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Shadow of the Beast
It begins with a hellish night of bloodshed and horror. A nightmare legacy arises from Jenny Cameron's past - destroying her family, threatening everyone she loves - and now it's come to claim her in an orgy of violence and death. A beast roams the dark streets of Annapolis, Maryland, a terrifying creature more animal than man. And the only way Jenny can combat the evil from her past is to surrender to the dark and violent power lurking within herself. Her humanity is at stake, and much more than death may await her under the shadow of the beast.
- GenresFiction
256 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1998
31 people want to read
About the author
Margaret L. Carter
118 books78 followersMarked for life by reading DRACULA at the age of twelve, Margaret L. Carter specializes in the literature of fantasy and the supernatural, particularly vampires. She received degrees in English from the College of William and Mary, the University of Hawaii, and the University of California. She is a 2000 Eppie Award winner in horror, and with her husband, retired Navy Captain Leslie Roy Carter, she coauthored a fantasy novel, WILD SORCERESS.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 13, 2019
Margaret L. Carter has written an intelligent and intriguing novel that reads very much like something out of real life, with the exception that we are given entree into the life of a woman who is a werewolf. Usually, werewolf novels tend to be overly male-centric and treat the werewolf as a mindless beast crazed with bloodlust. So, it was for me, very refreshing to read a novel about a WOMAN WEREWOLF. (The transformation sequences were well done. I could appreciate Jenny's anxiety when she woke up one morning naked not far from the remnants of an animal she had killed the previous night as a wolf. Frightened, she managed to make it home, barely escaping exposure. )
I was also fascinated with the way Jenny, through psychoanalysis, was able to tap into her "Wolf" side, overcome a number of challenges, and learn to fully embrace and accept being a werewolf.
Hopefully, in future, more intelligently written and imaginative werewolf novels will come into the market. Novels that feature men and women alike as werewolves, hailing from all walks of life. May some deft writer or group of writers do for the werewolf genre what Anne Rice has already done for vampires!
I was also fascinated with the way Jenny, through psychoanalysis, was able to tap into her "Wolf" side, overcome a number of challenges, and learn to fully embrace and accept being a werewolf.
Hopefully, in future, more intelligently written and imaginative werewolf novels will come into the market. Novels that feature men and women alike as werewolves, hailing from all walks of life. May some deft writer or group of writers do for the werewolf genre what Anne Rice has already done for vampires!
July 7, 2014
This book was ok, just not inspiring. It kind of fell in the 'neither twixt nor between' zone.
It was not a mystery - with that cover, title and blurb we all knew it was about werewolves.
It was not really a horror due to the lack of significant gore or, well, anything horrific; some people died sure, but that slow build of tension and anticipation that you need to make horror swing, that element was completely absent.
So what is left if one eliminates the horror and the mystery, is pretty much, the personal journey of discovery, type book. And that fell a bit flat as well. Sure, our main ware-heroine spends a lot of time in denial, requiring a loving boyfriend (I liked him, at least) and a very high class psychiatrist (who was not always wholly convincing), to get her past the breast beating denial phase...
It was ok. A bit clumsy at times, enough so that you have to take breaks in reading before it starts to annoy you.
It was not a mystery - with that cover, title and blurb we all knew it was about werewolves.
It was not really a horror due to the lack of significant gore or, well, anything horrific; some people died sure, but that slow build of tension and anticipation that you need to make horror swing, that element was completely absent.
So what is left if one eliminates the horror and the mystery, is pretty much, the personal journey of discovery, type book. And that fell a bit flat as well. Sure, our main ware-heroine spends a lot of time in denial, requiring a loving boyfriend (I liked him, at least) and a very high class psychiatrist (who was not always wholly convincing), to get her past the breast beating denial phase...
It was ok. A bit clumsy at times, enough so that you have to take breaks in reading before it starts to annoy you.
September 9, 2024
I kinda petered out about three quarters of the way through and skimmed the ending.
It's not that good a werewolf book and could have used an editor.
Jenny's day job is proofreading legislative stuff. She starts dating one of the lawyers. She's secretly a werewolf but doesn't know it/admit it until late in the book where she has to something something come to grips to stop a threat, save her love, yawn, yawn.
The book is full of cliches and I think Margaret never heard of werewolves before and quickly skimmed books on medieval folklore as a reference.
The werewolves have equal length middle fingers and unibrows. These are mentioned once each and never again.
There's continual references to a serial rapist in the area. Hands up those who knew Jenny would end up being a victim and killing him.
Jenny has a parent who left when she was a kid and other parent refuses to talk about them, leading to a mystery to be solved.
Jenny is in denial about being a werewolf because it's the kind of lycanthropy where you just dream about it once a month. She only transforms when the plot requires her to and even then, denial, denial, denial.
Her siblings were killed years before by a wild dog. Was it the disappeared Dad, or Jenny herself? Cause medieval lore says werewolves kill those closest to them. I kinda stopped before they revealed it.
Jenny's not an interesting character, neither is her lawyer boyfriend.
I don't normally poke at other reviewers, but I laughed at Komet's claim:
"Usually, werewolf novels tend to be overly male-centric and treat the werewolf as a mindless beast crazed with bloodlust. So, it was for me, very refreshing to read a novel about a WOMAN WEREWOLF."
Firstly, the werewolves in here were mindless and filled with bloodlust. Second, Komet doesn't read much urban fantasy cause for the last several decades, the urban fantasy genre's been filled with female werewolf protagonists. And by better authors.
It's not that good a werewolf book and could have used an editor.
Jenny's day job is proofreading legislative stuff. She starts dating one of the lawyers. She's secretly a werewolf but doesn't know it/admit it until late in the book where she has to something something come to grips to stop a threat, save her love, yawn, yawn.
The book is full of cliches and I think Margaret never heard of werewolves before and quickly skimmed books on medieval folklore as a reference.
The werewolves have equal length middle fingers and unibrows. These are mentioned once each and never again.
There's continual references to a serial rapist in the area. Hands up those who knew Jenny would end up being a victim and killing him.
Jenny has a parent who left when she was a kid and other parent refuses to talk about them, leading to a mystery to be solved.
Jenny is in denial about being a werewolf because it's the kind of lycanthropy where you just dream about it once a month. She only transforms when the plot requires her to and even then, denial, denial, denial.
Her siblings were killed years before by a wild dog. Was it the disappeared Dad, or Jenny herself? Cause medieval lore says werewolves kill those closest to them. I kinda stopped before they revealed it.
Jenny's not an interesting character, neither is her lawyer boyfriend.
I don't normally poke at other reviewers, but I laughed at Komet's claim:
"Usually, werewolf novels tend to be overly male-centric and treat the werewolf as a mindless beast crazed with bloodlust. So, it was for me, very refreshing to read a novel about a WOMAN WEREWOLF."
Firstly, the werewolves in here were mindless and filled with bloodlust. Second, Komet doesn't read much urban fantasy cause for the last several decades, the urban fantasy genre's been filled with female werewolf protagonists. And by better authors.
February 11, 2016
I discovered this author while reading a collection of short stories. Mrs. Carter was was one of the featured authors and I became interested in her writing voice. I chose this book at random from her list of works and I'm really satisfied with how it turned out. I liked her slow approach concerning the main characters realizing and accepting her werewolf status. It felt refreshing that it wasn't a stereotypical cult classic horror. Everything was approached calmly and as rationally as possible. It did sadden me that no one in the book seemed to truly empathize with the estranged father; especially the main character who, most of all, should've understood her fathers suffering! She nearly suffered the same fate but was lucky to have trustworthy people helping her along her journey of self-discovery. Other than that, I was really pleased with this book and its conclusion.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews