I think I'm done with this series. I was unhappy after Shia was potentially turned into a werewolf against her will in the last book (after being placed in thrall to a vampire against her will in a prior book), and here we have yet another male gendered entity taking control of Shia's mind for his own ends. Shia gives some lip service to wanting to be her own self and not under the control of another being, but she turns that over quickly enough by the end of the book.
It's just not my thing at all. Shia making a choice to be a part of a community of others and accepting some loss of independence is fine, but that's not whats going on here. Her consent for the events of the end of the book is obtained by rather manipulative means at a time when she is physically and emotionally exhausted and vulnerable.
I'm also finding this world less interesting as time goes on, and there were a number of plot points that I just didn't buy. ( )

I read the last line and went wtf..wtf..wtf!? Evil author alert. I sat up and shook my fist, ok so I did not shake my fist but I stared at bf for a while and trying to comprehend that the book had just ended. Now you all think cliffie, but it was not really a cliffie. All was good, sort of good for now, it was just what was going on and ..I truly want to spill the beans but you have to read for yourself to find out what made me crave book 5 more than chocolate, and I adore chocolate.

But that was the last page.*giggles* Oh Haines you evil awesome author.

Now see, I got sidetracked yet again, I shall not think about the end. So the book starts with a pissed off Shia and who can blame her. Possibly infected with the were virus and having found out that her boyfriend cheated on her. That effing bastard. And think I liked him for a while! So the hunt is on and she wants the Sunstrikers to pay. This is really a different Shia in this book. Sure she was always kick-ass but now she is also angry, and you do not want to see her angry.

We meet the white hats again, they are kind of growing on me and we learn, nope, lips sealed again. But we learn something. And then we also meet Royce *happy sigh*. The vampire that made me like vampires again, because he just oozes sex.

Fighting, trouble and one ending that will make you want more. More please  *puppy eyes* Haines does so well with this book, even if I talk about the end a bit too much but trust me, it was just that good!
( )

4.5/5
Wow, what a wild ride that was! I still think that Deceived by The Others is the strongest book in the series, because there is so much pain, shock and betrayal in it. However, Stalking The Others is behind it only by half a point.

Shia's got so much rage in her, so much anger. This is truly gritty urban fantasy, full of action, bitterness, tethered emotions and total self-absorption with delivering vengeance to those who wronged the main heroine.

Partly the change comes over Shia because of the magical belt she's wearing. If you remember previous books, the belt gave her a much needed edge over supernatural creatures at night, but by day its strength waned.

However, the darkness she absorbs every time she wears that belt is welcomed, so whatever has been happening from the very beginning of Miss Waynest's involvement with vampires and werewolves reached its critical point which broke her and molded her into something new.

Stalking The Others is turning the tables, and Shia becomes a hunter instead of being hunted. The plot is violent, action-packed and gritty with the ending that made me reminisce about Anita and Jean-Claude when it was all still fresh and new.

Not sure what to think of the ending, but it's clear that Jess Haines has quite a few aces up her sleeve, and I can not even predict the direction Shia's life will take from now, but I'm very much looking forward to finding out...

Fabulous read! ( )

Started yesterday, November 07th, 2012. Got this for free through a Sony EBook Store Promotion.
I read it before realizing it was the 4th book of a series.
It was great, nice, but not explicit scene at the end.
So I bought the Jess Haines Bundle with this book (again) and the 3 books before that. And started that directly after finishing this - the joys of instand gratification through ebooks! ( )

Reviewed by: Rabid Reads.

After the dramatic exit Shia made in DECEIVED BY THE OTHERS, reading the next installment became my #1 priority, I only wish that I could fly through all series the way I’m guzzling H&W INVESTIGATIONS! The heroine turns into a lean, mean, killing machine in this book, and I just loved watching her serve up a can of Others whoopass. The blurb outs Chaz as a douchebag, so I’m psyched that I no longer have to curb my seething hatred in order to avoid spoilers on that front, and can now full-out own my Team Royce status, doubly-so after that last scene—whoa Nelly! I’m a little nervous as to what the loss of the hunter’s belt, and the capitulation to Alec’s demands might mean for Waynest, but I have confidence in Jess Haines.

I’d suspected that we hadn’t seen the last of the White Hats, even after the falling out in TAKEN BY THE OTHERS, and although Jack isn’t exactly my favourite character, I still enjoyed getting to know him better. Sometimes the devil you know is better than the one you don’t, so when confronted with the possibly of becoming a werewolf, Shia turns to this anti-Others group for help. Now, I use that term loosely because their idea of neighbourly love involves revenge and assisted suicide. That is until some interesting dets about their fearless leader surface, and the line between good & evil becomes blurred. I was taken aback by this latest newsflash because it was wholly unexpected, and quite the twist at that!

STALKING THE OTHERS was mostly about Waynest evening the score with the Sunstrikers, and I liked that the protagonist got the opportunity to show readers what she’s made of, from her nifty P.I. tricks to her ninja moves thanks to Isaac (the belt). One of my blogger peeps made a surprise cameo appearance as a werewolf, and I couldn’t get enough of Shia’s tooth and nail catfight with Kimberly, the homewrecker! I was happy with the way things went down between our girl and Dillon, but her encounter with Chaz was a bit of a letdown. The reasons behind it made sense in a big picture kind of way, however on the flip side I REALLY wanted Waynes to cut her ex-boyfriend’s nuts off, and shove them down his throat. Just saying.

Royce’s part in this story was minuscule, but the scenes he was in were real game changers. I keep expecting him to vamp out on Shia, yet in reality he’s turning out to be one of the most consistent characters in this series. His experience and insight are invaluable, and ended up pulling the heroine’s butt out of the fire. Again. That last chapter was a long time in coming, and thank goodness that there was a preview for the next installment in the final pages of this novel because I needed it as badly as my next breath after that firebomb. The title of book 5 is making me fidgety though, just when Waynest’s love life is beginning to even out, the author has to go and taunt us with FORSAKEN BY THE OTHERS. I’m scared.

For the most part, STALKING THE OTHERS was a 4-star read, but that ending earned an extra .5 from me. Wowzers! ( )