Customer Reviews

Blue Moon (Nightcreature, Book 1)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Miniwa, WI cop, Jessie McQuade is a tough pragmatic woman who only believes what she sees. That is, until a schoolteacher who was bitten by a wolf goes rabid in her schoolroom the next day.

Miniwa is under seige. Are these wolves infected by a new strain of rabies, as she is first led to believe, or something even less acceptable? Can Jessie trust the man she's come to love and who appears to be helping her--or, is he part of the plot?

The ending surprised me--and that doesn't often happen!

This book is a fast-paced first-person narrative that actually works comfortably. I like Handeland's 'voice' for Jessie. What's more---this is not one of those romance novels where the heroine starts strong and loses all sense when she falls in love. Jessie stays Jessie throughout. I like that. I'll be looking for more of Handeland's books!

Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques

Wow! This story packs a punch! If readers want an incredible werewolf story with a twist, then this book is one that must be read.

Officer Jessie McQuade has seen much in her job as a policewoman, but strange things have been happening in Miniwa, Wisconsin lately. The normally subdued wolves in the area are striking out, attacking humans for no apparent reason. As she investigates deeper, more and more leads don't tie up, and many doubts surface. Everything comes back to the huge, lone black wolf she keeps seeing everywhere. So her practical nature causes her to turn to a professor for help.

Will Cadotte is an expert in Native American mythology and the logical person for Officer McQuade to turn to when an animal totem charm is found. He has a lot of answers, but even more questions are raised as he helps in her investigation. The things he talks about are unbelievable to Jessie, things that just cannot be. And what's the matter with her? She's inexplicably drawn to this enigmatic man, and he makes her toes curl in the most delightful of ways.

As things grow stranger and the time for the full moon, a rare Blue Moon, draws near, danger is more imminent and Jessie doesn't know what to believe. All of the evidence is pointing to something she can't even begin to comprehend or accept. Is it really something supernatural and therefore beyond her control? And what about Will, is he friend or foe, incredible lover or deadly enemy, man or man-wolf? Want to know the answers, then drop everything and read this book!

Welcome back to the paranormal genre, Ms. Handeland! This story is one of the best this reviewer has read in quite a while. The plot leaps and bounds forward, like the running wolves, but is not in the slightest bit confusing or disturbing. One will become entrenched in the story from the very first line, and want to keep reading uninterrupted through the end. The Native American mythological spin on the legend of the werewolves adds depth to the story, making it all the more intriguing for the tantalizing glimpses into those beliefs.

Jessie is a great character, full of sass and with a delightful, sarcastic sense of humor. One will laugh out loud many times as a result of her unexpected witticisms. Will is a hero to drive women crazy, tall dark, handsome, and yes he's got a brilliant mind to go with it! Who wouldn't fall for a guy like that? Jessie didn't stand a chance. Add in the very elderly police dispatcher, Zee, with the mouth of a sailor, who loves her job and loves Jessie like a daughter, a very frightening wolf hunter who may be more then he seems, and a score of townspeople, and this story has incredible life built in to it.

This story is absolutely incredible and the only bad thing about it? That it can't go on forever! Have no fear readers, there are already at least two more books in the works to extend this foray into the otherworldly. Ms. Handeland has a breakout hit with this series! This reviewer is one fan who will be impatiently awaiting the next chapter in the saga.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, June 2004. All rights reserved.

One of my favorite authors is Nora Roberts. She wrote a series called the Three Sisters trilogy. The main heroine in the second book is a character named Ripley, and she could be the identical twin of the heroine of this book. In this case, imitation is flattery, and though I think the similarities are not coincidental, I enjoyed this book just as though I was meeting Ripley all over again.

Jessie is a cop, from a small town in Wisconsin. She's a loner who swims to keep in shape. She hates the preternatural, calls it "woo woo", and yet is surrounded by it.

Will is an indian (Native Americcan) and a professor of Woo Woo. He's also really hot - strong, intelligent, and handsome.

The book has a good mystery going with no obvious clue missed by the main characters. Indeed, these characters are quite tuned to what's going on around them.

There is also a good amount of Woo Woo going on. Werewolves have infiltrated Miniwa Wisconsin, and Jessie eventually gets over her aversion to help solve the mystery.

Also, the supporting cast in the story - the sherrif, the dispatcher, the VanHelsing dude - they all have enough depth and definition to really matter to the story line and carry the story.

The romance is rather sudden, but that's the way it is sometimes in books like these. It is incredibly steamy, if unbelievable.

The book is obviously an opener for a series. But it was a good standalone, and was a great diversion on the flight from Seattle to Cincinnati!

(*)>

It really was a fluke ordering "Blue Moon" by Lori Handeland. I don't usually read "paranormal suspense/romances;" don't read "horror" stories or books; Stephen King movies (on the rare occasions that I have watched one) scare me to death and generally I have found the realism sorely wanting in these subjects.

That said, I absolutely loved this book. I urge readers who don't normally read this type of book to give this one a try.

"Blue Moon" introduces Miniwa, Wisconsin cop, Jessie McQuade, who thrives at her job in this small town that is overrun with tourists each summer. A rather plain loner, Jessie is smart, witty, and great at her job, and...lonely. Life is going along at its same somewhat boring pace when a teacher hits a wolf and is attacked. Suddenly the town seems to have a vicious pack of wolves within their midst.

Jessie discovers a wolf totem at the scene of the accident and wears it for safekeeping when she realizes that she can no longer trust those around her. Mandenauer,an old German Jager-Sucher is brought in to kill the wolves and a mutual respect develops between them. Accompanying him, Jessie becomes a hunter of these wolves as she tries to protect the town and prevent the impending ritual set to occur during the next blue moon.

Jessie encounters Prof. Will Cadotte - a Native American activist while tracking the first wolf from the car accident and later discovers that he is an authority on the subject. Their romance not only brings passion, but lends itself to realism when the issues of prejudice from both of their ethnic groups are confronted.

Credibility; realism - that is what worked for me with this book with both the supernatural and the romance. Lori Handeland does not ask the reader to simply accept the rationale of werewolves. Her storyline provides a completely plausible and believable scenario for the mutation of these wolves.

"Blue Moon" is suspenseful, romantic, and BELIEVABLE. I couldn't put it down. It was THAT good and I have just ordered Handeland's next novel, "Hunter's Moon." Great writer; great concept. I have become a fan.

In Mimiwa, Wisconsin, police officer Jessie McQuade investigates a car accident between Karen Larson and a wolf that apparently bit the teacher. As Karen is rushed to the hospital, Jessie searches the woods until she runs into a naked man living in a nearby cabin. He offers her nothing new on her case except a desire to make love with him. Jessie does find a small totem at the accident site.

The next day Karen goes berserk at school forcing Sheriff Clyde Johnston to kill her. Jessie realizes that rabies takes three months to incubate in people so wonders what really happened. On a hunch she takes the totem to Mimiwa University where she meets visiting expert Will Cadotte, the naked man from the night before. He is stunned by the totem who says he belongs to the wolf clan that uses these artifacts, but this one is different. It is that of an auwishuk, an evil Manitou. As Jessie struggles with a supernatural evil truth, she and Will fall in love, but as the evidence piles up she wonders if she can trust the professor.

BLUE MOON is an exciting werewolf romance starring the ultimate disbeliever and the "perfect" counterpoint to prove that sometimes there are strange phenomena beyond the norm. The who-done-it is cleverly drawn enhanced by deep secondary characters, some of whom are on the wrong side of the American law (who knows what the law is on the other side). Still, it is the match up of the lead duo that makes for a howling time for those who read this entertaining paranormal police procedural romance.

Harriet Klausner

If you want to read a delightful story about werewolves and love, read this one. I was able to read this novel in about two days. Give it a chance, you will enjoy it.

"Blue Moon" by Lori Handeland is one of those books that really do come along once in a "blue moon". The story is captivating, as are the characters. There are no simpering wimps in this book. The lead character, Jessie McQuade, is a sheriff's deputy who depends on no one to "take care of" her. She is independent and smart. Although the book alludes to the fact that Jessie is not a petite or small woman, it never comes right out and calls her a BBW (Big Beautiful Woman). I think she must be what is American average - just not one of those tiny model thin women the fashion magazines and fashionistas say we should all aspire to be like. So what if she's a bit larger than the average size 8, 10 or 12 - she is, as I said before, smart, talented and independent.

Now, let's talk about the lead male of the story, Will Cadotte (that's Professor Cadotte). He is also a strong character with very definite opinions - especially about Jessie. I loved the fact that although he is one hunky, sexy man, he still has some vulnerability and uncertainty about why Jessie would be attracted to him - its nice not to read about a man who is conceited about his looks and expects every woman to fall at his feet in adoration. Both have a wicked sense of humor / sarcastic wit that I found wonderfully refreshing and perfect for the story. If this were simply a love story, it would be a good book - the fact that it has the paranormal, werewolf story makes it a terrific book. The secondary characters are great additions, especially Edward Mandenaur, the hunter, and Zee, the dispatcher. Zee has an attitude and a half and she runs the sheriff's department with an iron will - no, she's not the sheriff, as I said before, she's just a dispatcher, but oh what power she wields from that position.

If you love a good paranormal story, are a fan of werewolves, or simply a fan of a good romance, pick this one up - it's good reading!! I didn't want to put it down once I started and stayed up late on a work night just to finish. Now, I can't wait for the next installment, "Hunters Moon". There are 3 chapters of it in the back of "Blue Moon" and it's a good way to whet your appetite for more of these fascinating characters as well as the new ones. Keep up the good work Ms. Handleland!

Jessie McQuade has seen her fair share of things in her years on the Miniwa, Wisconsin police force - but nothing so strange as the wolf attacks plaguing the small town recently. When a wolf hunter shows up and she is assigned to help him, she starts wondering who to trust, and if she can trust the hunky professor Will Cadotte who has been giving her information about local Indian beliefs about the strange werewolf-like creatures that seem to be gathering around Miniwa.

Blue Moon is an interesting read. I never figured out who was good and who was bad until told and yet I know that if I went back and re-read it I would see all the clues, which is something I appreciate in a novel. Just for that I would give it at least 4 stars. But I'm forced to bring my rating down a notch when I consider the multiple times I saw words misused in the novel. Words where, if the author didn't know the correct word to use, the editor surely should have. For example, at one point a character should have said "descendant" but instead says "ancestor." Big difference there. It happens several times throughout the novel.

I'm interested to see more of the series, but I won't expect it to be anything more than preternatural fluff with good sex.

Some series you can read out of order without major spoilers. In fact there is one science fiction series that I read in precisely reverse order without a problem. However, I read book 3, (Dark Moon), first and it gives away a lot more than who survives into the sequels. However, there is a limited number of characters in this particular book whose turn to the dark side would matter in any emotional sense, so the villain(s) probably will not be a surprise anyway. But if you don't want to be spoiled, read this book first.

This is a first person point of view novel. It's more a romance than anything else. It isn't particularly scary. It isn't particularly gory. There's loose ends and plot holes so it's not much of a mystery. However, it isn't a bad casual read and the hero is quite likable.

The viewpoint character, a police officer in a small Wisconsin tourist town, is also likable and competent. (Odd how in (Dark Moon)she loses her likable qualities when viewed in the third person.) She has self esteem and family issues. The love interest also has self esteem issues-- and a habit of engaging in suspicious activities that I haven't seen since I last read a Gothic novel. (Remember how when anything questionable happened in Gothics the hero was always in a position where he could have done it?) I am happy to say though that the sexual activity in this book has a purpose beyond stimulating the reader's limbic system and filling up the pages. It does help a bit to flesh out the characters.

The ending was disappointing in one regard. There is a twist that allows the villain to be defeated in a ridiculously easy way and it is a doozy of a deus ex machina. It I hadn't been reading a borrowed book it would have hit the wall with considerable force. The only conclusion I can reach is that the author had painted herself into a corner and didn't want to do the work it would take to get her characters out of their fix.

Get this one from the library for a casual summer read.

Something unusual is going on in Miniwa, Wisconsin and Officer Jessie McQuade is determined to find out exactly what it is.

After finding a wolf bite victim sitting in a van in the middle of the road, Jessie tries to track the dangerous animal down. What she doesn't expect to find is a tall, dark, handsome, and...naked man!

When Jessie finds a wolf totem at the accident scene, she seeks help from Professor Cadotte in finding out what it means. She is surprised to find that the Professor is the naked man she came upon in the woods.

Will Cadotte, a professor and an expert on Native American lore, makes it hard for Jessie to keep her mind on her work and on finding out what is going on in her small town.

Is the town facing a super wolf population or has a new strain or rabies gotten the wolves in an uproar? What ever it is, when more townspeople are bitten and some begin disappearing, Jessie isn't about to let Will or anyone else get in her way.

Lori Handeland has written an extremely intriguing paranormal with Blue Moon. The characters she created are awesome. One thing I truly enjoyed about this book was the way Lori made Jessie a sharp-tongued butt-kicking heroine. Make sure you start reading this book early in the day because you are not going to want to put it down.

Blue Moon is the first in a three book series. The next two books in the series are Hunter's Moon in February 2005 and Dark Moon in June 2005. I know I can't wait till they come out!

Stop by Lori's website at www.lorihandeland.com and check out the other wonderful books Lori has written.