I had only
read one other book by Grant called The Nestling and I honestly didn’t like it
that much. I found it difficult to get thru, so I never picked another of his
books up again. But then I joined a Facebook group of likeminded readers of
horror novels and one of them professed their enjoyment of his work. Specifically,
the book that I didn’t like. I decided to give him another chance, why else do
you join groups if not to be challenged and find authors you might like or have
otherwise judged incorrectly?
From the
cover you can tell that this is a Werewolf story. I was totally prepared for
your typical run of the mill who is the wolfman, and can they be stopped plot.
And that is what I got along with the normal trappings of the old Gyspy woman
and silver bullets. Here we find our main character, Stockton, having been
named Police Chief on the very day that bodies start to show up. Like everyone
else he assumes that it is just an animal come down from the hills, but soon
realizes something is up. Helped by his housekeeper, the previously mentioned
Gypsy woman, he is able to turn the tables on the beast and hunt it.
This is an
excellent read. I loved and was surprised by the setting. Instead of the
typical small-town America setting we get a period piece that is still set in a
small American town but takes place during the Civil War. I can’t think of a
horror story that I’ve read before that took advantage of the chaos surrounding
the Civil War. That was very cool. The book is fairly short coming in just
under two hundred pages. Not a word is wasted by Grant as he weaves a tight and
straightforward tale. The monster appears on the first couple of pages with
some bloody kills and is in your face until the very end. Well actually there
is an expected but still fun ending where you think it is over, but is it
really? Got to love these twist endings.
The book has
a very universal monster movie feel to it (tell me the cover of the paperback I
read doesn’t scream out Lon Chaney!) and I suppose that was on purpose. Apparently,
Grant wrote a series of books based around this small town, Oxrun Station, and
within that series are three that were inspired by the old Universal and Hammer
movies with this being one of them. I’m going to have to track down his Vampire
and Mummy tales as well now.
This is a
prime example of why one should never judge an author on one book. While I
might not like everything he writes I know that I need to check out the Oxrun
Station series. There is some really good stuff here. I can’t say anything
about his other books yet, but if you do find a copy of The Dark Cry of the
Moon at your local book store I recommend picking it up.
© Copyright 2018 John Shatzer
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