I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
"Human Nature"
by
Eileen Wilks
It is part of the World of the Lupi series and is a paranormal fantasy in a Kindle edition that was published by InterMix on August 18, 2015 and has 118 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books in this series include [books_series]
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Midnight Promises, Death Magic, Tied with a Bow, Mortal Ties, Ritual Magic, Unbinding, Mind Magic, Dragon Spawn, Dragon Blood, "Good Counsel", "Cyncerely Yours", "The New Kid", "Brownies", Mortal Danger, Blood Lines, Night Season, Mortal Sins, Blood Magic, Blood Challenge
A novella, 5.5 in the World of the Lupi paranormal fantasy series set in Del Cielo, Northern California, and revolving around FBI Special Agent Lily Yu and the Nokolai “Prince”, Rule Turner. It’s been six months since Lily was recruited into the FBI.
My Take
I gotta say I get a laugh out of Rule’s obsession with Lily’s underwear, lol. Lily’s last name also gets some laughs . . . but not from Lily.
“Human Nature” is a combination of violent bigotry, rebellion, and a growing public fear of the Unit’s powers with Wilks primarily using third person protagonist point-of-view from Lily’s perspective.
That mate bond between Lily and Rule does provide Wilks with conflicts. More conflicts, hateful ones, come from the police chief who doesn’t have a chip on his shoulder, it’s more like a pile of logs. There’s also the past history of young people’s rebellious natures and the thrill of defying authority. Yet another issue is Rule pushing Lily’s personal boundaries. Oooh, mama, she is ticked!
Rule does come up with some good lines about why he reacts as he does. I particularly liked him saying that Lily is now so much a part of his life that he can’t imagine having had a life without her.
We learn a bit more about how gado hurts lupi and get a reminder about why lupi are so sexually active.
That police chief is the hideous stereotype of a redneck. He has such a hate for lupi. He beat Steve almost to death five years ago — along with a number of lupi, for any or no reason. He takes his frustrations and angers out on anyone who ticks him off. Hmm, I guess that means he’s an equal opportunity hater . . . as well as incredibly corrupt. Wait’ll you read Rule’s stalking stories, lol. And when you read how Daly is “incarcerating” Jason, you’ll want to scream at how Daly ignores every commonsense rule about keeping a lupus in a jail cell. I wanna shoot Daly myself.
I absolutely adored this fierce Lily! As for Isen, hmmm, the Rho is “irrevocably offended” sounds so promising.
Wow, that Friar is a real nut job. Bestiality? Unnatural? Hmm, he sounds like a Republican. How he raised such a sweet daughter, I’ll never know. Mariah does have an interesting viewpoint on her gift as well as a different take on people lying, or not.
“You don’t get to think you know what’s best for someone else, because it’s their” thing and not yours.
Mannie admits to enjoying the sexual plurality of their group but he’s more interested in the magical exploration. He’s also full of Adele’s viewpoint on the plurality aspect.
Wait a minute, I thought Wilks said Jason was fired from the police force, but it’s actually fired from the hospital. It was confusing.
It’s primarily character-driven with lots of action. It’s amazing how Wilks got so much packed in to so few pages!
And Lily’s lease on her apartment is up.
The Story
Lily Yu intends to celebrate her 29th birthday, dang it. But then the naked, tattooed body of a man is found, and Rule learns his identity and then the name of the Northern California town that has jurisdiction.
There’s no question that Rule must fly in and protect the man arrested, for he knows this town . . . and its police chief.
The Characters
Special Agent Lily Yu, a former Homicide detective in San Diego and a touch sensitive who can’t be affected by magic, is with the MCD branch of the FBI and is the Chosen of the claustrophobic Rule Turner, the heir to the Nokolai Rho and their Lu Nuncio.
Special Agent Cynna Weaver, a Finder with a Msaidizi background and the apprentice to Nokolai’s Rhej, and the lupus sorcerer, Cullen Seabourne, are dear friends to both Lily and Rule — and they’ve been kidnapped (They got married in “Cyncerely Yours“, 4.5, and kidnapped in Night Season, 4).
The Nokolai Clan is . . .
. . . the lupi clan to which Rule belongs. The Rho is his father, Isen Turner. Steve Hilliard had been an agemate and friend of Rule’s since their childhood. Jason Chance, a nurse, had been a friend of Steve’s. Beth is Jason’s sister. Dr Nettie Two-Horses is a Harvard-trained physician, a ritually trained shaman, and Benedict’s daughter. Benedict Jones is Isen’s older son, and he’s in charge of security at Nokolai.
Hal Newman is a defense attorney with Cone, Levy, Rayner, and Newman. He’s good.
The Unit is . . .
. . . part of the Magical Crimes Division (MCD) of the FBI and is headed up by the lost Ruben Brooks, an off-the-scale precog with the president’s ear. Ida is his very efficient secretary. Martin Croft is running Unit while Ruben is missing (Night Season, 4). Arjenie Fox, a witch, is a researcher.
Del Cielo, California
Pete Daly is the corrupt, bigoted, bullying chief of police. He and Rule have a history! Hawes is the chief jailer. Officer Mills and another cop have their rifles ready. Morton Wright is the morgue attendant. Dr Alicia Chavez is the county medical examiner. Judge Soreli understands lupi rules.
Amos McPherson was the second-to-last person to see Steve. Bobbie’s Grill serves plentiful food quickly. Casa Gomez is owned by Maria Esperenza Valenzuela Gomez. Felicia is Maria’s sister. Her great-aunt, Tía Jimena, did not talk about her craft. Adele Blanco is a practicing witch with a Gift for Earth and a shop, Practikal Magik. The young Keoni Akana, a full human, was encouraged to infiltrate Humans First. Mannie Bouchard, ospi to Nokolai, is a car mechanic with a small Finding Gift. Dora Bouchard is his mother and the daughter of one of the Nokolai counselors.
Lupe Valdez, the gifted senior charge nurse in orthopedics, is Jason’s former supervisor — and friend — at the local hospital. She’s also Robert Friar’s neighbor. Anna is her older daughter at UCLA. Sarita is her youngest daughter. Lori is Sarita’s friend — with a driver’s license!
Robert Friar started Humans First, a hate group, and he lives in Del Cielo. The attention-seeking Mariah Friar is the empathic daughter he’s disowned. She has a son, Steve. Shawn is Robert’s brother who’s been in and out of rehab. Armand Jones and Paul Chittenden are a couple of Friar’s lieutenants.
Gan is a former demon who is now growing a soul (Blood Lines, 3). The Turning is when magic erupted onto Earth, back in December. Ambient magic is free magic and affects technology. Gado, a.k.a. gadolinium, is a rare earth element used to drug lupi into being unable to change. Lupus is the singular form of the plural lupi. Ray Evans is a journalist with a Charisma Gift is with the Sacramento Star.
The Cover and Title
The cover has a deep blue background interrupted by barely seen tree trunks, a forest floor, and misty night atop the trees. Lily is front and center, on one knee, pointing her gun at us with a determined face. True to form, lol, Lily is all in black with her long black hair hanging straight down. Just below the sky is an info blurb in white. Below that is the author’s name in an embossed sky blue. To the far left of Lily’s leg is the publisher’s logo and name in white. The descending and gradated blue-to-yellow title crosses Lily’s ankles.
I think the title refers to everyone, as each character’s behavior is in their “Human Nature”.
