Werewolves on the Rampage!

Blood and Rain

By Glenn Rolfe

Publisher: Samhain Publishing

Pub Date: October 6, 2015

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

If you are looking for a straight forward no frills werewolf novel, Blood and Rain is a good bet. Glenn Rolfe gets right down to the story and, in the space of a couple of full moons, will scare your socks off just as quickly as his werewolf chomps off legs. His story takes place in the rural town of Gilson Creek, Maine. On a full moon summer night people are dying in what appears to be animal attacks. It is almost a reenactment of what took place years ago and Sheriff Joe Fischer is one of the very few who knows what really happened...

Yep. Fairly typical werewolf story. Yet the author tells the story in a way that is sure to entertain. We all know where traditional werewolf tales end up and this is a very traditional telling. One of the things that keep it going is the author's setting. Rolfe knows his small towns and Gilson Creek has its characters and its secrets. Atmosphere building is a strong point in Rolfe's art. Yet when we get to the rampages, there is a a sufficient amount of action and gore to keep the horror fan happy. Yet I sometimes felt there were too many town characters,. I felt some of the tension would have worked better if we only had fewer people to watch. Eventually though, it does come down to a handful of characters and the plot is back on track. Rule one of a good werewolf novel; If you have too many characters, let the wolf kill them off.

It has been a while since I have read a good werewolf novel. Blood and Rains has the goods. If I prefer a novel to take chances and to leave the formula a bit more often, it doesn't mean it isn't a bloody good tale. Emphasis on bloody. If you are into lycanthropes, Blood and Rain will fill your lycanthropic needs.