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Venator #1
The Pack
West Chatham was a quiet town, sleepily wrapped up in its suburban comforts. It was a place where everyone knew that every day would play out to the same familiar melody, and every night would shroud them in tranquil silence. It was a simple town, with simple people living simple lives- or so it seemed from the outside looking in. Until the day came when dozens of mauled and devoured carcasses were revealed by the unblinking light of the sun. And the night came when concealed horrors lurked, piercing the shrouded silence with bestial howls. For once The Pack claims a territory as its own, the feeding frenzy begins.
- GenresHorrorWerewolves
444 pages, Paperback
First published October 8, 2012
12 people are currently reading
598 people want to read
About the author
Joe Mikolay
12 books30 followersWriter, Sports Fan, Lover of Stupidly Clever (or Cleverly Stupid) Comedy, Horror/Sci-Fi Junkie, Critter Lover.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 18, 2013
The Pack by Joe Mikolay
West Chatham was a quiet town, sleepily wrapped up in its suburban comforts. It was a place where everyone knew that every day would play out to the same familiar melody, and every night would shroud them in tranquil silence. It was a simple town, with simple people living simple lives- or so it seemed from the outside looking in.
Until the day came when dozens of mauled and devoured carcasses were revealed by the unblinking light of the sun. And the night came when concealed horrors lurked, piercing the shrouded silence with bestial howls. For once The Pack claims a territory as its own, the feeding frenzy begins . . .
Another day, another werewolf novel.
Okay, let’s fuse the angst of The Breakfast Club mixed with the growing pains of puberty found in Teen Wolf, now let’s add some more werewolves. And some more teeth, and voilà! That’s pretty much the plot of The Pack in a nutshell. Aside from a bloody prologue, no one dies for the first quarter of the story, but I didn’t mind. It was worth it.
Mikolay introduces our teenage main characters Michael, Ellis, Jeff, Kristen and Natalie and their convoluted YA love/lust pentangle, creating a balance of sympathy and concern in the five main protagonists. I honestly didn’t mind the lack of gore, as the character building is interesting enough and with a lining of humour and a slow burning build up to help the reader gel with the characters. But then things get darker when a gang of charismatic strangers roll into town and the bodies start to pile up. I’ll not reveal any spoilers, but people do change as they get older.
The plight of Natalie Hawthorn and her abusive step-father is fraught with terror. Whilst werewolves are bound to being monsters with a hunger for live flesh, the character of her step-father, Samuel Hawthorn is despicable in his actions, proving the ogres of our nightmares are already living in the real world. Ellis and Kristen provide an interesting dynamic of both being in love with Michael, whilst Kristen’s twin brother is in love with Ellis. These budding chances of romance are the driving force behind the story and add an extra dimension to the traditional monsters on the loose story where characters we don’t care about get torn apart. In this case, I cared as to what happened. And I don’t think I can forgive Mr Mikolay for what he did. He knows what he did.
I was thoroughly impressed with Mikolay’s self-published novel. It mixes equal parts of the tenderness and discovery of young love ground against violent, talon biting action. Werewolf fan or not, pick up a copy of this tale of fur, fury and friendships tested to the limit.
5/5
http://www.thepacknovel.com/
West Chatham was a quiet town, sleepily wrapped up in its suburban comforts. It was a place where everyone knew that every day would play out to the same familiar melody, and every night would shroud them in tranquil silence. It was a simple town, with simple people living simple lives- or so it seemed from the outside looking in.
Until the day came when dozens of mauled and devoured carcasses were revealed by the unblinking light of the sun. And the night came when concealed horrors lurked, piercing the shrouded silence with bestial howls. For once The Pack claims a territory as its own, the feeding frenzy begins . . .
Another day, another werewolf novel.
Okay, let’s fuse the angst of The Breakfast Club mixed with the growing pains of puberty found in Teen Wolf, now let’s add some more werewolves. And some more teeth, and voilà! That’s pretty much the plot of The Pack in a nutshell. Aside from a bloody prologue, no one dies for the first quarter of the story, but I didn’t mind. It was worth it.
Mikolay introduces our teenage main characters Michael, Ellis, Jeff, Kristen and Natalie and their convoluted YA love/lust pentangle, creating a balance of sympathy and concern in the five main protagonists. I honestly didn’t mind the lack of gore, as the character building is interesting enough and with a lining of humour and a slow burning build up to help the reader gel with the characters. But then things get darker when a gang of charismatic strangers roll into town and the bodies start to pile up. I’ll not reveal any spoilers, but people do change as they get older.
The plight of Natalie Hawthorn and her abusive step-father is fraught with terror. Whilst werewolves are bound to being monsters with a hunger for live flesh, the character of her step-father, Samuel Hawthorn is despicable in his actions, proving the ogres of our nightmares are already living in the real world. Ellis and Kristen provide an interesting dynamic of both being in love with Michael, whilst Kristen’s twin brother is in love with Ellis. These budding chances of romance are the driving force behind the story and add an extra dimension to the traditional monsters on the loose story where characters we don’t care about get torn apart. In this case, I cared as to what happened. And I don’t think I can forgive Mr Mikolay for what he did. He knows what he did.
I was thoroughly impressed with Mikolay’s self-published novel. It mixes equal parts of the tenderness and discovery of young love ground against violent, talon biting action. Werewolf fan or not, pick up a copy of this tale of fur, fury and friendships tested to the limit.
5/5
http://www.thepacknovel.com/
November 12, 2013
If you would have told me I would read a book about Werewolves I would have told you --"don't think so". But-I read this because I received it free as a giveaway. I really, really enjoyed it. It was fun and had a story and read fast--everything I like about books. I am going right now to look up more by Joe Mikolay. Thanks for turning me on to this type of story.
December 12, 2013
This book was not what I expected! I really enjoyed it from front to back, and I hope to find more from this author. There were some scenes that were hard to read, but not because of how they were written, but because of the subject matter. If you can get through some intense scenes, this book is a great read!
May 27, 2016
Not expecting to love it! ( But I did )
Ok, there's a lot going on in a relatively simple plot. There's the past history, the present drama, and a hopeful future. Sure, there's the teenage drama but what would you expect from a teenage protagonist? It's joyously graphic; utilizing the canine preferred method of "going for the gory middle" is a nice, gross touch......I mention it because there is A LOT of carnage!
So, I give this review a solid 4.5. I read a good ole werewolf story every once in a while and, more than once, I have given up on finishing them due to the lack of belief, not in the werewolf, but in the writing. This time, I continued to believe.
Great job there Joe! I'm excited to find out how this origin story grows. The sky is the limit and so are the ghouls!
Ok, there's a lot going on in a relatively simple plot. There's the past history, the present drama, and a hopeful future. Sure, there's the teenage drama but what would you expect from a teenage protagonist? It's joyously graphic; utilizing the canine preferred method of "going for the gory middle" is a nice, gross touch......I mention it because there is A LOT of carnage!
So, I give this review a solid 4.5. I read a good ole werewolf story every once in a while and, more than once, I have given up on finishing them due to the lack of belief, not in the werewolf, but in the writing. This time, I continued to believe.
Great job there Joe! I'm excited to find out how this origin story grows. The sky is the limit and so are the ghouls!
February 6, 2015
Excellent read
Great story line and vivid details. I encourage everyone who love werewolves books to check this one out. A secret race that felt they were gifted but met their match in the end.
Great story line and vivid details. I encourage everyone who love werewolves books to check this one out. A secret race that felt they were gifted but met their match in the end.
July 18, 2016
Awesome book
Very well written, unusual in that it's a bloody version of an alpha gone rouge with no clear sense except lots of violence. I found d myself hoping the father
would make it with the son yet ....So many avenues left to explore through so many eyes of the characters. Just a well thought out book about the way it is in some
lives with some monsters not everything sparkles in the sun forward it's tail to see you.............great book buy it you'll love it to
Very well written, unusual in that it's a bloody version of an alpha gone rouge with no clear sense except lots of violence. I found d myself hoping the father
would make it with the son yet ....So many avenues left to explore through so many eyes of the characters. Just a well thought out book about the way it is in some
lives with some monsters not everything sparkles in the sun forward it's tail to see you.............great book buy it you'll love it to
May 26, 2019
This is a fun, easy summer read, along the lines of “Cycle of the Werewolf”-though the writing is not quite on the same level. It has a teen love triangle, but don’t worry, it’s not cringingly saccharine and overdramatic in a Twilight manner, and I found it tolerable. Overall an original, enjoyable take on Werewolves.
April 12, 2014
I couldn't put this book down. I had to know what was gonna happen next through almost the entire book!
January 8, 2015
Very surprised by this book. Just what the werewolf genre needs. It was a well written story, paced perfectly, and very developed characters. A great read cover to cover.
August 10, 2015
Predictable
Although the story line was pretty predictable, this was a pretty terrific werewolf book. Book two should prove to be really good
Although the story line was pretty predictable, this was a pretty terrific werewolf book. Book two should prove to be really good
August 2, 2024
The beginning that doesn't disappoint.
The Pack is a solid werewolf novel, with all the blood and scares you can ask for. I like how Joe jumps right in, we met our werewolves and our Venators. I enjoyed the swift introduction to who/Senators are, no spoiler you need to read. The book moves fast, but Joe does a good job of character development. We get to care about the main characters and we understand what drives each of em. Can't wait to read the next in the series.
The Pack is a solid werewolf novel, with all the blood and scares you can ask for. I like how Joe jumps right in, we met our werewolves and our Venators. I enjoyed the swift introduction to who/Senators are, no spoiler you need to read. The book moves fast, but Joe does a good job of character development. We get to care about the main characters and we understand what drives each of em. Can't wait to read the next in the series.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews