Wolf’s Trap
In the horror genre, we get so few good werewolf novels, for whatever reason. W.D. Gagliani’s WOLF’S TRAP is not one of them. Sadly, it’s one of the worst offerings from Leisure Horror I’ve ever had the displeasure to read. Originally published in a small-press edition three years ago, WOLF’S TRAP is not without its fans, but I found it unforgivably plodding and padded.
What makes it worse is that it begins with promise, a pastiche of crime and horror – with more emphasis on the former – as cop Nick Lupo investigates a string of hooker murders by a serial killer with a disturbing lipstick fetish (he views the tubes as “tiny penises”). At first, when the focus is on the killer, the premise is interesting. Less so when the perspective shifts to Lupo (subtle name choice, no?), who is a dull character with no real development to him, other than turning into a werewolf, thanks to being bitten as a child.
In fact, the werewolf angle seems unnecessary for the bulk of the tale, as it doesn’t come into significant play until the obligatory final showdown. And even then, the action ping-pongs among so many different viewpoints that its effect is diluted. There is nothing remotely scary about a heroic werewolf, by the way, even if he succeeds in frightening the bad guys (causing one to proclaim, “Shit, my daddy dint teach me to be no rapist!”).
I have no vendetta against Mr. Gagliani, but other than getting a few unintentional laughs, I found WOLF’S TRAP to be a giant waste of time.
And now for a random gripe I’ve noticed all too much lately with horror writers, and that is thanking their favorite bands in the acknowledgments, and worse, then having their characters listen to those bands. Gagliani takes this to an infuriating extreme. He likes prog rock, which is all fine and good, but to have nearly every character be a Genesis fan is just downright ridiculous. Plus, it sounds stupid, witness: “She hummed the instrumental from Alan Parsons GAUDI album, wishing she had it with her to play. Ian Bairnson’s Flamenco-style guitar solo would have fit her mood” or “He’d put on a CD, the romantic side of Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s WORKS, VOLUME ONE, and Lake’s edgy ballads swirled around them.” Is Gagliani receiving the literary form of payola here? Such fanboyish sentences show up throughout the book, and took me out of the narrative each and every time. Considering this TRAP is hard enough to get caught in, he’s not doing the reader any favors. –Rod Lott
“He nuzzled her lips and nose, and then her downy neck, his tongue leaving a hot-cold streak behind until he found her hardening nipples and tasted them one at a time while she purred her pleasure at his touch. His hands caressed and massaged, and his lips brought her to the brink, and then he moved lower, opening her and tasting of her secret folds while she touched his head, allowing him this most intimate of moments.”
There are extremely too few werewolf books out there. I reread SP Somtow’s Moondance every couple of years–great, epic werewolf western–just to remind me that somebody once wrote such a book. The Ultimate Werewolf isn’t too shaggy either, on the short story tip.
Quinn Yarbro did a werewolf historical called THE GODFORSAKEN as well as a contemporary called BEASTNIGHTS.
… and if you really want to go back further Guy Endore’s THE WEREWOLF OF PARIS was quite scandalous for its time.
(also George Chesbro’s THE FEAR IN YESTERDAY’S RINGS includes a Lobox which is a hyper intelligent wolf-crossbreed that is trained to kill … no transformations though. The wolf stays a wolf)
… and finally for laughs HOWLING MAD by Peter David is a hoot and NAKED CAME THE SASQUATCH doesn’t have a bigfoot but it does have a character names W.Wolf
I’m going to be on the lookout for HOWLING MAD.
Speaking of HOWLING, I wonder if the original THE HOWLING novel was any good.
The original HOWLING by Gary Bradner reads like a screenplay novelization even though it preceded the film by quite a few years. Bradner also did a sequel HOWLING II which has nothing to with the film sequel. Both are worth a look, but not really classis.
I also forgot to mention THE WOLF’S HOUR by Ric McCammon - good guy werewolf commando in WWII, defintely different.
[...] • W.D. Gagliani’s WOLF’S TRAP. Now, call me a cynic, but I had this book pegged from a mile away. First of all, the author’s name is totally wack. Secondly, WOLF TRAP sounds like a Judas Priest* cover band from Cleveland. [...]
[...] Worst in Fiction Even without all the extended description of solos in prog-rock songs that basically gives you a snapshot of the author’s entire music collection, WOLF’S TRAP by W.D. Gagliani would still get a failing grade for taking a sure-fire concept – werewolves – and letting it go limp. I hate to pick on such a nice guy, but it’s such a bad novel. [...]
Were we going for product placement here? Mention all of these albums and artists and maybe score some free swag (i.e., concert tickets, CDs, etc.)?
Troy (who read Wolf’s Trap and enjoyed Nick Lupo’s early years better as a story)