Ecstasy Untamed is a decent book hiding behind a truly terrible cover. Colored like the inside of an overripe watermelon, it has a picture of a guy in an underwear model pose, looking gormless and doped up on cold meds. His mouth is even hanging open. I recommend this book, but I don’t recommend reading it in print in public.

A recent stint in a Daemon spirit trap has left Hawke extremely damaged. The bird spirit bonded with him is steadily slipping away, leaving Hawke volatile and somewhat crazed, and confused as to how to strengthen the spirit bond. He seems to be making some progress when the new Fox feral warrior arrives with the heroine, Faith, in tow. Hawke’s spirit bird immediately recognizes Faith as his mate, and the bond is damaged further when Hawke refuses to claim her. She’s already bonded to the Fox warrior, Maxim, and even if Hawke did win her away somehow, he’s too fragile to make anyone a decent partner.

Abandoned by her Therian clan when she was fifteen, Faith has made it her long life’s work to rescue street children and child prostitutes. She was in pursuit of this goal when she met Maxim in a Warsaw slum. Within a very short time he advises Faith that she is his mate, he’s the latest feral warrior, and that she has to leave with him for the U.S. immediately. Faith follows the loud voice in her head that commands her to agree with Maxim, and flies with him to the feral warrior compound. There she meets Hawke for the first time and becomes embroiled in feral warrior politics and other, more sinister, circumstances.

A number of paranormals and urban fantasies I’ve read this year seem to be vying for the title of most disturbing. This one is high on the list of contenders. There is a certain level of violence in all the books in this series. The warriors are at war, and that’s to be expected. But Maxim is a Freak, y’all. The things he says to Faith and forces her to do are sick. Fortunately, the author left a good bit of the gross stuff to the imagination. Or unfortunately, maybe, if your imagination is vivid and you’re sensitive to that type of thing.

I really liked the hero and heroine in this one. Hawke was always the rational and studious (for a feral warrior) one in the previous books. After his rescue from the trap, he becomes the one most likely to snap and commit senseless violence. He’s very aware of his abnormality and feels helpless to control it. His work to return to normalcy was engrossing. Faith was also dealing with huge changes and difficult, confusing situations, and she handled it all with as much grace as possible. Her strength of will enabled her to surmount her problems in an admirable manner.

I have to poke fun at a couple of things. First, since this is the sixth book in the series, the end of known feral warriors to star in their own stories was nigh. So a number of new characters were introduced. Imagine that. Normally this would make me very cynical, but at least the author found a creative way to accomplish that goal. Second, a point was made that one of the warriors was responsible for naming the new warriors when they first experience changing into their animal spirit. It’s supposed to be a mystical thing, but the guy comes up with names like …Falkyn…for the falcon spirit. How mystical!

All sarcasm aside, this is a very likable series and Ecstasy Untamed does not disappoint. Faith’s horrible situation keeps you on the edge of your seat and the action never stops. The bad guys are foiled in the end and you get a bunch of new characters to enjoy. What’s not to love?