The Pack or the Panther

Tales of the Harker Pack

By: Tara Lain

Narrated by: Max Lehnen

Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Cole Harker, son of an alpha werewolf, is bigger and more powerful than most wolves, tongue-tied in groups, and gay. For 24 years, he's lived to please his family and pack - even letting them promise him in marriage to female werewolf Analiese to secure a pack alliance and help save them from a powerful gangster who wants their land.

Cole then meets Analiese's half-brother, panther shifter Paris Marketo, and for the first time, Cole wants something for himself.

When Analiese runs off to marry a human, Cole finally has a chance with Paris, but the solitary cat rejects him, the pack, and everything it represents.

Cole discovers the gangster wants Paris, too, and won't rest until he has him. What started as a land dispute turns into World War Wolf! But the bigger fight is the battle between cats and dogs.

©2014 Tara Lain (P)2014 Dreamspinner Press

Awesome!

Absolutely beautiful (and smexy) book!! I loved the characters and the depth of their personalities along with the plot. The amount of sexy time was perfect, not too much or too little. It was a good balance of characters, plot, and passion. Can't wait to read the next one!

Extremely entertaining

What made the experience of listening to The Pack or the Panther the most enjoyable?

Getting to know new characters, listening to the narrator bring life to Tara lains characters.

Which character – as performed by Max Lehnen – was your favorite?

The lead character. Very dynamic

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Family matters!

Any additional comments?

Very nicely done

it was so good

i lovd the story so much that I didn't want it to be over and the end is a really good one you will not be disappointed it is one of my favorites

Horrible narration

Would you try another book from Tara Lain and/or Max Lehnen?

maybe the author, but not til narrator

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

the narrator, didnt finish the book, since i could not listen.

Would you be willing to try another one of Max Lehnen’s performances?

no

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

dont know - since i did not finish it

An amazing story - TERRIBLE narration

This is a unique shifter book in that Cole is no typical alpha. He stutters, he’s awkward, he’s shy, and – he’s mated to a panther! Paris, his mate, is extremely cat like, shifty, sinuous, slinky and … solitary. This makes his being mated to Cole very hard, and forms the crux of their dilemma.
Tara Lain likes to give us quirky, sometimes odd MCs and then show us why we should love them. It takes some doing – Cole is really stiff and sometimes hard to read. Paris is very cocky and stand-offish, hard to wrap your mental cuddle around. In the end, however, we see their soft-underbellies and they manage to worm their way into our hearts.
I had to combine the audio and book review together because the unique nature of the book influences the audio version’s palatability. When I read this book earlier in the year, I loved it straight away. Gave it 5 of 5 stars. Then I read the second in the series, and loved it even more! I was therefore excited to listen to the audio very much.
Ugh!

At first I had to stop listening and go back to the book. Was it the narrator or the story that was bothering me so much? So, I went back to read the book again.
Ahhh – I get it! The rhythm of the book, the writing style, mimics animal thought and impressions. Something that translates really well on paper, but would take a discerning eye/ear for to read aloud. Tara does a funny play on words, uses sounds and pauses that work to put you in the mind of a wolf running through the woods. Maybe no one could do it well, hard to say, but the unique wording and timing just didn’t translate well when read aloud by Max Lehnen.
Max’s voice is sort of garbled, like he has a mouth full of marbles, and the lack of clarity bugged me. Then there was his inflection. I tried to tell myself that not everyone needs to “act” a story out. A good narration can be one where the narrator disappears leaving us only the words, not his interpretation of the words. But Max didn’t do that either, at least not real well. He had just enough inflection to draw notice to himself, but not enough to do justice to what he was reading.
To appease my curiosity, I looked at some of Max’s other reviews and read similar complaints, and some high praises. Some people really liked his style – thought he was genuine and sincere, others thought he sounded hokey and patronizing. I have to agree with the latter. I won’t say he isn’t a good narrator, just that he didn’t do this book justice.
I so wanted to like this audio book! I wanted to get the next book in the series on audio, too but… I won’t. Not now.
So overall- I highly recommend the book The Pack or the Panther, I give it 5 of 5 stars! As for the audio version, I’d say listen to the sample on audible.com – if you’re the type that likes that sort of “old timey” voice, then you’ll love Max’s interpretation, but it didn’t do it for me. I gave the audio version a 2 of 5 stars.

Not terrible, but really poor

What disappointed you about The Pack or the Panther?

Where to start...?
I generally like werewolf and other shifters, so the general theme was not the problem, but many of those dialogues felt so flat, the sex scenes (with things like elephant cock thrown around like in a teenage fanfiction) seemed unintentionally comical, the parts where the "animal shift thougt process" was described really appeared silly and not like the author really knew too much about animals to start with...
The villain was a complete disappointment, I could not take him seriously and it seemed ridiculous someone like him could even pose a legitimate threat with his ineptitude.

...and many of the twists and turns of the romance felt forced...
Sorry, but it seemed like only extreme lust could kit that relationship at most parts and that is a bit dull for a romance plot.

What could Tara Lain have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Rework her conception of werewolves. Seriously, the animal part seemed utterly lacking.
Make Paris seem more likeable at some parts, add some better reasons for the romantic difficulties instead of him throwing temper tantrums.

Make Cole actually seem like he is a competent warrior / tactician instead of letting it float around as an informed attribute.
Make his insecurities come off as a bit more authentic.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Well, the narrator was okay, a bit, quirky maybe in a way, not necessarily a voice I am sure I would want to listen to much...

Any additional comments?

The book still manages some nice moments, some of the character interaction is okay, but unless you really must have more werewolf stuff and went through everything else that seems remotely enjoyable, I would not recommend this book.
There ARE worse shifter stories, but there are also quite a good amount of better ones.