Review: Shift by M.R. Merrick

Info:

Title: Shift (The Protector #2)
Author: M.R. Merrick
Publisher: M.R. Merrick
Publication Date: January 29, 2012

Blurb:

Devastated by a terrible loss, Chase is trying to balance the life he’s been left with, a family he’s still getting to know, and power he never thought he’d have. He doesn’t understand why the Goddess has named him the Protector and granted him two gifts: the Mark, a tattoo that now covers his back, and the ring. But between getting interrogated by the Circle and psychic attacks from Riley, the Mark is the least of his concern. There’s a demon inside Rayna that’s fighting to be released, and it’s not her inner witch. It’s something else—a monster threatening to tear her apart.

As Chase struggles to control his magic, his enemies are closing in. Everyone has staked a claim on his ring, and destroying it may be his only chance to stop Riley. But Chase must decide if stopping him is worth risking the lives of everyone he cares about, or if protecting the ring will be enough to save his world.

My Thoughts:

When I picked up Shift, I had just come off a run of books with weird, underwhelming or generally unsatisfactory romances. Based on my enjoyment of Exiled, I was hoping that Shift would be able to pull me out of my unhappy-romance slump. And I was right! Matt delivered the action in a major way and I am so thankful for that!

Chase, Rayna, Willy, Tiki and Marcus are back and on the hunt for Chase's father, Riley. But Riley has ideas of his own and is hungering for power any way he can get it. If I were to describe Shift (or the Protector series thus far) in one word, it would be "action-packed." This isn't some sappy, overly thoughtful book ; instead it's filled with awesome fight scenes and it's own brand of (very angry) teenage angst. There are a few scenes with elements of romance, but it definitely takes a back seat of action, which is a nice change from a lot of YA books I've been reading.

Chase has a tough time in this book. Still reeling from the events at the end of Exiled (trying to be spoiler-free here), Chase has an awful lot of anger built up, the majority of it at himself. In fact, this was my biggest (and only) qualm with this book. Chase is just so damn angry all the time. Maybe it's because I'm generally a peaceful person, but there were a lot of times where Chase would be angry and not let people finish. But, that said, Chase gets stuff done. And underneath his tough, deadly exterior, he cares. A lot. He is more than willing to go above and beyond for his friends and is insanely driven to achieve his goal (which is, after all, saving the world).

Shift roars along at a break-neck pace. There's quite a few characters involved and, at one point, I did get a little lost and had to wrack my brain for five minutes to remember who Radek was. But I am so excited for Release. I can't wait for Chase to take Riley down!

On the Cover:

I like the covers of this series because they're different. No girls in pretty dresses here! The cover really feels like something action-filled and the book totally fits into that.

Rating: 4 Hearts

Source: I received an ebook for review as part of the upcoming Release blog tour.

Find the Book: Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository

Find the Author: Goodreads | Website | Twitter

Don't Just Take My Word For It: Into the Hall of Books | Booknook | On a Book Bender