Everything Under the Moon

by Jeff Johnson

Born in Missouri more than a century ago and raised in a Pentecostal orphanage, the creature now calling himself Gelson Verber has changed his name countless times. He’s part-werewolf, and makes his living hunting certain kinds of bad men-criminals, rapists, thugs-in an often grotesque parody of the natural order. Verber is clearly suffering from the kinds of things a werewolf would be uniquely vulnerable to in the modern the horror of war, drug abuse, and isolation in the rain-drenched environment of Portland, Oregon. He has PTSD, but in a unique way, often flashing back to his time with a regiment in World War II.His smooth life as a serial killer takes a turn when he falls into the crosshairs of Salt Street, a development corporation running pirated criminology software and Big Data sieves to identify werewolf hybrids, who are then forced into servitude. As he falls deeper into the trap that has been set for him, his introduction to its evil architect triggers within Verber a string of recollections, conversations with the late werewolf-hybrid, John Jack Bridger. Salt Street's trap is masterful, but it does have one terrible you cannot cage someone-or some thing-like Gelson Verber.

Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Werewolves

314 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 22, 2016

About the author

Jeff Johnson is the author of Tattoo Machine, The Lucky Supreme Trilogy, Deadbomb Bingo Ray, I Shop At Laney's, and more. Visit him at greatpinkskeleton.com and on Instagram @jeffjohnsonarium.

Reviews

[Char · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes I like to request an Advance Review Copy based on the strength of the book description alone. Everything Under the Moon: A Novel captured my interest when the synopsis mentioned a serial killer werewolf. Yeah... so like Dexter, but a werewolf, I thought. Well, yes and no.

Gelsen Verber, (not really his name), is a fascinating character. A human/werewolf hybrid who knows nothing about where he originally came from and is suffering from PTSD from WWII. He can also cook a mean green chili stew, (and tacos!), and he likes to read. He ingests massive amounts of drugs and alcohol trying to stomp out the more wolfish effects of his nature and he also likes to prey upon society's undesirables. He's good at it.

Gelsen finds himself mixed up with Salt Street, a type of data mining company that knows his true nature and tries to bend him to their will. As you might have guessed, he's having none of it. Here's where things get difficult to describe: Gelsen is like no other werewolf that I've read about-except perhaps Michael Gallatin from Robert McCammon's The Wolf's Hour. Where Gallatin was a handsome, MacGyver-type spy in WII, Gelsen is a handsome, stylishly dressed, MacGyver/James Bond type in today's world. He's always prepared for any eventuality and if things get tough-he'll just rip you apart. Done deal.

This novel was fast paced, populated with an entertaining cast of characters, (Izelle, I'm looking at you, girl.. er boy er...?), all of them fully fleshed out and three dimensional. At times I felt like the plot was a flash flood and I was struggling to keep my head above water as the current carried me towards the denouement. And then, BAM! straight into the wall of a dam. There I struggled,with my mouth hanging open like a fool, trying not to drown.

In case you can't tell, I loved this book! Here you will discover completely unique characters; some drunk, some high, some master chefs and werewolves, but ALL entertaining. Here you will find a story that wants to bury you in its darkness at times, while at other times making you laugh so hard you can barely breathe. Here you will find an ending that takes that breath away AGAIN.

I highly recommend Everything Under the Moon to fans of horror, especially those who like their darkness peppered with humor and occasional poignancy. Oh! Also recommended to those who enjoy lots of bloody, gory, werewolf action!

Come on, you know want some.

*Thank you to Edelweiss and to Soft Skull Press for the ARC I received in exchange for my honest review. This is it.*

[Nikka · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm happy I gave this book a chance because I did have a bit of difficulty getting into it at first. I had to restart it a couple of times and I wasn't feeling anything for the main character and the word usage that accompanied the main character/author's writing style often left me perplexed. But after I got about five chapters into it, I began to like Gelson and where the story was going and I got used to the writing style. And let me just say that the author has a unique way of writing that I appreciate. The author concocted a masterful novel, particularly the last few chapters that I never foresaw happening. I think my mind is still trying to wrap my head around how intelligent Gelson actually was and how I partially would like to meet him just to try his cooking that sounds like it would be exceptionally amazing but then the other half of me would want to run the other way the moment I saw him. I loved what a sassy rude ass Gelson was. He was funny and scary all at the same time. I liked how the werewolf aspect was used in this novel. The story is real world but it just so happens that the main character, Gelson, is a werewolf and I love that it didn't feel like a fantasy book at all. Often times when you try to mix mythical creatures with realism it ends up feeling more fantastical than real but this book did a superb job of balancing it out! I also don't think I'll be able to get it out of my head of Gelson digging up stuff he hid in his neighbor's backyard all while being naked because not only is that strange but it also sadly makes so much sense because I wouldn't want to get my clothes dirty either and a neighbor's backyard is a pretty good hiding spot to stash stuff. Overall, this was a fantastic read!

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5*

[Tracett · Rating 4 out of 5]

My new favorite writing style: Modern Portland Noir. Our protagonist is a snappy dresser, a consummate culinary gourmet, and has a fine appreciation for nice furniture. He's a planner and thinks well on his feet. He is a little bit of a serial killer. He kills bad guys. A lot of bad guys. Werewolf ancestry gives him a boost in detecting and the drive/will for danger. By the time the book ends, you'll probably want to take a bath to make sure there are no weird scents on you for a random werewolf to sniff out. And you will definitely want some tacos. Some killer tacos.

[George Irwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little bit of noir detective, little bit of whiskey, a little ultra violence, a little werewolf - what's not to like?

[WendyB · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun book! Werewolf noir.
Great dialogue and strange characters.
What are you waiting for? Go read it.

[Pamellia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this a while back and just discovered I still had it in my "Currently Reading" folder.

I enjoyed this story a lot. I can't remember a lot about it, character development, plot, editing...but I do remember enjoying it.

Recommended to all lovers of the werewolf genre

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

"No, the monster, the true monster in Gelson Verber, was the ape with stars in its eyes."

Well, this past week has been a good one for me in the reading department. How often do you find unique, totally off-the-wall, well-written stories that transport you to unimagined lands? Not often enough, that's for sure. And this one is a winner.

Gelson Verber figures he was born around 1860. Not surprising that he's still around, honing his cooking skills and killing an occasional rapist or murderer, since he's a werewolf hybrid - 1/8 werewolf he thinks. He's not sure because he doesn't know much about his past life.

He's been in Portland, Oregon for a few years and one day finds out that a major corporation knows ALL about him and wants to blackmail him into using his wolfish skills. This upsets him, to say the least.

And Gelson's story continues from there. I loved Gelson's character plus there were some others that were great fun to read about too.

Wonderful character development, loved the setting of Portland, a city which I am very familiar with.

This is a very sensory driven book, as Gelson has heightened senses of smell and sight especially. I found myself imagining the wonderful odors of the dishes he prepared. I felt the rain on my skin as he cupped his hands and caught drops as they fell.

This is also a dark, gory story - because, after all, it is a werewolf tale so be forewarned.

This is definitely a keeper for my library. Great fun and I highly recommend it.

I received this book from Soft Skull Press through Edelweiss in exchange for my unbiased review.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

reads like richard kadrey crossed with charlie huston

[Ahimsa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The voice didn't do it for me, and the epilogue was entirely unneeded.

[Kirstie Mullikin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my usual genre but this was a good read

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

A werewolf book without any werewolve!

Great writing and a true yarn of a story, but where are the werewolves? Two irritable guys but no one one changes.

[Justin Isla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would give this 3, possibly 3.5 stars. I picked this up after reading the Lucky Supreme series, also by Johnson, which I really enjoyed. While there were enjoyable parts, including the twist/reveal at the end, I found much of the book to be boring and drawn-out in the scenarios that the main character found himself in. A good effort at a fun crime story, but not as well executed as others by this author.

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of fun for a very dark story.

[Kerri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have liked this a lot more if there were actual werewolves in this werewolf story.

[Dotty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! 😳 Crazy Book, compelling protagonist (even if he is a part Werewolf serial killer). Not for everyone, but I enjoyed it from beginning to end.

[William · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bloodthirsty and very violent (needlessly so). Doesn't hang together very well with its actions choppy and not very logical. Not well written and definitely not very enjoyable even for a horror story. I finished it but don't know why!

[saizine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love this, and I did absolutely adore one element: all the succulent descriptions of cooking, especially of chilis and tacos and meat, oh my god. Those are amazing. However, the rest of Everything Under the Moon left me relatively cold. I'm not entirely sure why, which is a shame because I'd love to know since this has all the elements that should leave me in love! There just seemed to be an awful lot of blather for not a lot of payoff? Eh. Maybe this just wasn't the right time for me to read this, maybe I was in the wrong headspace, who knows - I might give it another read around Halloween. But, in the meantime, I must conclude: not really for me.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the characters but it felt amateurish. The ending wasn't spun well - I had to read it twice to understand. There were several typos that were distracting.