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The Werewolf's Tale
New York City; 1939. Jimmy Underhill had been the most respected private detective in Manhattan, but he gave it up to fight The Good Fight against fascism in Spain. Now he's back in New York wounded in body and spirit, and trying his best to forget. He's been hitting the bottle, chasing skirts, and taking on cases no reputable agency would ever touch; cases involving vampirism, demons, all manner of black magic and the occult. He even accepts an assignment from his strangest and most dangerous client a beautiful Jewish vampire.
He's tracking her enemies, and his, when one bite from a female werewolf changes everything.
Struggling to come to grips with the dark power of the beast growing within himself, Jimmy can't stop from seeing what those around him refuse to admit. From the loftiest penthouses to the darkest alleys, secret supernatural allies of the Nazis are at work in Manhattan, gathering powerful forces to feed the Beast ravaging Europe.
Only one man who is becoming far more, and far less, than human can stop them. Jimmy Underhill. Nazi fighter. Private eye. Werewolf.
He's tracking her enemies, and his, when one bite from a female werewolf changes everything.
Struggling to come to grips with the dark power of the beast growing within himself, Jimmy can't stop from seeing what those around him refuse to admit. From the loftiest penthouses to the darkest alleys, secret supernatural allies of the Nazis are at work in Manhattan, gathering powerful forces to feed the Beast ravaging Europe.
Only one man who is becoming far more, and far less, than human can stop them. Jimmy Underhill. Nazi fighter. Private eye. Werewolf.
284 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 31, 1988
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 25, 2024
Pulply, over the top (but not quite cheesy) supernatural/occult detective story set in New York circa 1939. A quick pace, snappy dialogue, tons of action, gratuitously lewd scenes and a host of oversexed heroines and outlandish villains keep things interesting. Our private detective hero allies with a voodoo witch doctor, a sorcerous rabbi and several seedier characters against an onslaught including vampires, werewolves, an Egyptian mummy and a demon. All apparently in league with the Nazis and their nefarious, Lovecraftian scheme to perpetrate evil unto the world. In an interesting turn the detective actually becomes a werewolf, further fueling his libido and Nazi smashing prowess. It's generally well written and proves an entertaining mashup of genres that blurs the line between good and evil and seems to work well despite some obvious shortcomings.
March 22, 2018
If I believed in the occult (and I'm not saying I don't, mind you) I'd have to conclude that I was drawn to this book by forces I don't understand. One moment, it was 2018 and I was posting something on social media and I realized, that the idea I was expressing was not originaly mine. It was something said to me around 50 years ago in Manhattan's SoHo by Richard Jaccoma, a man I had not thought about in that half century during which so much had changed. One change is that I could now google him and I found this book.
But some things had not changed. Half a century ago, the Black owned restaurant that was set to open on, was it Sullivan Street? was destroyed in a "mysterious" fire. (I can't seem to find that on google.)
In this clever pulpish pastiche of several incongruous genres, it was 1939, the forces of fascism were on the rise in both Europe and Manhattan. Men were men and women were women when they weren't shape shifting, yet there's something familiar about then and now. Back (or forward) in 2018, the Tennessee legislature had just killed a resolution condemning neo-Nazism, while Arthur Jones, a Holocaust denier described by his own (Republican) party as a Nazi is now their candidate for Illinois' 3rd Congressional District.
The 1939 Nazis were in league with Satanic forces but is what's happening today also rooted in ancient Egyptian mummies and rites held beneath Cleopatra's Needle? No Russians were involved in this book, but lots of drinking of blood, graphic peculiar sex and sadism, greedy rich people turning into werewolves, and true love and betrayal.
I think I missed most of the cryptic references to people of 1988 (there was mention of an E. Koch who shares a name with New York City's mayor in the year when this book was published, and who would have been 15 in 1939). Subtlety and florid writing make as postmodern a combination as the mixture of tropes comprising the story.
But some things had not changed. Half a century ago, the Black owned restaurant that was set to open on, was it Sullivan Street? was destroyed in a "mysterious" fire. (I can't seem to find that on google.)
In this clever pulpish pastiche of several incongruous genres, it was 1939, the forces of fascism were on the rise in both Europe and Manhattan. Men were men and women were women when they weren't shape shifting, yet there's something familiar about then and now. Back (or forward) in 2018, the Tennessee legislature had just killed a resolution condemning neo-Nazism, while Arthur Jones, a Holocaust denier described by his own (Republican) party as a Nazi is now their candidate for Illinois' 3rd Congressional District.
The 1939 Nazis were in league with Satanic forces but is what's happening today also rooted in ancient Egyptian mummies and rites held beneath Cleopatra's Needle? No Russians were involved in this book, but lots of drinking of blood, graphic peculiar sex and sadism, greedy rich people turning into werewolves, and true love and betrayal.
I think I missed most of the cryptic references to people of 1988 (there was mention of an E. Koch who shares a name with New York City's mayor in the year when this book was published, and who would have been 15 in 1939). Subtlety and florid writing make as postmodern a combination as the mixture of tropes comprising the story.
March 2, 2014
Great Pulp Fun
Fantastic old school pulp. No noir, just pulp. Werewolves, zombies, Nazis,mummies,women with impossible breasts. you name it, this book has it. Told only mildly tounge in cheek. it's a helluva lot of fun. Read it. Enjoy. And check out his earlier book, The Yellow Peril for more pulp action.
Fantastic old school pulp. No noir, just pulp. Werewolves, zombies, Nazis,mummies,women with impossible breasts. you name it, this book has it. Told only mildly tounge in cheek. it's a helluva lot of fun. Read it. Enjoy. And check out his earlier book, The Yellow Peril for more pulp action.
August 13, 2007
If you can find this book, read it.
It's like if Indiana Jones were a private eye and a werewolf and in some kind of Lovecraftian nightmare town.
Seriously.
It's like if Indiana Jones were a private eye and a werewolf and in some kind of Lovecraftian nightmare town.
Seriously.
March 27, 2024
There is pulp, and then there is pulp. This late-80's occult adventure book falls into the latter category. I expect ninety percent of the people who read this will find it completely unbearable and I'm not going to tell them they're wrong, but I'd be a damned liar if I pretended that I didn't have a blast reading it.
The plot (such as it is, seemingly made up on the fly) concerns a bitter Marxist private investigator and Spanish Civil War veteran in 1939 New York City who muddles his way through a delirious world of gothic and cosmic horror, battling Nazi occultists, cannibalistic mummies, vampires, reptilian sorcerers from Atlantis, and the literal Great Old Ones of HP Lovecraft. Along the way he sleeps with every single beautiful woman he meets (and he meets many), gets turned into a werewolf, and somehow saves New York in the process. And it ends on a cliffhanger. The nerve.
The depictions of women and of people of color in this book would not fly at all in the 2020s, but the author clearly has good politics, knows his history, and has his heart in the right place, which leads me to not be too hard on the guy.
The plot (such as it is, seemingly made up on the fly) concerns a bitter Marxist private investigator and Spanish Civil War veteran in 1939 New York City who muddles his way through a delirious world of gothic and cosmic horror, battling Nazi occultists, cannibalistic mummies, vampires, reptilian sorcerers from Atlantis, and the literal Great Old Ones of HP Lovecraft. Along the way he sleeps with every single beautiful woman he meets (and he meets many), gets turned into a werewolf, and somehow saves New York in the process. And it ends on a cliffhanger. The nerve.
The depictions of women and of people of color in this book would not fly at all in the 2020s, but the author clearly has good politics, knows his history, and has his heart in the right place, which leads me to not be too hard on the guy.
May 15, 2023
3.5/5. This is 100% trashy pulp that was pretty fun to read, but in reality there isn't much substance here. I honestly enjoyed the hardboiled detective stuff more than the werewolf parts, but neither really seem to hit their stride making the whole story very jumbled. Quick read though, mainly due to the non-stop action, gore, and sleaze.
July 16, 2025
0.7
The book starts off as entertainingly written noire but devolves into a bloated, thinly plotted, cynical-to-the-point-of-misanthropic, vapidly hedonistic caper. A noire werewolf novel is something I wanted to love a lot more than this.
The book starts off as entertainingly written noire but devolves into a bloated, thinly plotted, cynical-to-the-point-of-misanthropic, vapidly hedonistic caper. A noire werewolf novel is something I wanted to love a lot more than this.
February 16, 2016
Average werewolf story. Nice add with the detective twist. Recommended
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews