Tessier takes the reader on a rather grim ride here in 70s London, following the trials and tribulations of Bobby, a Vietnam vet, living on his disability checks. When Tessier penned this, werewolves were pretty thin on the ground in the horror genre, although that would change soon enough, but this is not a typical werewolf story by any means. Bobby is your basic loner, although he starts the novel with a girlfriend (actually, his only friend). The Nightwalker starts with Bobby waking up and smelling smoke, which is coming from his neighbor's flat one story down. Bobby finds a pan on the range burning and the neighbor drunk and passed out in the bathroom. In an odd bit of rage, Bobby beats the piss out of the guy and throws him down the stairs of the building.
Why odd rage? Well, Bobby may suffer from PTDS, but that had never manifested itself as rage, and worse, his 'spells' of rage and blacking out seem to be getting worse. What the hell is going on? Bobby feels twisted and torn, and at his girlfriend's behalf, finally visits a doctor; he checks out just fine, however. The diagnosis? Mild migraines, but Bobby does not buy it. What he is experiencing seems to transcend any migraine that is for sure! He even tries a clairvoyant for help, but no dice; she only tells him his future is dark, dark, dark!
What made this such a good read involves the pacing and the surprises along the way; Tessier just keeps throwing punches left and right, leaving the reader staggering. The Nightwalker barely tips the scale at 200 pages and yes, lots of things could have been developed more, but still, a quick and unsettling read for sure. 3.5 howls, rounding up.
My edition of this also has another novella attached, "The Dreams of Dr. Ladybank," which was fun, but pretty bland over all. The titular doctor finds out he can 'command' via his mind a few other people in the city (never named, but in the USA somewhere). The people, a young hustler and a sleazy biker, know something is going on-- they hear voices in their head!-- but have no idea what it going on. In one grueling scene, the young hustler pries out his metal fillings because he assumes that is where the voice is from; unfortunately, that just makes the voice even clearer! 2.5 stars, rounding up.