Linger

Linger (2010) is the second novel in the young adult paranormal romance The Wolves of Mercy Falls series by Maggie Stiefvater. A sequel to Shiver, it is followed by the direct sequel, Forever, and the stand-alone fourth book, Sinner. In the universe of the Mercy Falls books, a virus makes people into werewolves whose transformations are controlled by temperature and the weather, with the werewolves being in human form in the summer months and wolf form when it turns cold. As a werewolf ages, the temperature change required for the shift becomes more dramatic, with some older werewolves unable to assume human form at all. There is a rift in the werewolf community, as well, overgrowing the pack by forcing humans to become werewolves or seeking a cure for the virus.

As Linger begins, Grace Brisbane and Sam Roth—who was cured of lycanthropy in Shiver—are in a romantic relationship. Grace has also become friends with Isabel, whose brother was also a werewolf, but who died attempting the same cure as Sam. Because the weather is warming up, however, the werewolves are shifting back into human form. Beck, an older werewolf who has been an adoptive father to Sam, has grown old enough that he is now permanently a wolf. Sam maintains Beck’s house, which is used as a summer home for the werewolves, and meets Cole, a famous musician who abandoned his drug-addled rock star life to be a werewolf. Young and a new werewolf, Cole’s shifts between human and wolf are unpredictable; he has trouble maintaining his wolf form even in the severe cold. He goes to extremes in an effort to force the transformation, ultimately causing himself injury. He has convinced his bandmate and friend Victor to also become a werewolf, but regretting his decision, Victor is unhappy in his new life as a werewolf.

Grace begins to suffer a strange illness somehow connected to the wolves. She was attacked by werewolves as a young girl but never shifted. Sam concludes that whatever prevented her from shifting into a werewolf as a child is now killing her, and the only cure will be to help her finally shift. Since the cure, Sam received stemmed from Grace’s resistance, he will eventually get sick as well.



One evening, Grace is very ill and cries out; her parents come into her room and find Sam there with her. They take Grace to the hospital but don’t allow Sam to come with them, forbidding Grace from seeing him anymore. When Grace feels a little better, she packs a bag and escapes the hospital to move in with Sam at the werewolf summer home.

Victor is shot by hunters, and Cole realizes how selfish he’s been in forcing his friend to come into the werewolf life for his own comfort. He’s wracked by guilt. When he sees how sick Grace is and hears what’s happening, he speculates that the drug abuse he engaged in before lycanthropy is why he has so much trouble maintaining his wolf form. As Cole, Sam, Grace, and Isabel become good friends, he suggests this might be an avenue to explore to save Grace and Sam’s lives. He and Isabel are attracted to each other and kiss, but just as they are about to sleep together, Cole pushes Isabel away, feeling that he is not worthy of her love.

Cole, whose father is a scientist and passed on some of that training, is urged by Isabel to work on the problem. He realizes that there is a connection between the older wolves who can no longer shift into human form—and who die shortly after this occurs—and Grace, who has never shifted into wolf form. Somehow, the inability to shift causes death.



As Grace’s health declines, Sam, Cole, and Isabel rush her back to the hospital. Grace’s father confronts Sam, physically assaulting him and blaming him for Grace’s condition. Cole, Sam, and Isabel realize that the only way to save Grace’s life is to re-infect her as a werewolf and hope she shifts; Isabel distracts Grace’s parents so Cole can get into her room. Cole gives Grace his virus-infected DNA, and she immediately transforms into a wolf, escaping out the window, her life saved but also transformed forever.

Sam is torn between his desire to be re-infected as well so he can be with Grace and what he feels is his responsibility to perfect the cure so that anyone infected with the virus can have a choice at the life they want. He decides he must risk his life, remaining human to find the cure. He vows to do that and to find Grace and a way to protect her.