The Frenzy Way

April 12, 2010
A series of gory murders terrorizes New York City in this rollicking horror tale from Lamberson (Johnny Gruesome
). A “werewolf murderer” uses blood to write taunting references to shape-shifters at each gore-splattered Greenwich Village crime scene. The victims include an elderly professor with a research interest in transformation, several attractive young clubgoers, and a cop. Police captain Anthony Mace hunts the killer, as do three supernatural investigators: tribal policeman John Stalk, occult bookstore owner Angela Domini, and Catholic secret agent Pedro Fillipe, all of whom know far more about magic than Mace does and aren’t fettered by his increasingly skeptical superiors. Despite the overly familiar secret-society setup and some thinly drawn characters, Lamberson’s knack for furiously fast-paced action and the building terror of the graphic and increasingly sexualized murders combine in a surprisingly compelling read for horror fans with strong stomachs.

March 15, 2010
When veteran NYPD Captain Anthony Mace investigates a particularly vicious murder of a history professor, he becomes embroiled in a strange case involving Native American legends of "skinwalkers," or shapeshifters. As the murders continue, Mace and his partner have only one solid clue to work witha silver sword bearing pictures of a wolf and a priest, perhaps a member of the Inquisition. The Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of "Johnny Gruesome" combines popular werewolf legends with American Indian myths to produce a delightfully gory horror novel that pits a hard-boiled detective and his rookie partner against creatures of nightmare. VERDICT Fast pacing and a popular subject make this a solid addition to werewolf literature. [For more werewolf fiction, see Mario Acevedo's "Werewolf Smackdown", reviewed on p. 96, and "Full Moon City", reviewed below.Ed.]

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2010
Becoming a minor celebrity for nabbing a notorious serial killer, NYPD detective Anthony Mace is promoted to captain just as a particularly heinous new crime drops in his lap. The victimsbeginning with an eccentric NYU professor whose books avow the existence of werewolvesare dispatched by bloody evisceration and marked by teeth and claw marks that are interpreted only as canine. When some of the professors students and Maces lead detective on the case meet similar fates, the tabloids have a field day, trumpeting news of the Wolf Man killer and sending the city into a panic. Then Mace witnesses the beastly killer firsthand and realizes no ordinary police work will be enough to stop it. Rather belying his novels lurid cover, Lamberson provides rich characterization and a multilayered plot along with the obligatory gore. Together with a few speculative flourishes about werewolves shapeshifting origins, Lambersons clever plot twists make this a nice little werewolf yarnrelief, as it were, from the current glut of vampire fiction.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)