Hellboy: The Ice Wolves

Hellboy Novels #10

by Mark Chadbourn

In Cancun, Mexico, police investigate a slaughter at a wedding ceremony. In Dublin, Ireland, the clientele of a backstreet pub are found dead. In Kyoto, Japan, the bullet train pulls into the station with blood-spattered windows. It is the time of the Black Sun. Across the world, the wolves are calling to each other. Locked in bodies that had no idea they were there, they rise from the depths of the unconscious and turn towards America! For Hellboy, it's a race against time to prevent a devastating wave of primal savagery washing across the land. And so he is drawn to Boston's Beacon Hill and the Grant Mansion, believed to be the most haunted house in New England, where the truth may lie buried.

Genres: Comics, Fantasy, Horror, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Mystery, Action

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2009

About the author

A two-time winner of the prestigious British Fantasy Award, Mark has published his epic, imaginative novels in many countries around the world. He grew up in the mining community of the English Midlands, and was the first person in his family to go to university. After studying Economic History at Leeds, he became a successful journalist, writing for several of the UK's renowned national newspapers as well as contributing to magazines and TV.

When his first short story won Fear magazine's Best New Author award, he was snapped up by an agent and subsequently published his first novel, Underground, a supernatural thriller set in the coalfields of his youth. Quitting journalism to become a full-time author, he has written stories which have transcended genre boundaries, but is perhaps best known in the fantasy field.

Mark has also forged a parallel career as a screenwriter with many hours of produced work for British television. He is a writer for BBC Drama, and is also developing new shows for the UK and US.

An expert on British folklore and mythology, he has held several varied and colourful jobs, including independent record company boss, band manager, production line worker, engineer's 'mate', and media consultant.

Having travelled extensively around the world, he has now settled in a rambling house in the middle of a forest not far from where he was born.

Reviews

[Danielle The Book Huntress · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book started out slow, but I ended up very sucked in. I think that the author was successful in writing a layered story that had some very 'literary' elements. I liked that although this was a Hellboy book, the story was more about Brad Lynch, a young man suffering from PTSD after being a journalist in Iraq and witnessing some truly horrible events, his broken relationship with his father William, and his evolving relationship with his best friend and co-worker, Lisa. Although this was very much horror/dark fantasy, it was also a drama about family dynamics. How a horrible event can tear a family apart, and leave the survivors walking woundeds who go on to live emotionally dysfunctional lives.

Hellboy is tasked with finding the Kiss of Winter to prevent a catastrophic takeover of the world by werewolves. He finds out that it's being kept in the famed Grant House in Boston, and ends up on Brad's doorstep, because Brad's father owns the house. He convinces Brad (with Lisa's help), to go to Boston and get his father to let them in the house so they can find the Kiss of Winter. Hunted by hungry werewolves, they barely make it into the house as an unseasonal and fierce blizzard hits Boston. Inside the house is some protection from the wolves, but it's full of spirits, some benign, and some very, very malevolent.

I do have to say that this book was very scary at times. The house was extremely menacing, with negative entities out for blood, although there were also some helpful presences in the house that help save Hellboy and his companions' bacons quite a few times, and also help them to obtain the Kiss of Winter. Mr. Chadbourn writes one heck of a haunted house story. To be honest, I enjoyed these elements more than the werewolf aspects, and that's saying a lot since I love werewolf fiction. The construction of the house is very creepy, adding to sinister feel of this book. Also, hearing the ill-fated histories of the family who lived in the house added to the atmosphere. I reached a point where this book was a bit too scary to read late at night, but I didn't want to put it down because I was sucked in. There were also some intriguing time travel/warp elements, as the Kiss of Winter and its sister artifact, the Heart of Winter, together help to manipulate and fold time.

Hellboy is his usual witty, tough self. I like his wisecracks, but I like how he sees the emotional aspects of the interactions between Brad, Lisa, and William. He has his hands full, fighting hungry werewolves, evil ghosts, and trying to encourage Brad to make up with his dad and to let Lisa know his true feelings. Hellboy is pretty darn awesome, I must say.

I liked the use of various arcane/occult devices in their struggle against the werewolves. The witch candle was pretty awesome. It protected the house, and it set the werewolves on fire as they tried to enter.

This ended up being a very enthralling read, although it was occasionally a bit slow. Once I got used to Mr. Chadbourn's writing style, he delivered a very good story, and he makes good use of Hellboy and the elements that make this character and his world distinctive, but in a very personal, character-driven fashion. Not an easy task when you're dealing with subject matter that by nature is more action and event-driven. I hope he writes some other haunted house books, because he knows how to make this horror fan cringe in fear.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good novel, and sadly I think it was the last of the Hellboy prose novels, at least for now.

This one deals with a haunted house. However, it's a haunted house under siege by an army of werewolves. They are after an ancient artifact contained in the house that will allow the wolves to rule the world. As if that's not bad enough, a magical blizzard is about to freeze the planet too.

Ghosts and demons on the inside, ice and wolves on the outside. Hellboy really has his hands full with this one. Hellboy also has some new supporting characters in this one, and the character development is really well done.

Overall a really strong novel and a way to end the novel series on high note, but hopefully more Hellboy novels will be published in the future. I've read the entire Hellboy prose collection, and they were all great reads.

[BookMarc · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do like it when the book cover sells the story rather than the author although I think having 'Hellboy' written in red on the cover would have made it stand out a lot more.
The back cover got me to thinking as after the mandatory description of what the story was about there were two subtitles. The first was 'Praise For Mike Mignola's Hellboy'. There was a quote underneath the subtitle about Hellboy being a comic that has achieved a "higher literary level" but it was a general quote about Hellboy and not this novel. Then the next subtitle was 'Praise For Mark Chadbourn' and the quote underneath once again didn't mention this novel and could have been a quote about any book that Chadbourn had penned. As such my mind mused upon why this was so. Was this novel so awful that they couldn't get a direct quote praising it? There was only one way to find out and so I began reading.
There were four main story arcs running through this book and three of them had absolutely nothing to do with Hellboy. Let me break them down for you:

* A back story about Dan, arguably the main character in the story, who suffers from post traumatic stress disorder after seeing a young child blown apart by a bomb while stationed in Iraq.
*The disappearance of Dan's mother, when he was a child, through mysterious circumstances which may, or may not have had something to do with William. William is Dan's estranged father and the emotional distance that exists between them, because of the disappearance of the mother, is also explored.
*The relationship between Dan and his girlfriend Lisa who love each other but cannot communicate that love due to the way life has shaped their emotional experiences.
*A gathering of werewolves that Hellboy has to find a way of eliminating. Yes! There's actually a story line that involves Hellboy in this Hellboy novel!

Back to the first of those plots if I may. When I pick up any fantasy novel, whether it Hellboy, Batman, Harry Dresden, Cal Leandros etc I am reading such a novel to take me out of life. For me, at least, these types of novels are a form of escapism in that they transport me to worlds that can never be and tell stories that capture the imagination and make me forget about the bills I can't pay, the wars going on, and the all the bad things that seep into everyday life. Now, as much respect as I have for the brave people that make up our military and as horrific and disturbing as wars are I don't wish to be dragged back into that world when reading a Hellboy novel or any other fantasy novel for that matter. There's a time and a place for everything, if you will, and being reminded about the atrocities of the Iraqi war in a Hellboy novel really doesn't sit well with me.
The part of the second storyline that involves the disappearance of the mother is a complete farce. The reason for this is that on the very last page of the novel Dan gets a letter from his dad explaining the disappearance. The problem is the reader is never made privy to the contents of the letter and so after having the disappearance rammed down our throats throughout the book we never get a conclusion and I consider that to be very poor storytelling. It was as if the author couldn't think up of a good enough explanation and so decided not to explain at all.
The relationship between Dan and Lisa is the standard "friends who have deeper feelings for each other" scenario and plays out okay so I had no major qualms with that thread of the story.
As for the actual Hellboy vs Ice Wolves, which are actually werewolves, story it was unique in that it mostly took place in a haunted house with different time shifts leading the characters into various points throughout time. However, the characterization of Hellboy wasn't great and it read like the author wasn't really a fan but someone who researched Hellboy for the sake of writing the novel and never really got a grip of who Hellboy is and what he is about. As such you could take Hellboy out of this novel, substitute him with John Doe, and it wouldn't make that much of a difference to the story.
Overall I was thankful to have a Hellboy novel to read, in what is now a barren landscape where Hellboy in prose is concerned, but it wasn't a great read and was left disappointed and yearning for something better.

[Joe Lambert · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a bummer. I worked my way through all the Hellboy novels, and this was not a satisfying way to end that journey. I have made this observation on an early Hellboy book review, but it feels like the author had an idea for a supernatural story, and used Hellboy to tell it. Very little would change if he wasn't in it, and that's a problem for a book with the character's name in the title.
The other issue is that this story doesn't quite know what it wants to be. Is it a haunted house story? Is it about the "ice wolves" (half baked take on werewolf lore)? Is it about demons, time travel, PTSD from the war in the Middle East? The answer is yes to all of that and much more because there is no clear purpose to any of this. The lore is barely explained. Two different times a character was introduced so haphazardly that I had to ask myself if this character had been mentioned before and maybe I forgot. I didn't, and it took me right out of the story. I could go on, but it's not worth continuing negativity. It's 2 stars instead of one because there were no grammatical errors, and at least Hellboy was in it.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty good ghost story set in a fascinating haunted house, but it didn't strike me as a very good Hellboy vehicle. In fact, trying to fit Hellboy into it was a distraction that detracted from the overall effect; the role he played could have been better served by any generic wise-cracking hero. Other than that, though, it was an enjoyable read.

[Burton Olivier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best writing or characterization of Hellboy but still a good time.

Also this was the first time I've read an e book on my phone and I regret to inform you that I enjoyed the experience.

[Paul Papa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful story. I tried getting into the Hellboy comics, but found them difficult to follow. The books, on the other hand, are wonderful. I eagerly anticipate the next one to come out and the Ice Wolves is definitely worth the time (however, read "The Fire Wolves" first). I liked how the house was worked into the story as a main character, but I was a little disappointed at the portrayal of Hellboy. It made me wonder if Chadbourn was completely familiar with the character. Still, the story is well-written and worth the time.

[Tommy Demsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly good ghost story, but I got some issues with it. Firstly, it seemed a little repetitive at times. I felt it could be better as a short story. Secondly, whole characterization of Hellboy in this book could be summarized as - tell people what to do, punch things - which is not exactly bad, but I was hoping for a little more from him. Despite that, it was a good haunted mansion book, with some moments of an atmospheric dread (it could have used more of them, though...).

[Garrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hellboy lives in a gothic horror universe anyway, and as long as there's an element of humor thrown in, all that is required for me to be interested in a Hellboy story is a background mythology that fascinates me, and this has one. The side character development is steady without being cloying, and necessary to the overall story, so I was good with that. Actually, this plotline relegates Hellboy to one of a team of four (or five) and we know that works b/c of the BPRD stuff.

A fun book.

[Thea Fair · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story starts off strong, introducing good characters and plot, but then it tries to marry it all together and gets lost in the tangle. The characters stop being interesting and become one-dimensional cut outs of what they were. I think this should have either been a book about Brad and his issues, or a book about Hellboy dealing with werewolves. Both, together? Not really working out, at all.

[PJ Ebbrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wasn't sure about this book being a Hellboy fan from the early days. So a novel could it continue the HB style and on the whole yes it does. It was very visual and I could see Mike Mignola's panels rippling through the story.

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

love hellboy so I had high expectation, I was definitely not disappointed :) mystery, action, brilliant humour... Has it all! Slow starter so give it a chance!

[Richard Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one didn't really work for me. It's somewhat entertaining, enough to finish and give it a 3-star review, but I didn't like a lot of it.

I have read other books by this author and I usually like his work, but this story was slow and disjointed and full of holes--IMO. It is essentially a haunted house story, but the problem is that it lacks focus. For much of the book, Hellboy and the others wander around the house, poking at things, getting cryptic warnings and some scary shocks. But they don't really know how to make any progress on finding what they want. They're looking for a relic ("The Kiss of Winter"), but they don't know what it looks like or really what it does, and they don't know what to do with it if they find it.

Then they are randomly transported at times to strange scenes, to ancient times and distant places, where they get filled in on the backstory of the relic and the haunted house, and how that works or why it works we don't know. Meanwhile, the house is besieged by werewolves. (TBH--the werewolf story, the bit that kicked off the novel, was really promising. I wish the focus had stayed on them, somehow.) It feels like there was a werewolf story and a haunted house story that they mashed together so they'd have enough to make one novel. It's awkward, no matter how it came about.

Some scenes are fun, though, and some parts are pleasingly spooky, so I kept on. And the writing overall is good enough that I wanted to finish. But I got pretty bored in the middle and wouldn't read more of these if I thought this was the norm. (I don't recommend anyone start here, in other words.) I see other people gave it 4 or 5 stars pretty consistently, so it works for some people. I guess I'm not seeing what they're seeing.

YMMV.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love love love Hellboy, but had never gotten around to reading any of the novels. Well I listened to this one and it was overall pretty good. I wish Kate had a bigger role to play, since werewolves are kind of her thing (maybe I missed a part in the beginning that gave a reason?) but I thought it was okay regardless. Hellboy felt like Hellboy and the werewolves were really cool. There was some great imagery when the wolves kind of hive-mind swarmed the streets of Boston. I thought the time distortion aspect was well done and the haunted house was fun and kind of scary. While I did like the tight, focused cast I wasn't too happy with Lisa's treatment. In a feminist reading of her character she really did get relegated to a man-pain kind of device. She was frequently thrown into damsel like situations despite the reader being told that she's a tough as nails journalist. The amount of times where she was the only one to scream in terror was noticeable. Because of that, I didn't really find Brad to be super likable. I think reading the book in this lens also made me more annoyed about Kate's absence now that I think about it. BUT! Putting that in a corner where I acknowledge it but move past it, I did like this book and am glad I finally dove into Hellboy novels! Looking forward to listening to another one.

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Werewolves are appearing all across the world and heading toward the United States. The creatures seem to be converging on the Grant Mansion—rumored to be the most haunted spot in America. Hellboy is sent to try and stop them by finding an artifact called the Kiss of Winter which he believes is hidden in the mansion. The real joy of the story is exploring the spectacularly haunted house. Some of the haunts are benign but the majority are very evil and they cause lots of trouble.

The history of the mansion becomes critical to the story—in fact, I think you could argue that the mansion and its caretakers are the real story. Hellboy isn’t just along for the ride—his martial capabilities are key to buying enough time for the screwed-up family that is tied to the house to work out their problems—but it is those problems that are the real story here. The werewolves and the threat they present create the crisis that forces the family to work through their issues.

This is a fun book with both mystery and action aplenty.

[Centauri · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was very nice for me to re-read this one; it had been years, and man, there was a lot I had not remembered.
I think I actually wanted more of the time-travel aspects (which is totally odd for me). And I can't help but recall the line from Speed: "relationships built on intense situations do not often last" (or something like that).
The romance seemed arbitrary and forced, or at least rushed. But it was a trope needed to help the characters along, I guess. I did not like that the female lead seemed to need help from the male lead (not Hellboy), when there was so much talk about how he could not have survived without her. If they had played it as it was him trying to repay all the times she rescued him, I'd handle it better.
Aside from that, I wanted more supernatural elements and instances. It's Hellboy for crying out loud! There was some mystery and a few thrills, and brief action. It was a calmer story than what I expected for a Hellboy tale

[Dusty · Rating 2 out of 5]

In this, Hellboy is offers a smorgasbord of dumb one liners, and face punches. Far too many of them, and Hellboy's characterization in this is so boring. The side characters brought along for the journey are also very one note. Most chapters diverge in to repetitive rants about parents, unspoken love, and trauma from Iraq, at the very moment they should be focused on the freakin' werewolves that have trapped them in a house full of ghosts and demons! That said, the lore is engaging and the creeps it gives are genuine. If you're about character this isn't for you. But if you can stomach slow, predictable character arcs in exchange for some great gothic ambience then might be worth a read.

[Blake Billings · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely incredible. One more Hellboy book down and I can't wait for the next one.

I couldn't help but view this story from a TTRPG mindset as I went through it. I loved the setting of this house full of magical items and artifacts. I also really enjoyed the character subplots. But the main plot with Black Sun, Kiss of Winter, and Heart of Winter reminded me very much of one of my favorite TTRPG campaigns I've ever played.

Because of all this, I fully intend to read this through at least once more and see if I can't adapt it to my own campaign narrative, but it'll be fun to delve into this story one more time, at least.

[Blake Adamson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like this one as much as I did Emerald Hell.

Maybe it's because it's a different writer?

But whatever the case, the tale of Hellboy investigating werewolves and a haunted house really should be split into two books rather than put into one. Sometimes the focus is on the wolves, other times it's on the ghostly presence in the house, sometimes there's time travel.

Don't get me wrong, the atmosphere is great and I love a lot of the werewolf stuff.

But there's a little too much going on in this book warrant a recommendation. Maybe save this one for a rainy day.

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Hellboy comic books so I was excited to find a Hellboy novel. It's not qute the same experience. For one thing, the best Hellboy comics don't actually have a lot of writing. They generally have evocative story outlines that are mostly told through the artwork and the reader fills in the rest for themselves. It was kind of annoying to have everything spelled out for me. That being said, it was a classic BPRD adventure and there were some genuinely creepy paranormal scenes. All in all, it really wasn't bad, but I'd rather stick with the comics.

[Derrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a hellboy fan, but GA did one and thought I'd listen. The story was interesting, but I find it odd that no one really seems to care Hellboy looks different than anyone else. If you enjoy Hellboy, then this is a good story mostly.

[Bee Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Werewolves are the best monsters and this terrified me at times.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this slow. Honestly had very little Hellboy and felt like a generic save the world by doing a hunted house story.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a big enough story to work as a novel.
Should have been a comic mini.
Great oppressive atmosphere, but the middle drags.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absoultely loved this book! I hadn't had a book to read that } couldn't put down. It was just creepy enough to make my heart beat a little faster. I want to read more Hellboy now!

[Babs]

FALSE

[Damon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good beach read. Didn't require a lot of concentration, but kept me turning the pages.