3.5 stars.We get yet another peek into Thea Harrison’s Elder Races world in Natural Evil. Natural Evil is a short novella, about 80 pages long. This novella focuses on Claudia Hunter and a very large dog named Precious…Claudia is a difficult heroine to relate to. Ex-military, she is rather understated and seems to be aloof. Claudia does like animals and when she spots a large dog on an abandoned stretch of highway in Nevada, she stops and picks him up and heads for the nearest vet. The dog is heavy, much too large for a woman her size to carry, but Claudia manages with her telekinetic skill. Claudia and her dog are escorted by the local police to the tiny town of Nirvana, Nevada. Isn’t that a great name for a town? The dog is treated by the local vet and Claudia stays in the trailer behind the vet’s office. Both Claudia and the vet suspect that the dog is a wyr. The wyr is able to communicate with Claudia telepathically and she finds out that he is Luis Alvarez. Nirvana is not what it seems. Something fishy is going on in this town and it is centered on the Bradshaw family’s Nirvana Silver mine. Luis was investigating some strange goings on in the mine when he was beaten and left for dead at the side of the road. I’m not sure how I felt about this couple. Claudia and Luis were not your typical love struck pairing. Claudia was older, more jaded, and more independent than your usual female lead. I found her cool and detached at times but she did have a wry sense of humor. Claudia had difficulty with the idea that Luis was a younger man. Luis was everything you’d expect an alpha male wyr to be. Tall, dark, handsome, muscled, and protective. Luis was smart too, and that attracted Claudia. I know, this is a novella, but I found the ending a little rushed and unsatisfying. I wanted more and I would have loved to have seen this story extended just a few more pages. Perhaps it’s because I just can’t get enough of Thea Harrison’s Elder Races characters. Oh, this novel sets up Devil’s Gate rather nicely. A teenage Goth medusa character – Now I’m intrigued.Review posted on Badass Book Reviews.
