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The Night Folk #1
Sable
I'm Alice, a werewolf slayer, though not really a great one yet.
Born with the wolf curse, I was trained by a secret ancient order to hunt the most dangerous lycanthropes, those who relish violence and murder. The order also provides the critical drug cocktail that keeps my inner beast under control...most of the time.
When my rebellious, impulsive nature leads me to botch an assignment, the order sends me into a kind of exile. My new assignment is to follow up on faint rumors of lycanthrope activity in small, fairly remote Rust Belt cities of Michigan. I'm supposed to set up quiet listening post to gathering information, though being quiet has never been one of my strong points.
Now I find myself isolated, establishing a new deep-cover identity, searching for a day job and a place to live in a new city. I struggle to build relationships with actual normal people who are neither shifters nor slayers. I feel like I've lost my home, like an unwanted wolf shunned from her pack, my trusted community lost along with their trust in me.
My new, almost normal adult life won't last, either. Beneath the illusion of a regular life that I try to create, my past is always stalking me, even as I stalk the local werewolves. Learning about my enemies, I learn about myself, and soon I'm torn in different directions by the different worlds in which I live, and by my heart, soul, and sense of duty, as I search for the right path in the shadowy world of the night folk.
Born with the wolf curse, I was trained by a secret ancient order to hunt the most dangerous lycanthropes, those who relish violence and murder. The order also provides the critical drug cocktail that keeps my inner beast under control...most of the time.
When my rebellious, impulsive nature leads me to botch an assignment, the order sends me into a kind of exile. My new assignment is to follow up on faint rumors of lycanthrope activity in small, fairly remote Rust Belt cities of Michigan. I'm supposed to set up quiet listening post to gathering information, though being quiet has never been one of my strong points.
Now I find myself isolated, establishing a new deep-cover identity, searching for a day job and a place to live in a new city. I struggle to build relationships with actual normal people who are neither shifters nor slayers. I feel like I've lost my home, like an unwanted wolf shunned from her pack, my trusted community lost along with their trust in me.
My new, almost normal adult life won't last, either. Beneath the illusion of a regular life that I try to create, my past is always stalking me, even as I stalk the local werewolves. Learning about my enemies, I learn about myself, and soon I'm torn in different directions by the different worlds in which I live, and by my heart, soul, and sense of duty, as I search for the right path in the shadowy world of the night folk.
- GenresUrban Fantasy
300 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 19, 2022
82 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
J.L. Bryan
53 books1,034 followersJ.L. Bryan studied English literature at the University of Georgia and at Oxford, with a focus on English Renaissance and Romantic literature. He also studied screenwriting at UCLA. He lives in the metro Atlanta sprawl with his wife and son. He is the author of the Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper books and some other assorted novels like Inferno Park, The Unseen, Jenny Pox, and basically a lot of supernatural stories, some of it dark, some of it very dark, some of it less dark than that.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
May 14, 2022
This was so much fun and so unexpected! I'm not huge on werewolves but there was something about this that captured my attention and held it from the first page to the last.
So well written, engaging and down right fun. I loved all the characters and the simple fact that the author took something we are all familiar with and some how managed to make it unique and different with a whole new spin with twists and turns.
I am hooked and will definitely be continuing with the series!
So well written, engaging and down right fun. I loved all the characters and the simple fact that the author took something we are all familiar with and some how managed to make it unique and different with a whole new spin with twists and turns.
I am hooked and will definitely be continuing with the series!
May 17, 2022
Whoo-boy. Alice is...well, she's a little messed up. I don't exactly trust the Order (because they come across as the cultiest cult that ever culted) and Alice's indoctrination into their ranks was ROUGH (a good time was not had by all, in my opinion). Then to cut her off like they did, basically abandoning her under the guise of "learning to fit in with the natives" messed with her head. Although, to be fair, Alice really did need to learn how to fit in with the normals.
But she's also not the monster she's been told she is. If her young adulthood hadn't been like it was (squirreled away in an old monastery and trained to fight, fight, fight) maybe (jussssst maybe) she'd have a better handle on herself. Squashing down a side of yourself and doing everything you can to pretend it doesn't exist is not a healthy way to live and Alice has been forced to leash her beast pretty much from the time it showed itself.
While it was seriously traumatizing for Alice to be ejected from her perceived pack, it was also probably the best thing for her. Especially since she got to see the other side of how werewolves act. The non-violent side. The run-through-the-forest side. She's a mess, but she's learning. And she's breaking away from the mindset her trainers have drilled into her.
I have no idea if Nick is exactly what he seems or if there's a whole lot more beneath the surface, but I like that he's making Alice take a long hard look at the things she's been told. Where will things go from here? NO CLUE. But I'm here for the ride.
-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal
But she's also not the monster she's been told she is. If her young adulthood hadn't been like it was (squirreled away in an old monastery and trained to fight, fight, fight) maybe (jussssst maybe) she'd have a better handle on herself. Squashing down a side of yourself and doing everything you can to pretend it doesn't exist is not a healthy way to live and Alice has been forced to leash her beast pretty much from the time it showed itself.
While it was seriously traumatizing for Alice to be ejected from her perceived pack, it was also probably the best thing for her. Especially since she got to see the other side of how werewolves act. The non-violent side. The run-through-the-forest side. She's a mess, but she's learning. And she's breaking away from the mindset her trainers have drilled into her.
I have no idea if Nick is exactly what he seems or if there's a whole lot more beneath the surface, but I like that he's making Alice take a long hard look at the things she's been told. Where will things go from here? NO CLUE. But I'm here for the ride.
-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal
September 18, 2025
After Ellie Jordan this author gives us another great character in Alice Sable.
Alice is.around twenty two years old, brought up in foster care till.she was fifteen till a disastrous incident caused the need for her to run for her life. Alice was found by Sorcha a member of The Order and organisation which hunts monsters of which werewolves are one. Just so happens Alice is a werewolf, although she didn't know it till meeting Sorcha, who is also a werewolf. The Order is made up of varying types, the odd shifter trained to ignore the monster within, demi's half wolf, half human with the shift dormant and survivors of shifter attacks who have usually lost loved ones as a result and now want vengeance. Alice is taught her wolf side is evil a monster that must never be let loose or she will have to be put down like the rabid dog she is. Self loathing is beaten into Alice alongside the training necessary to be able to kill shifters she comes across. Seven years lived without any close human contact, friendship bodily comforts or affection, just the constant reinforcement that she is evil. Until one night when out on an assignment Alice fails to follow her orders resulting in her almost getting killed and even worse exposing The Order. As punishment or as Sorcha would have it reassignment Alice is ordered to a riverside town in Detroit where she is to find somewhere to live, a job and assimilate herself.into society living a normal life...............as if she knows what that is...........she is not to contact The Order but is to wait to be contacted. Sounds easy, but life is hard when all you know is you have a monster inside you and that you're evil..............................
Alice is.around twenty two years old, brought up in foster care till.she was fifteen till a disastrous incident caused the need for her to run for her life. Alice was found by Sorcha a member of The Order and organisation which hunts monsters of which werewolves are one. Just so happens Alice is a werewolf, although she didn't know it till meeting Sorcha, who is also a werewolf. The Order is made up of varying types, the odd shifter trained to ignore the monster within, demi's half wolf, half human with the shift dormant and survivors of shifter attacks who have usually lost loved ones as a result and now want vengeance. Alice is taught her wolf side is evil a monster that must never be let loose or she will have to be put down like the rabid dog she is. Self loathing is beaten into Alice alongside the training necessary to be able to kill shifters she comes across. Seven years lived without any close human contact, friendship bodily comforts or affection, just the constant reinforcement that she is evil. Until one night when out on an assignment Alice fails to follow her orders resulting in her almost getting killed and even worse exposing The Order. As punishment or as Sorcha would have it reassignment Alice is ordered to a riverside town in Detroit where she is to find somewhere to live, a job and assimilate herself.into society living a normal life...............as if she knows what that is...........she is not to contact The Order but is to wait to be contacted. Sounds easy, but life is hard when all you know is you have a monster inside you and that you're evil..............................
July 11, 2022
4-4.5 I think I'm going to like spending time in this new world created by J.L. Bryan.
I’m pretty sure that I’ve read everything that J.L. Bryan has written, so when a new series by him fell into my radar, picking it up was a no-brainer on my part. The fact that this new series is centered around werewolves was an added bonus. Unsurprisingly, he took one of my favorite UF tropes to a whole new level.
Alice was a unique character in more ways than one. Her life was anything but normal. She found out at an early age how dangerous the world was and the scary part was that the true danger to those around her came directly from her. She was pulled into the Order, isolated, tortured and then trained to hunt monsters. Then, just as suddenly, she was thrown back into the “real world” on an assignment that left her adrift and abandoned, but she was still determined to prove herself.
There were some interesting twists and turns and it didn’t take long to realize that things weren’t exactly as they seemed. Alice learned a lot about herself and found out that she and those like her may not be the real monsters. The connections that she made were totally unexpected, but the first taste of “normal” that she experienced for most of her life.
Things are far from over at the end of Sable and it should come as no surprise that I can’t wait for The Night Folk series to continue.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of Sable. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I’m pretty sure that I’ve read everything that J.L. Bryan has written, so when a new series by him fell into my radar, picking it up was a no-brainer on my part. The fact that this new series is centered around werewolves was an added bonus. Unsurprisingly, he took one of my favorite UF tropes to a whole new level.
Alice was a unique character in more ways than one. Her life was anything but normal. She found out at an early age how dangerous the world was and the scary part was that the true danger to those around her came directly from her. She was pulled into the Order, isolated, tortured and then trained to hunt monsters. Then, just as suddenly, she was thrown back into the “real world” on an assignment that left her adrift and abandoned, but she was still determined to prove herself.
There were some interesting twists and turns and it didn’t take long to realize that things weren’t exactly as they seemed. Alice learned a lot about herself and found out that she and those like her may not be the real monsters. The connections that she made were totally unexpected, but the first taste of “normal” that she experienced for most of her life.
Things are far from over at the end of Sable and it should come as no surprise that I can’t wait for The Night Folk series to continue.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of Sable. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
June 5, 2022
J.L. Bryan has taken us from the ghost slayer world to the werewolf slayer world and I am excited for this new series.
The opening scene Sable was perfect in how it threw you right into the action – our heroine going after a lycanthrope who has been killing young women. Doesn't go as she planned but it was a great opening to get you hooked on the story.
Alice isn't your perfect heroine. She came from a very dysfunctional childhood where she usually wasn't on the right side of the law. She live most her young life in foster care and had extreme anger outburst. Her last ended in tragedy and she was taken in by the Order and explained that she is a lycanthrope and given a drug that suppresses her inner “demon”. She is then trained to kill the dangerous lycanthropes who like to kill and eat their victims.
Alice was a lost soul. She never had any sort of nurturing at all growing up and never knew anything about her heritage or how she was born a lycanthrope. Sorcha, the one who recruited her to the Order and trained her, is the closes thing to a parenting figure she's ever had. But does Sorcha really have the best intentions for Alice.. Time will tell in future books..
When Alice is basically banned from the Order and sent to small town in Michigan as punishment to live in isolation and to learn to observe humans and possible lycanthrope activity things for Alice probably don't go the way the Order may have wanted. She has to for the first time find a place to live and get a job. Along the way she start making friends and also starts to realize that everything the Order had taught her about the “demon” inside her and other werewolves was not the whole truth. This causes in inner conflict that once Alice reconciles starts her on a different path.
Along with the crazy opening scene the author gives us another one towards the end of the book that was just as exciting and really makes you want more of the series.
I really like this different world/series the author created and hope there are many more books to come in it.
The opening scene Sable was perfect in how it threw you right into the action – our heroine going after a lycanthrope who has been killing young women. Doesn't go as she planned but it was a great opening to get you hooked on the story.
Alice isn't your perfect heroine. She came from a very dysfunctional childhood where she usually wasn't on the right side of the law. She live most her young life in foster care and had extreme anger outburst. Her last ended in tragedy and she was taken in by the Order and explained that she is a lycanthrope and given a drug that suppresses her inner “demon”. She is then trained to kill the dangerous lycanthropes who like to kill and eat their victims.
Alice was a lost soul. She never had any sort of nurturing at all growing up and never knew anything about her heritage or how she was born a lycanthrope. Sorcha, the one who recruited her to the Order and trained her, is the closes thing to a parenting figure she's ever had. But does Sorcha really have the best intentions for Alice.. Time will tell in future books..
When Alice is basically banned from the Order and sent to small town in Michigan as punishment to live in isolation and to learn to observe humans and possible lycanthrope activity things for Alice probably don't go the way the Order may have wanted. She has to for the first time find a place to live and get a job. Along the way she start making friends and also starts to realize that everything the Order had taught her about the “demon” inside her and other werewolves was not the whole truth. This causes in inner conflict that once Alice reconciles starts her on a different path.
Along with the crazy opening scene the author gives us another one towards the end of the book that was just as exciting and really makes you want more of the series.
I really like this different world/series the author created and hope there are many more books to come in it.
June 5, 2022
This started out fairly predictable and that was totally okay with me coz i was just looking for some shifter themed escape.. BUT, it ended up surprising me in a GOOD way! I liked it and def want to read others in this series when they come out. Total recommend for fantasy lovers.
Part of the story is told in flashbacks and tbh these were a lil hard for me to read but that's only because i wanted to get back to the present day storyline so bad. I was INVESTED. Stayed up till 2 in the morning to finish it. 🥰
Part of the story is told in flashbacks and tbh these were a lil hard for me to read but that's only because i wanted to get back to the present day storyline so bad. I was INVESTED. Stayed up till 2 in the morning to finish it. 🥰
May 26, 2022
new series!!!
I thoroughly enjoyed your first book of this hopefully continued series!
I fell right into this book and couldn’t put it down. I have never read a book about lycans who have such different experiences in life. The life where you are free, the life where you kill humans for food and then the life where you kill all others of your kind. This book definitely has me waiting impatiently for book #2.
I thoroughly enjoyed your first book of this hopefully continued series!
I fell right into this book and couldn’t put it down. I have never read a book about lycans who have such different experiences in life. The life where you are free, the life where you kill humans for food and then the life where you kill all others of your kind. This book definitely has me waiting impatiently for book #2.
June 15, 2022
Brilliant book
Well i loved this book. The story line is not the usual werewolf rip it and eat it, (well just a little bit) it's from a different perspective, a real page turner. I am really looking forward to the next one in this series. If you love the Ghost Trapper books you will like this one. I highly recommend it. X
Well i loved this book. The story line is not the usual werewolf rip it and eat it, (well just a little bit) it's from a different perspective, a real page turner. I am really looking forward to the next one in this series. If you love the Ghost Trapper books you will like this one. I highly recommend it. X
June 15, 2022
great new series
I was skeptical about this new venture by JL Bryan. As I finished the first chapter of Sable, I was pleasantly surprised! By the 2nd chapter, I was hooked. I am very certain this new series and it’s characters will be a great success! I can’t wait to read about new adventures and where Alice goes from here!
I was skeptical about this new venture by JL Bryan. As I finished the first chapter of Sable, I was pleasantly surprised! By the 2nd chapter, I was hooked. I am very certain this new series and it’s characters will be a great success! I can’t wait to read about new adventures and where Alice goes from here!
July 18, 2022
Awesome!
I’m a big fan of the Ellie Jordan books so I decided to give this one a try. I really, really enjoyed it! The main character was easy to like, the story was fast paced and I found myself unable to put this book down! I hope there will be more of the Night Folk books because I would love to read more.
I’m a big fan of the Ellie Jordan books so I decided to give this one a try. I really, really enjoyed it! The main character was easy to like, the story was fast paced and I found myself unable to put this book down! I hope there will be more of the Night Folk books because I would love to read more.
May 29, 2022
Loved every page
Wonderful story. Can't wait for the next book. J.l is one of the few male writers who can properly write female characters. Sable is confident yet confused in her life. Everyday she's learning. And I can't wait to watch her grow
Wonderful story. Can't wait for the next book. J.l is one of the few male writers who can properly write female characters. Sable is confident yet confused in her life. Everyday she's learning. And I can't wait to watch her grow
June 1, 2022
Fun new series.
I like that the author has set this book in my area, and moved away from the local of his previous series. (I love the Ellie Jordan novels & think she's set in the perfect place)
I am definitely interested in reading more about Alice!
I like that the author has set this book in my area, and moved away from the local of his previous series. (I love the Ellie Jordan novels & think she's set in the perfect place)
I am definitely interested in reading more about Alice!
July 20, 2022
Excellent new series
I really enjoyed Bryant's new world. I had read several of the Ellie Jordan series. I will wait for the next one in the Night Folk series. Just when I think there isn't a new twist on Weres this one appears. Its very good.
I really enjoyed Bryant's new world. I had read several of the Ellie Jordan series. I will wait for the next one in the Night Folk series. Just when I think there isn't a new twist on Weres this one appears. Its very good.
October 13, 2022
An interesting take on Werewolves
A good read. Plenty of action with some unusual characters, exploring the wolves from their point of view, while following a young girl trying to be "normal".
A good read. Plenty of action with some unusual characters, exploring the wolves from their point of view, while following a young girl trying to be "normal".
November 7, 2022
Skeptical at first
I love Ellie so much that I didn't know if I would have room in my heart for Alice. As the story unfolded, I grow to admire Alice's growth, strength n courage. Well done. I look forward to the next if u continue to explore Alice's world.
I love Ellie so much that I didn't know if I would have room in my heart for Alice. As the story unfolded, I grow to admire Alice's growth, strength n courage. Well done. I look forward to the next if u continue to explore Alice's world.
February 25, 2023
I have read.up through book 17 in Ellie's series
The next two haven't been finished as of yet.
So I took a chance on this beginning series, and enjoyed it enough to keep an eye out for its next book as well.
The next two haven't been finished as of yet.
So I took a chance on this beginning series, and enjoyed it enough to keep an eye out for its next book as well.
May 21, 2022
Such a great start to a new series from an author I already love! I’m really excited to find out what happens in the next one.
May 31, 2022
Good read
As always I loved the writing. A different path then what I have read from this author so far but can not wait to read more!
As always I loved the writing. A different path then what I have read from this author so far but can not wait to read more!
June 8, 2022
Good start little slow but picked up speed and had a geat ending. Looking forward to see where this series goes. I feel this going to be a good series once it gets going.
July 5, 2022
This would make a great TV show.
August 2, 2022
Left wanting more!
I really liked this book. I love the way he writes, with such detail, that you get that mental movie while reading.
I really liked this book. I love the way he writes, with such detail, that you get that mental movie while reading.
June 25, 2022
Indecisive until the end
It took me a long time to decide if I was into this book. Took me even longer to decide that I like it. I kept thinking I wasn't going to continue, but almost against my will, I kept reading. It was not what I expected. And I found parts annoying. (I'm not a fan of frequent random flashbacks.) But the story line was easy to follow, yet intriguing enough to stimulate my curiosity. Not predictable at all. I look forward to the next book...
It took me a long time to decide if I was into this book. Took me even longer to decide that I like it. I kept thinking I wasn't going to continue, but almost against my will, I kept reading. It was not what I expected. And I found parts annoying. (I'm not a fan of frequent random flashbacks.) But the story line was easy to follow, yet intriguing enough to stimulate my curiosity. Not predictable at all. I look forward to the next book...
July 26, 2022
My favorite paranormal writer, J.L. Bryan, has a new paranormal series. Sable is book one in the Night Folk series and this time he's tackling the world of werewolves. You see right off the bat that Alice, born with the werewolf gene, has a very hard time dealing with her nature--especially after being cultivated in a secret order determined to wipe werewolves from the world.
I was really intrigued with the idea that a secret order of werewolf hunters would use actual werewolves to hunt down the murderous ones of their kind. Alice was found by the order when she was young and desperate for somewhere to belong. They've molded and directed the person she should become, but she has a hard time fighting the animal inside her. While there are anti-lycan pills that Alice is given by the order to keep her werewolf side in check, she finds that she sometimes needs that part of her in order to do her job more effectively.
That is until she does it too well--and too publicly--so the order sends her to an entirely different state where she has to put down roots and just sit back and see what kind of werewolf activity is in the area. This is the first time she's been completely on her own and she has no one to rely on financially or even socially. She really struggles with how to find a job, a place to live, and how to make friends in this picturesque town in the upper Midwest. And as she stumbles upon the local werewolf community that openly welcomes her, she starts to question just what is so bad about that side of herself when this group is nothing she has experienced before.
\J.L. Bryan finds refreshing new takes on paranormal beings, and I thoroughly enjoyed his way of handling werewolves in the present day. Alice is a very likable but troubled main character, and watching her make her way out in the real world all alone was fantastic to see. Alice's experience living like a regular human who's never been anybody but their own person was an entertaining experience to read. Alice was a relatable character, and the new friends that she made were unique and well-developed. Add in J.L. Bryan's infusion of humor, a little bit of snark, and a whole lot of internal conflict for Alice, and I was glued to my tablet as I devoured Alice's beginnings. I'm very much looking forward to reading more in this series. I highly recommend this book and any of J.L. Bryan's books for paranormal fiction lovers.
(Also on Bewitched Bookworms. Book received for free from author in exchange for honest review)
I was really intrigued with the idea that a secret order of werewolf hunters would use actual werewolves to hunt down the murderous ones of their kind. Alice was found by the order when she was young and desperate for somewhere to belong. They've molded and directed the person she should become, but she has a hard time fighting the animal inside her. While there are anti-lycan pills that Alice is given by the order to keep her werewolf side in check, she finds that she sometimes needs that part of her in order to do her job more effectively.
That is until she does it too well--and too publicly--so the order sends her to an entirely different state where she has to put down roots and just sit back and see what kind of werewolf activity is in the area. This is the first time she's been completely on her own and she has no one to rely on financially or even socially. She really struggles with how to find a job, a place to live, and how to make friends in this picturesque town in the upper Midwest. And as she stumbles upon the local werewolf community that openly welcomes her, she starts to question just what is so bad about that side of herself when this group is nothing she has experienced before.
\J.L. Bryan finds refreshing new takes on paranormal beings, and I thoroughly enjoyed his way of handling werewolves in the present day. Alice is a very likable but troubled main character, and watching her make her way out in the real world all alone was fantastic to see. Alice's experience living like a regular human who's never been anybody but their own person was an entertaining experience to read. Alice was a relatable character, and the new friends that she made were unique and well-developed. Add in J.L. Bryan's infusion of humor, a little bit of snark, and a whole lot of internal conflict for Alice, and I was glued to my tablet as I devoured Alice's beginnings. I'm very much looking forward to reading more in this series. I highly recommend this book and any of J.L. Bryan's books for paranormal fiction lovers.
(Also on Bewitched Bookworms. Book received for free from author in exchange for honest review)
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews