The Wolf Man: Hunters Moon

by Michael Jan Friedman

Lawrence Talbot is the son of a family steeped in wealth and power. While on vacation in Europe his life was changed forever when he was bitten by a lycanthrope and cursed to walk the earth for the rest of eternity as an immortal monster driven by rage and an unstoppable hunger for human prey. No longer a man, not fully a beast, Talbot was one of the a werewolf. After apparently dying at the hands of his loved ones, Talbot awakes in the back of a car hurtling down a deserted road, evading gunfire from another vehicle in hot pursuit. The driver of his car gets him to safety and informs him the persons following them are from a heretical cult dedicated to the extermination of all those marked by the sign of the Wolf. As Talbot places his trust in the hands of these new friends, an order whose stated mission is to protect werewolves, and learns of the origins of the werewolf curse, he slowly starts to realize that he is actually in more danger than he could imagine and that his saviors have evil intentions all their own for him.

Genres: Horror

275 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2006

About the author

Michael Jan Friedman is an author of more than seventy books of fiction and nonfiction, half of which are in the Star Trek universe. Eleven of his titles have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list. Friedman has also written for network and cable television and radio, and scripted nearly 200 comic books, including his original DC superhero series, the Darkstars.

Reviews

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a hard book to rate. On one hand it was very entertaining. The author didn't just write a typical werewolf novel but really tried to make a different type of story. On the other hand, there wasn't a whole lot of werewolf action, and some of it was far fetched, even for this type of book.

This one picks up directly after the end of the original Wolf Man movie..well, sort of. It continues the story of Laurence Talbot, the wolfman. Now, I know most of are you saying, but he died at the end of the movie. Hmm...

I can't really get too deep into the plot without spoilers, and there's a lot of twists and turns so I don't want to reveal much. Overall I think if you liked the Wolf Man movie you should definitely read this. However, if you don't, this probably won't be for you as it ties too deeply into that movie's plotline.

Overall I enjoyed it, but I can see how some people wouldn't.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book feels true to the long suffering fellow we all know and love played by Lon Chaney Jr. It gets him just right.

CON:
I have a general antipathy to any fantasy work that has the cliché "organization of people monitoring supernatural goings on."


PRO:
It, like the movie it's based on, isn't very long. Never gets boring and you don't have time to worry about any plot holes.

[Jeff J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published as part of an unsuccessful attempt to revive the Universal Monsters in book form. This book continues and expands the saga of Laurence Talbot, the tragic wolf man. I enjoyed it, but the ending was rather abrupt.

[Paxton Holley · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a tad disappointing. Not a lot happened. There wasn't a really good wolf transformation until over 150 pages in. There's a nice ending, but the story, overall, was a bit boring.

[TheCultureVulture · Rating 2 out of 5]

This didn't work for me but I wouldn't hesitate to pick up another of these Dark Horse Universal Monsters paperbacks if I happened across one.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Wolf Man only wolfs out and kills a single dude.....WITH A KNIFE.

Werewolf with a knife is not what I wanted from this.

[Benjamin Handelman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book immediately following the novelization of the original movie, something I feel both helped and hurt my enjoyment of the book. The characterization of the main character was not as good as in the novelization, but overall felt true. Unfortunately the story just basically continues in a completely different direction instead of dealing with any of the plot from the original movie. Only the main character appears here, and none of the plot deals with anything from the original movie for the most part. I found the story fun, and it was nice to get the sequel novel at all, but I feel it was a missed opportunity for the writer to explore further the themes and story presented in the original. While he certainly did the work to tie it in to the movie with various references, none of those references mattered to the plot; he could just as easily taken out the main character and substituted in any random werewolf character. I would recommend the book if you were a fan of the movie or werewolf novels, but expect a very short light read with little thinking involved.

[Jerry Stanaway · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book.

[Nicholas · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little too light on the werewolf action and far too reliant on the dreamscape, the novel plays out like a Val Lewton take on the Wolf Man story. The mythology created to explain the werewolf curse is a good one that would play well onscreen. The characterization of Lon Chaney Jr.'s Talbot is pretty accurate and is one of the strengths of the novel. The setup of the Knights echoes the Watchers from the Highlander tv series such that one can almost imagine the Wolf Man tv series from this premise. The action picks up for the last act, but I would have liked it to somehow tie in with the subsequent Wolf Man appearance onscreen (Frankenstein Vs the Wolf Man).

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an extremely haunting book. Lawrence Talbot died in the first movie and Mike brings him back in a very believable manner. Also, Mike uses different writing muscles in this book than he does in his Trek work and the result is a level of high diction that is touching and memorable.

[Chip · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it, but turning it into a mystery with a twist sort of takes the fun out of it.