Full Moon

by Matt Drabble

"Matt Drabble is a name that will one day be as widely recognized as Stephen King& Dean Koontz" - READERS FAVORITE

For Tyler Clayton it was supposed to be a routine prisoner transfer on a routine night. The only out of the ordinary thing was the last minute addition to the bus’s mix of eclectic prisoner and guard characters.

Archie Knox is an old school gangster, a throwback celebrity criminal whose reach is wide enough to cause ripples the size of tidal waves that could drown Clay & those he cares about. A reach that stretches to his cold hearted and vicious granddaughter and her plans for a rescue operation.

Once enough strings are pulled and palms greased the transfer bus is redirected out onto the desolate Bleak Peak Moors. The scene is set to extract Knox, but no amount of careful planning could have predicted what they were about to run into.

Cut off from the world and stranded in the middle of nowhere this band of opposites are going to have to find a way to work together if they ever want to see the morning sun rise again. But with ulterior motives and hidden agendas muddying the waters Clay is going to find that he is in for the fight of his life just to avoid dying, or something far worse.

Out on the moors, everyone is fair game.

SEQUEL OUT NOW

Selected other works by Matt

ABRA-CADAVER - The 2017 Readers Favorite Silver Medal Winner for Horror Fiction. Winner of a prestigious Indie Book of the Day Award, a 2015 Kindle Book Review Award Finalist and is the 2016 Book Excellence Awards winner for Horror Fiction.

THE ASYLUM TRILOGY - an Amazon US Horror Chart #5 best seller, voted #5 on The Horror Novel Review's Top 10 Books of 2013 and is a 2014 Readers Favorite Gold Medal winner, a 2016 Readers Favorite Silver Medal winner for Anthology Fiction.

THE LAST RESORT - The 2019 Readers Favorite Silver Medal Winner for Horror Fiction & The 2019 Kindle Book Review's Winner for Horror/Suspense.

To find more
Website: mattdrabble.co.uk
MattDrabble01
matt.drabble.3
Instagram: mattdrabble01

Genres: Horror, Werewolves

366 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 31, 2022

About the author

Born in Bath, England in 1974, a self-professed "funny onion", equal parts sport loving jock and comic book geek.

Awards & Achievements:

"ABRA-CADAVER" is the 2017 Readers Favorite Silver Medal Winner for Horror Fiction. It is also a 2015 Kindle Book Review Finalist, an Indie Book of the Day winner and the 2016 Book Excellence Award Winner for Horror Fiction.

"GATED" is the 2015 Readers Favorite Gold Medal Winner. It is also a UK & US Horror Chart Top Ten Best Seller & winner of the Full Moon Awards 2014 Horror Book of the Year.

"ASYLUM - 13 TALES OF TERROR" was a US Horror Chart #5. It was also voted #5 on The Horror Novel Review's Top 10 Books of 2013 & was the Readers Favorite 2014 Gold Medal Winner for Anthology Fiction.

"THE LAST RESORT" is the 2019 Readers Favorite Silver Medal Winner for Horror Fiction & The 2019 Kindle Book Review's Winner for Horror/Suspense

Visit me at www.mattdrabble.co.uk to download free short stories.

Twitter: MattDrabble01
Facebook: matt.drabble.3
Instagram: mattdrabble01
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Reviews

[Lou Canning · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full Moon by Matt Drabble

What a great book! Exciting, action packed,, bit of humour, lots of gore, strong believable memorable characters with a perfect genre story line!
I won’t spoil any of this book by telling you the plot. But if you like werewolves, you’ll love this!!!
Matt Drabble never lets us down with his writing!! Just perfect!

[Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very fun book to read. Definitely a good werewolf book. I’ve only come across a few really good werewolf books and this one is on that list. Lots of gore and crazy chases and escapes. Can’t wait to read the next one.

[Norm S · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars

This was good werewolf story. A prison break goes deadly wrong when the bus hits a man who turns out not to be human. Soon his whole clan is seeking vengeance.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the series and I hope the author comes out with another, he leaves you wondering…
I really enjoyed this series.
The character building was great and you got to know about each of them, but not what they were thinking or which way their outcome was going to be so it was great.
A lot of twist and it kept you wanting to read not wanting to put this book down as you wanted to see what was going to happen next. Definitely worth reading

[RedDagger · Rating 2 out of 5]

A serviceable plot, with the usual silliness and contrivances that don't need dwelling on, and a cookie cutter alpha/full moon/dog-references werewolf cult for our heroes to carve their way through.

Unfortunately, the writing is atrocious. In a word, simple; but rather than the sort of breezy prose that lets you fly through a plot, it feels like the intended reader is a 10-year old who needs constant reinforcement. Something is shown, then explained, then explained again, and again, and it feels like everything brought up in the first chapter is mentioned over and over again for the rest of the book. Reading this feels like a few plots points were drawn up, then the paragraphs connecting them were filled with the same words in a different order, then further puffed up by having the characters tell you the same words in case you forgot what you'd read the previous sentence. I felt like I was constantly dragging myself through filler since there wasn't any plan for how to flesh out the book between each event.

You know that thing where characters will pause a scene and dump exposition on each other? That happens. A lot. Tension is constantly lost, urgent events don't feel urgent, pacing is all over the place as important events almost pass you by in a single sentence while others drag on because everyone is standing around sneering at each other. I like to keep a mental movie of what's going on when reading, and this movie involved a lot of people awkwardly stopping in their tracks in the middle of killing each other so they can talk about something that's already been talked about 50 times already.

And, look, if I'm already trashing this: there's heavy abuse of plot armour. Sometimes you just want your werewolves, who normally effortlessly tear someone to shreds in an instant, to sort of pause and salivate for a second after pouncing on your protagonist just to really sell the stakes. Really, that's fine. But doing it over and over again, while having your werewolves both act out and talk about their uncontrollable desire to rip humans to shreds, really drives home the feeling of aimlessly threading from one set piece to another, without having any idea how to reasonably make your battered and bruised heroes fend off the monsters designed to be unstoppable killing machines.

The bombastic events don't even feel bombastic. It's all filler, the werewolves are generic bad guys, I don't care about any of the characters, I can't care about this book.

[Cherylyn Osthagen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full Moon

An enjoyable read! Actually, it was so pleasant to NOT have multiple typos and horrible grammar to try to ignore that I didn't want to put it down!! I recommend this to any age, 18+, since My Drabble gets his point across without resorting to vulgar descriptives...he actually lets his readers use their imaginations! How refreshing! I just downloaded 'The Cure', and look forward to more from this Author!

[Samuel D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Snarling vicious werewolves

I wanted a story about strong scary tough quick healing werewolves, and I didn't want to read a romance novel. To be honest I didn't find all the situations to be completely believable nor the characters, however I was reading this for entertainment and it was definitely that. So much so in fact that I'm going to read any other books that may be in the series.

[kevin powell sr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story

Ok,..monster books have.been done to death but this one was really well written and entertaining. A very good read that I finished rather quickly due to how much I enjoyed it. But, the author clearly set up a part 2. I only hope he follows through and makes this a series instead of just leaving the reader hanging which happens too often.

[Jason Cross · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a roller coaster ride.

This was a complete roller coaster ride from start to finish. It grabs you right from the beginning and keeps you on the edge of your seat right up to end. Great and scarry story as well as a great book. If you like Werewolf stories then you are going to love this book.

[Rhea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Violence Rating: 3/5 - Full Moon Frenzy. (Though I had hoped for more gory and brutal attacks, anticipating a 5/5 rating, this did not diminish my enjoyment.)

Just wow, this is a book of 364 pages and I couldn't put it down the whole time. I read it in one sitting. I absolutely LOVED it. I own the other two books in the series, but after reading their blurbs, I'm not eager to dive into them. Why? Perhaps because the story seems to stray away from what it initially was and definitely because I don't care about Lulu and her 'mafia boss' campaign. Maybe the third book is better, but I digress, let's talk about this masterpiece.

I’m going to be honest, I’m the type of person and reader who values characters and natural, authentic dialogue. I don’t care as much about endless paragraphs of descriptions that go on and on just to fill in pages, I care about action that makes sense and characters that are relatable, realistic and a dialogue that doesn’t make you gag or cringe. That being said, this book excels in what I’m looking for.

The action is fast-paced, with just the perfect amount of timeout, only to catch your breath and jump right back into madness. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions, going through all stages of awe, shock, anger, sadness, joy. The plot delivered one twist after another, consistently leaving me stunned just when I believed I had it all figured out. This book keeps you guessing and I must admit, Mr. Drabble found the perfect formula to hook his readers.

It’s safe to say that the dialogue stole the spotlight in this book. It’s very easy, very real and utterly immersive, it keeps you there by forcing you to witness their insanity, their struggles, to listen to the madness as a silenced and powerless judge.

The story starts with a prison transport bus delivering fresh new meat. Guards, a veteran, a lawyer, a driver, criminals, are all trapped in a steel vehicle. Changes are made at the very last minute with a new addition to the roster (Knox) and a new route to take, so what can go wrong?

Well, Knox's people are in a speeding van, heading towards the prison bus right on schedule. That is after they hit an animal on the road, which turned out to be just a naked man. Nothing they didn’t easily dispose of to resume their mission. They slam into the transport bus and all hell breaks loose. What seemed to be a naked lunatic that was buried in the woods, proved to be a werewolf coming back for vengeance and he wasn’t alone.

We have a full range of characters: the good, the bad, the morally grey, the absolute scum, the hero, the devoted, the backstabber, the tearjerker, you name it. Forced into a situation that brings out their most primal instincts, they are compelled to reveal their true colors as a group of unlikely allies.

However, what seems to be a random attack or accidental encounter in the moors, soon is revealed to be something bigger than that and our protagonists find themselves dragged into a conflict far older than those lands. The moors belong to the pack of werewolves who deal with their own management drama and everything just got complicated by a handful of people scurrying in their territory.

By far, the protagonist (Clay, the veteran), and his fiancee (Saffy), are the best duo I’ve read so far in this sort of novel. They are an adorable couple, their relationship is, as messed up as their life seems, quite healthy and lovely. And I couldn't help but appreciate the author's ability to write a woman as sweet and badass as Saffy. Let’s be honest, a lot of authors write women full blown sassy and bossy, with a hard to swallow personality, but Saffy is the perfect balance between maturity and snarkiness. And her passion and affection for Clay is unquestionable, she knows how to talk to him, how to soothe him, and how to bring him up considering he's suffering from PTSD. Clay’s military background and obviously his tormenting guilt compels him to play the hero on several accounts, quickly assuming the role of the group’s leader.

Tiana's portrayal of Livingston, their Alpha, as a cruel tyrant who isolated the pack and controlled their exposure to media and the outside world, was intended to evoke empathy for her character. Allegedly, he kept only men in his council and only men were leaders while women’s role was for breeding. Now, do we actually know if all this was true? No, we don't, as readers we are forced to believe Tiana's words and accusations, which obviously is a biased opinion and we soon learn to what extent she would go only to assume the Alpha role and take over the pack. Not farther into the story you realize Tiana's not so different, if not, worse than Livingston.

The ending, albeit predictable, only deepened my admiration for Saffy.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 Stars

As a whole this story just did not work for me. I didn't find the story, plot, characters or atmosphere of much interest in any way, shape or form. In a word I was just Bored for the vast majority of the book.



Clay was the only character I found remotely interesting. However for all the "skills" he has they are pretty much useless against the werewolves. And then Clay at times pulls back or doesn't do something because he doesn't want to put anyone at risk. Hello!! Werewolves!! They're tearing people to shreds and eating them!! Do something Clay!!

The werewolves just pretty much fought and bickered amongst themselves. And when they transformed they just went completely feral. Then... no thoughts, no plans, no control, just straight up wild vicious killers. Just ugh!




I found a large part of this book a boring slog in between the action scenes. And then some of the action scenes weren't all that exciting. It wasn't really until the end of the book when we're in the mines that the story perked up some and got a bit exciting. But other than that I was Bored.

[Dena Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

This book was really really good it was about a guy who who him he ended up being a charge of prisoners transfer he was taking a known kingpin and a bunch of other prisoners and in the meantime in the middle of it they were transferred somewhere else come to find out there was a couple people that were only up and up and they were working for the Big balls knocks who who was the one that started all this his granddaughter Lula was with him and she ends up she ends up causing all kinds of problems so at the very end after going through all this Lulu becomes the kingpin at her grandfather was that was murdered he but she becomes the kingping of the wolves and and the little girl that's 300 years old she ends up falling over or getting kicked over he gets quite interesting I can't wait to read the second part he gets quite interesting I can't wait to read the second part

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stupendous Beginning

"Full Moon" is a fantastic book! I think that it's the best werewolf novel that I have had the pleasure of reading since "The Howling" trilogy!

This book kicks off quickly and never, ever lets up. Yet, despite the nonstop, high-octane pace of the horror/action, there are multiple plots woven throughout the story. I seriously can't express how much I enjoyed this novel. I'll definitely return to it again in the future for a reread.

Oh! And as someone who has read and collected DC Comics for over 30 years, I truly appreciated the light scattering of DC references in this book, too!

I already have Books 2 - 4 sitting here waiting to be ready. That's good, because I can't wait to start reading Book 2!

For anyone looking for a great horror book - particularly one dealing with werewolves - look no further than this one. I very highly recommend "Full Moon"!

[Leon Scheppink · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tyler Clayton, also known as Clay, works for a private security firm. The veteran, familiar with the horrors of Afghanistan, now shifts his time between a job he isn't particularly fond of and his true passion: writing.
The last minute addition of an old school criminal creates a certain amount of tension with the guards on board of the bus. To make matters worse, a sudden detour takes the group across a desolate route over the moors and that's where things start to take turn for the worse.
The writing absolutely drags you in: suspense, character development, credible dialogue and plenty of horror make up a novel that is hard to put down. Very much looking forward to the sequel.

[Kevin Macak · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the the first book that I read by Matt Drabble and it kept me reading til the end. It had a interesting take on werewolves. They actually could talk to each other and to the humans as well. This alone made the book different from all the other werewolf books that I had previously read. A prison bus transporting a known mob boss and a few other prisoners gets into a accident while going through the moors where the werewolves live. Enough said the rest of the story is man vs wolves with a few plot twists to keep you reading and wondering how this will end.

[William Newbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting but too much messaging

I will probably see how the second book goes as underground criminal werewolves sound fun! But I just thought the messaging here about the patriarchy and whatnot was lame. It’s a werewolf pack … strongest is alpha and male. Very ridiculous that the youngest/little girl is somehow the smartest and strongest. And she ended up wanting the same exact thing as the elder werewolf so that whole rebellion was kind of pointless. I liked the story about trying to escape from prison and encountering werewolves though.

[Keith Putnam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!

To be honest I put off reading this for a long time. It just seemed too much survived in the middle of the woods for me in the description. IT IS ANYTHING BUT THAT! You really root for the hero and his whole group. It was so well written. The monsters, the cult like society (got some children of the corn vibes), and the description of the action. I couldn’t put it down and I’m about to dive into the sequel, because I loved how it ended open for the perfect set up to a follow up.

[Dale · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book started off promising and moved along nicely, but I grew tired of 3 of the petulant female leads. I decided to power through and hope for the best. The attorney (one of the kidnapped subjects) decided to stand and argue the innocence of her recently deceased client instead of running for her life was the clincher. I made it ½ way through the book and just gave up. Hopefully some of the other readers have a better time with it.

[Bob Gaffney · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Old Monster With A Modern Touch

I enjoyed Full Moon by Matt Drabble. He gave the werewolf a modern makeover that I found refreshing. The characters were very like-able but possessed plenty of flaws. The setting was ominous; dark which added to the atmosphere but still had plenty of laughs.

[Paul Pope · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Fast paced, read it in about 6 hours.
The entire story takes place over a single night. Love how the author was able to maintain such a narrow timeline with so many characters.
Very enticing as no one was keen to use the “W” word at first, despite seeing it with their own eyes.
Cheeky, spooky, gory. With just a bit of misdirection and a lot of suspense.
Can recommend.

[Sheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Modern day werewolf

I truly enjoyed Reading this book. It was a good plot and the characters were very relatable. Even the werewolves. It had all the elements of a scary story Including lots of blood and an actual good ending.
I don't usually read this kind of book but I'm glad I did.

[Michael Hopper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Werewolf Thriller

Loved the story, the characters, and the writing overall. This is my second Matt Drabble book, and I am ready to read the sequel. This had good character introduction, but also captured my attention quickly with action. This is not a gore fest but gives enough description to visualize.

[martha s. williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full Moon Indeed!

This is an excellent addition to the werewolf genre. Nonstop action, once it starts and some really creepy spots. Saffy, Ronnie, Lulu, Tiana and Katie were all strong women, which was a nice change from the norm. Even tho they made mistakes, they stayed strong. Not quite where I thought this wad was going, rather a fun read!

[Nadine · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

I enjoyed this. The pacing is fast und the story is full of action.
I really liked Matt Drabble's writing style.
I do think there were too many side characters and too many POVs. Of course I understand their purpose of the amout of characters but not every character that had their own POV needed one.

I look forward to other books by this author.

[Valarie Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different take on werewolf genre

Initially I had a hard time getting into the story, but towards the middle my imagination kicked in and the story flowed easily until I was sorry to see it end.

[Edmund Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprising good time

Not what I expected. Took a chance as a Prime book, and was glad I did. Liked the characters, liked the different narrative views, and the overall story. Maybe longer than it needed to be, but was a fun read.

[Justin David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Constant acceleration

Didn't really know where this one was going. But it turned out to be among some of my favorite uk-based horror books. I'm looking forward to the second one. Great job!

[Roberta Widener · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book

I couldn't put this book down. I really enjoyed how vivid the werewolves we depicted. There could have been a little more on the origin of Livingston. But it was still one hell of a read.

[JT Chessher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book

I really enjoyed this book. Liked the character s ,good pace . definitely looking forward to another book by this author.

[Florine Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

While this book is very suspenseful to read. It should have also been proof or edited, before it was published!