Dakota Captive by Alythia Brown--A Review and Excerpt

Once again I get to welcome back Dakota Captive by Alythia Brown. This time I have an excerpt and a review.

Blurb:

When the evil spirit of Jumlin returns with his army of Offspring, the Earth Spirits are summoned to protect the Sioux. Unbeknownst to Charli, these Earth Spirits are a sacred secret. So she probably shouldn't have spied from behind a rock when they shifted from their animal forms. She shouldn't have taken pictures. And she definitely shouldn't have gotten caught. And they're not going to let her go until some creepy witch doctor, or something, erases her memory. So all she has to do is try to keep her big mouth shut, get her memory erased and go home, right? Wrong. Because Jumlin's Offspring are stalking Charli. And since no one can explain this unusual behavior, it becomes imperative to enter the Other World for sanctuary. Now if only she can figure out why she's beginning to fall for one of her abductors on top of everything else...

Excerpt:

An angry growl pierced my ears, and I looked back, despite my painful desire to crawl into a hole. The ridge of the bear’s back charged toward me in the moonlight, cutting down the distance between us faster than I could have hoped for a miracle. I screamed and gave my dash one last valiant effort before Matȟó Čhaŋté shifted into his human form and tackled me, probably swearing. He wasn’t speaking English, but I’m pretty sure he wasn’t asking me to stay for tea.

I tried to slap his face, but his quick hands caught my wrists. So, I spat instead. His eyes burned beneath the moonlight as he wiped my saliva from his cheek. I could have sworn he wanted to strangle me, his shaking hand poised in the air above my throat before he managed to compose himself and fling me over his shoulder like a bag of flour.

Three figures waited for our return in front of the teepee. Matȟó Čhaŋté threw me hard onto the ground as a reward for managing to kick him in the face. He shouted at me while inspecting his nostrils for any blood. Then he pointed and spoke in English for the first time.

“If you will not behave for Tȟáȟčawiŋ, you will behave for me!”

“Matȟó …” Tȟáȟčawiŋ tried to interfere.

As the man tore into the teepee, it was clear there would be no arguing with him. The other three stood like slabs of granite around me as I picked loose gravel from a fresh scrape. When Matȟó Čhaŋté returned with a rope, he knelt beside me in the dirt and began to bind my shaking wrists with no amount of tenderness. He was vindictive, determined to see me flinch with every yank as vengeance for forcing him from his bed. After he’d bound both my hands together, he tied the other end of the rope to one of his own wrists and abruptly pulled me inside the teepee.

“You will sleep now!” he bellowed, pointing to a fur spread out beside the fire.

A tear formed in my eye, but I was too proud to let him see me cry. I resorted to burying my face in the animal hide. Matȟó Čhaŋté dragged his bedding beside mine to settle down with a grunt that sounded more bear than human. I wondered if one could ever separate the two.

A Four Star Review

Dakota Captive is a shape-shifting catalog of adventure, passion, and suspense.

Congratulations to Ms. Brown for a fantastic read. Well edited and written, Dakota Captive is fit not only for the young adult but the adult as well. The writing is snappy, forward propelling, and HUMOROUS which I absolutely loved.  The characters are memorable, especially our heroine, Charli, a curious young woman with unusual talents, one of which is to find trouble... and love.

I would recommend Dakota Captive to anyone interested in the paranormal and shape-shifting. I especially liked the introduction of Native Americans and the obviously countless hours of research Ms. Brown put into the novel.

Kudos on a job well done.

(((hugs)))

Louann

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