her enhanced canidae senses confirm the body was there and has vanished. With the police refuse to investigate based only on her word, Ari and Dale begin digging for the truth and quickly learn that the and there are some secrets people will go to any lengths to keep buried.
Wilder Animals (Underdogs #5)
Coming July 2016