Autumn Moon

The Alpha Wolf #1

by Slade Grayson

Tanneheuk, Montana appears to be an idyllic small town. There's no crime, no poverty, and no racism. The town is overseen by a small group known as "the elders," a tribe of people who have watched over Tanneheuk for hundreds of years. The elders are shapeshifters – werewolves – and they protect the townspeople from the corrupting influence of outsiders. In return for their protection, they only require one


Every year, on the first day of Autumn, they want to hunt a human...


Drake Burroughs is a young minister with a checkered past. Newly assigned to the Tanneheuk Church, he knows there's something dark going on beneath the surface of the seemingly perfect little town. When he discovers the truth about the elders, he convinces the townspeople that the hunt is a sin against God, and they should break their pact with the werewolves.


Roman is the Alpha Wolf, the leader of the elders, struggling to keep his pack together and his leadership unquestioned. Roman knows the annual hunt is archaic, but also understands the importance of tradition for a race of beings who live on the cusp of extinction. But the growing dissension between the townspeople and his pack is not the only reason to cause Roman to hate Drake


Diana, Roman's sister, is sexually drawn to the new minister, and is willing to do anything to act on it. Even kill, if necessary.


Added to this volatile mix is a family of con artists hiding out in Tanneheuk; a female pot-smoking deputy, torn between her unrequited love for one man and her burgeoning desire for another; a young girl training for the annual hunt, determined to be the next chosen; a restored 1970 Dodge Charger; Karaoke night; lots and lots of guns...


It might Judgment Day for Tanneheuk.

416 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 31, 2011

About the author

Slade Grayson is a reformed supervillain and author of the spy novel, BLAKE TWENTY-THREE, the werewolf/suspense novel, AUTUMN MOON, the horror/action novel, I AM THE NIGHT, and the fun superhero novel, KILL YOUR HEROES. There are more coming.

Reviews

[Tara Ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 rounded up to a 4.0

I want to start off by saying that Slade Grayson is an exceptional writer. I liken his ability to weave a story together the way Dean Koontz can. I want to stress that in spite of some of my critiques in this review, I think that Mr. Grayson has a TON of potential and is worth reading.

Writing: 4.5/5
Exceptional writer. I would give him a 5 if I didn't feel like he gave up in a couple of spots in order to just close out the scene to get to the next.

character building: 3.5/5
While he has an amazing ability and ease at building believable characters, he needs to remember that the reader needs a reason to want to keep reading. Or rather, an investment in the character. There were simply too many of them, and we were left without any that were built up enough to really care about what happens to them. At least one needs to be likable. I found myself confused as to which person I was supposed to root for. This could actually be a good ploy in a well-crafted novel, but as a reader I felt lost in it.

Story: 3/5
While I don't normally read fantasy, this was a good werewolf story. However, there were simply too many plot holes for me to accept. It wasn't believable enough. I think that with some simple back story building and a bit more investment in developing the why and how...this could be a very, very good story. As it stands, it really detracts from the overall book. Why don't they all just leave? Why don't they just call for help? Why was the reverend sent there in the first place? HOW do they (werewolves) protect the townspeople and prevent the 'bad' things from happening? This is never explained, so I just don't believe it, as a reader.

Grammar: 4/5
As good as a traditionally published book. There were a few things here and there, but nothing distracting.

Cover: 4/5



I look forward to reading more books by Slade Grayson, and I would recommend his work to others. Someone who spends more time reading the fantasy genre might not be as bothered as I was by the need to suspend belief. ;

[Icy_Space_Cobwebs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I totally enjoyed this fascinating paranormal novel; not only is it well-written and highly character-driven, it's also very believable. The author deftly weaves paranormal elements (which here contain a foundation of genetic and molecular biology), and the history of the community is revealed intermittently, through several different characters. The cast is large, but exceedingly well-delineated.

Tanneheuk, Montana, is everybody's ideal small town, really too good to be true. Free of crime, poverty, bigotry; yet there is an out-of-statistical-proportion incidence of adolescents who are maimed or injured; and then there's that annual Fall lottery held every September. When the veil is drawn back, it's clear that the Utopia of Tanneheuk is in actuality a scary Dystopia.

[Rikhav · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read. I was very intrigued by the socio-political and social cultural undertones developed in the book. The action was nice and not overly done as in other books of the same genre. All in all, I would consider this book one of the better ones of the modern/Fantasy genre

[C.T. Phipps · Rating 5 out of 5]

Autumn Moon is one of the best werewolf novels I've ever read and is a cut above the vast majority of horror fiction I've been forced to subject myself to this year (with rare gems like some of the ones I've reviewed on my blog this year). Words cannot express the number of books I've picked up which purport to be something new in monster fiction only to be a complete joke. Either they're poorly written, underdeveloped, and uninteresting or they're not nearly as original as they claim.

This book doesn't do something new with werewolves. Instead, it attempts to do something very old. Basically, it takes the concept of people turning into wolves and having them be terrifying. Treating the monsters as, well, monstrous shouldn't be something surprising but in this age of deconstructionalist fantasy, it's nice to see the creatures allowed to have (pun intended) bite.

Autumn Moon opens with a remake of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery. For those of you unfamiliar with the classic story, it is about a small town with the tradition of stoning to death a resident every year. The tradition here is similar and no less lethal, sacrificing one of the town's new adults to the werewolves who live nearby. The werewolves give the sacrifices a chance to outrun them but, of course, they never do.

As President Snow says, "Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear. A little hope is effective. A lot of hope is dangerous. Spark is fine, as long as it's contained." The werewolves who rule the town of Tanneheuk, Montana allow the people a little hope. They hope their children won't be picked, they hope their children can outrun the wolves, and they even hope some of their kind might be turned themselves. This hope prevents them from rising up en masse, keeping them imprisoned under the reign of the tyrannical "Elders."

Author Slade Grayson takes a rather Stephen King-esque approach to the entire affair. There's never any secret that werewolves are the parties responsible for the town's yearly murder. This allows the author to actually develop the characters of the werewolves who, while evil, are perfectly rounded individuals otherwise. In a bit of chilling realism, the werewolves of Tanneheuk kill humans not because they need to or even like it but for the same reasons the humans of the town give up their children to be slaughtered: tradition.

We get to see the main characters of the novel develop and live their ordinary lives. There's the town's new Reverend, the pot-smoking underachieving Deputy, the Sheriff who is trying to convince himself this is all right, and a family of grifters whose misdeed go from funny to horrifying as events escalate. I'm especially fond of the characters Fern and Amber who are surprisingly developed females in the story with both sympathetic and unsympathetic qualities.

The character of Reverend Drake embodies the author's deft hand at creating nuanced characters who can act in unexpected directions. An alcoholic adulterer, Reverend Drake isn't the sort of fellow you would want leading your church. However, we sympathize with his character when he struggles with his many demons are behind him when he reacts with outrage to the town's evil practices.

Then Slade Grayson shows us how this can easily turn awful as these sympathetic qualities can get twisted into fundamentalist demagoguery. Reverend Drake isn't a great man but he's a great character and I have to applaud his creator for not being afraid to make our "chief" protagonist unlikeable. All of the characters in Autumn Moon have good, bad, and (under the right circumstances) evil qualities. Watching them choose which to indulge makes the novel swerve left when you think it's going right and I rarely get that sense from a novel.

The strength of this novel is in its characterization. David Lynch's Twin Peaks was built around not the mystery of Laura Palmer's death but the interconnected web of weirdness and quiet desperation afflicting the town. This is the same way here and it is a stronger novel for its similarities to David Lynch's work. My only regret is that it seems future volumes of the series won't be set in the town of Tanneheuk since the community is the heart of the story rather than the personal journey of Reverend Drake.

The cast is a diverse collection of heroes, villains, anti-heroes, and flawed individuals stuck in a bad situation. Slade Grayson is not afraid to kill off characters unexpected and in interesting ways. Characters you think will play the role of heroes end up playing the role of villains while those you think are scum rise to the occasion.

The book's plot goes in unexpected directions and that's good. Admittedly, again, I wish he hadn't been quite so brutal to the characters since I could have read many stories with these characters. Others will appreciate the finality with which the author treats the plot.

A small warning, there is some strong sexual content in this book. This includes a hilarious scene which might as well be out of American Pie given its ludicrous nature (involving oral sex and a visit from one's mother at the same time). There is also an attempted rape, which may be a trigger for some readers. Incest subtext exists between two of the grifters (who probably aren't related) and two of the werewolves (which becomes text later). Consider yourself warned, fair readers.

In conclusion, Autumn Moon is a great werewolf novel and a pretty good novel overall. The ending is kind of a little off because it chooses to end right at the climax when an extended epilogue would have been better. Otherwise, I have no complaints.

9/10

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I picked up Autumn Moon by Slade Grayson, I was excited because I couldn’t remember the last time I had read a werewolf novel that I enjoyed. Autumn Moon is enjoyable, satisfying, and so much more. It contains a world full of almost-magical intrigue and allure and a narrative that keeps moving logically and naturally to a fulfilling conclusion.

I think the thing I appreciated most about Autumn Moon is it seems self-aware. I’ve come to this novel with the knowledge that it will contain werewolves, and Slade never is coy with that idea. It might seem disingenuous to treat the revelation of the shapeshifters as some great mystery, and while there is a moderate surprise, it isn’t overdone. Mainly, it seems to be for the characters’ benefit, not for ours, a case of dramatic irony that is handled expertly.

But the characters certainly are the core of Autumn Moon. While the plot may be considered somewhat conventional, it never feels contrived. Each cog in the machine is moved by character motivation that feels authentic. Slade spares us melodramatic plot twists in favor of a narrative that makes sense and feels satisfying. Of course, that isn’t to say Autumn Moon is devoid of plot devices or twists. It has its share, but they are but one element in the formula, not a driving force.

One thing that’s interesting about Slade’s work in Autumn Moon is the change characters experience (in some cases, a physical change). Whereas change is a central theme of the story, what with shapeshifters and all, every primary character in the novel experiences meaningful, lasting change. There’s always a decision point, and during a pivotal scene, each character surprised me, as I learned they are not the character I met at the beginning of the book. Creating characters with such dimension is tough, but it’s a metric for gauging quality in fiction. As writers, we are taught every character must be dynamic to maintain intrigue for the reader, and Slade delivers here.

Drilling down through the large issues, Slade also delivers in his prose. Often, his writing is understated, but he comes through with punches at all the right spots. The dialog is neat and natural. It’s clear the writing is deliberate and meticulously crafted. At times, I felt what I call the “Stephen King effect,” where a writer strikes a perfect balance of technical prowess and natural language, almost as if he or she is speaking to you but using all the right words to do it, like a practiced or rehearsed speech that feels improvised or driven by impulse.

If I have one criticism for Autumn Moon, it’s that I felt the first half of the book, perhaps the first three-quarters, felt more carefully composed than the final act. In the novel’s opening chapters, Slade takes his time introducing us to his characters and following them as the pieces of his puzzle begin to connect, and it is this part of the novel that ensures a satisfying culmination of events. However, I felt a bit of a hitch in a twist that comes late in the novel. Slade shows a bit of his hand as he pulls us in a direction he wants to go. Ultimately, I think it’s worth it because the final stamp on the narrative is meaningful, satisfying, and logical, the three elements of any good ending.

Overall, I feel like that’s a really good way to sum up Autumn Moon: It’s meaningful, satisfying, and logical. In terms of value of product, it offers everything you could possibly want from a werewolf novel, plus a few surprises. It’s one of those novels that I can see any reader under the horror umbrella appreciating, and I genuinely believe that, given the appropriate exposure, Autumn Moon will find a place on many bookshelves (and e-readers). I thoroughly enjoyed it and plan to follow the series.

[Matthew Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, folks…I have your next Must Read Book of 2014! AUTUMN MOON by Slade Grayson is an amazing read, and it’s probably the best werewolf novel I’ve ever read. Yes, that is a bold statement to make, especially when you consider I’ve been reading horror for 30 years. But this book has it all: the story is unique and very original, the prose is solid, the characters are flawed and believable, the werewolves are primal and bloodthirsty…you just can’t ask for much more from a horror novel.

There are simply so many things to like about this book. One major aspect that immediately jumps to mind is the cover artwork. As you can see from the image above, it is definitely an attention-grabber. If a reader had any doubts at all about purchasing the book before seeing it, those doubts would immediately be washed away after eyeing this imaginative picture.

As for the story itself, Grayson writes with a fluid manner that broadcasts each scene into your mind as if it was coming straight from a movie. As such, the story unfolds in vivid detail, however the reader is not constantly bogged down with exaggerated detail. This allows the reader full immersion into the story, and it presents are more viable, realistic reading experience.

The characters in AUTUMN MOON are all damaged in one way or another, which makes them believable and (for the most part) likable. Obviously, there are a few who you immediately want to die off, but that’s common in many books. I particularly like the preacher, Drake. Although he is a man of God, he shows the reader that Godly men are also human, who fall and fail just like the rest of us. I will not give anything way, but I like how happens to him at the end. It is very fitting, and it made me smile.

The werewolves, er, ‘shapeshifters’ as they preferred to be called, are very much like what I always pictured them to be: tribal in nature, living on the outskirts of society, and keeping to themselves for the most part…but very territorial and aggressive. Roman, their leader, is the perfect Alpha male: a semi-egotistical fascist with a God complex. As things unravel, he certainly puts the ‘bad’ in bad guy!

AUTUMN MOON is a big win for me, and I highly recommend giving it a look. It is a very entertaining read, rife with originality and high-octane action. Make a note to put this on your To Read list soon. It is available now in a variety of formats.

[Nick DeWolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book. Then I gave it away. Then I bought another copy from the author at a book fair. I didn't just want it because it's signed, I wanted it because I plan on reading it again. Then I'm going to wait a year or two, and read it again. Because, well, it's damn good.

Is it perfect? No. What book is? And if you say Moby Dick I'm going to throat punch you.

There are a lot of characters. A lot. And multiple stories going on at once. And maybe 20 or 30 or 40 years ago this would have been a problem. But for modern readers, we're used to it. It's like watching "Lost" or "Walking Dead" or "Heroes"... but with werewolves. Slade Grayson has an amazing ability to present his characters and, within 10 pages, get the reader fully inside the person's head. Many writers do this by making their characters tropes, archetypes with predictable placement in the story. Slade Grayson doesn't pull that crap. He gives you the meat and bones, he keeps them real. Nobody's perfect, nobody's all good or all bad. Everyone's just trying to get along, and because he lets his characters be themselves, the story flows from one chapter to the next with ease.

This book is definitely worth reading, but only if you like things that aren't stereotypical, predictable, and 'safe'. Try something new, and make it this.

[E.M. MacCallum · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story begins with a plethora of addictive characters. There’s everything from the troubled minister to a pot-head sheriff’s deputy to con-artists and of course, shape shifters.

Once a year, the town has a lottery. One person between the ages of 18-21 will be asked to participate in “the hunt”. The chosen are sent off in the woods with no weapons and told to run year after year. This year, it would appear that things are about to change.

Character driven it was hard to predict how the story would go. Tanneheuk was home to a diverse group of people. On the outside it looked peaceful - almost perfect. People were happy to be away from the evils of the world but it trapped them with the evils of a several hundred-year-old pact. In no time at all I was getting to know them, loving their quirks and fearing for them as Grayson has no problem killing folks.

The novel built itself up to a 100 page crescendo and wouldn’t let me go as each character that I’d come to know was faced with harder and harder situations. This being book one, I look forward to book two.

Full Review on The Reader's Hollow Blog www.thereadershollow.com

[Sean T. Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel hurtles along at a break neck pace, features some very interesting characters, and offers up a fresh twist on werewolf tales. I found myself reading long into the night, hungry with the need to find out what would become of this curious town, who long ago made a hard bargain. The action scenes are well drawn, and there is a layer of underlying eroticism in this story which surprised me, balanced, though by a palpable sense of danger. This is a fun read!

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Werewolves, as they should be!

That was one hell of a great book! If you're looking for the visceral world of werewolves and not just doe-eyed shapeshifting puppies, put this one on your list.