Cinematically, werewolves are the coolest monsters. The man-to-wolf transformation scenes always play well, and then there’s the running through the forest and snarling and howling at the moon. You gotta love it.
But on the page, these elements don’t work as well. A novelist needs to bring something more to the party, and in WOLF’S GAMBIT, W.D. Gagliani doesn’t quite make it. His storytelling is fine and the main characters are well-drawn, but the book misses that visceral thrill we associate with tales of men changing into beasts.
Set in and around Eagle River in Wisconsin, the plot deals with conflicts over the potential construction of an Indian casino. Some tribe members want it, some don’t. Some locals want it, some don’t. Johnny Blackthorn — partially an American Indian, but fully a real-estate hustler — was brought to town by the pro-casino members of the tribe’s Elder Council to sway the others — a task he pulled off well enough to get the ground broken and building started. Then he gets ripped right out of his Guccis by what he thinks at his last moment are three wolves.
Close, but no cigar. Not that it matters to Blackthorn, because he doesn’t have any lips left with which to smoke it.
We soon discover that Mr. XYZ, who spends his free time as a sadistic serial killer of young women, has hired three werewolves from Europe to kill councilpersons until the survivors agree to cancel the construction.
Standing in his/their way are Sheriff Arnow, late of Chicago and Daytona Beach; Dr. Jessie Hawkins, coroner, for whom Arnow has a bit of a letch; and big-city cop on vacation Nick Lupo, in town to visit and renew old times with Jessie. Among the three of them, one is a werewolf. Who is it: Arnow, Hawkins or Lupo? Lupo? Oh, come on.
Maybe it’s a cliché by now, but I miss my protagonist werewolf having a profound personal problem with his lycanthropy. You know, like Larry Talbot in THE WOLF MAN. There are times when Lupo would just as soon be normal, but he can control when he changes and he’s able to use his wolfiness in his police work. At one point, he shucks his clothes and chases down a criminal, holding him at bay until the other cops show up.
Sorry, but for me, half the fun of a werewolf yarn is the threat that the change to wolf form may come over the hero at an inconvenient time. Lupo is so in control, he can hold down a steady job.
Gagliani is good at describing the violence wrought by the killer wolves. Try this: “Fangs slashing, the snarling beasts latched on to Clara’s throat and face, cutting short her screams. Tearing and swallowing whole chunks of skin and flesh, they used their clawlike forepaws to bore into her stomach and chest, fighting one another to tug out bloody swirls of intestines.”
The image is pretty gruesome. Unfortunately, it isn’t in the least scary, and the impact of the moment is lessened by the fact that we weren’t introduced to Clara Kee Walters until a couple of hundred words before she’s turned into Kee-bles ‘n Bits. It’s hard enough to care about the fate of real person we’ve never met, and it’s impossible to care for a character who is a total stranger.
For me, the book works best as a police-procedural thriller rather than as a horror story. The featuring alone of a traditional horror icon — the werewolf — isn’t enough to push what is essentially a cop novel (one in a series) over the edge and into the spook trade.
But if you want a fairly entertaining variation on the serial killer novel, this is a good bet. Be warned, though, that the sex is raw and nasty, and Gagliani pulls no punches. All in all, WOLF’S GAMBIT will keep you entertained for a couple of nights. —Doug Bentin
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• WOLF’S TRAP by W.D. Gagliani
Related posts:
- Wolf’s Trap
- Seeking Whom He May Devour
- Ravenous
- Leisure reveals rest of 2006 horror slate
- BULLETS, BROADS, BLACKMAIL & BOMBS >> Card Sharks
