Customer Reviews

Call to the Hunt

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

 

 

"Call to the Hunt" is a short story collection by the same author who wrote "Murdered by Human Wolves" (a saddle-stitched novella that was a runaway hit last year.)

I was especially happy to get it, as I enjoyed "Murdered by Human Wolves". I have to confess that I was a bit disappointed.

The cover art is outstanding - great colors, great imagery. Binding seems tight, edges are well-trimmed, but - and this is a big one - the type is so dotty that it looks like it was printed on a dot-matrix printer. It seriously impacted my enjoyment of the book.

I don't know if Scrybe Press is doing their own printing in-house, or if they're contracting it out, but they need to see to the quality of the type.

Sadly, this book is not so much a collection of short stories as it is a series of vignettes, some longer than others. Only one has any sort of internal resolution, and at least one is completely nonsensical, while another is an apparent excuse to write a sex scene.

Story issues aside, Wedel's writing is pleasant and well-crafted, but those who aren't familiar with his other work may find themselves at a loss due to the disconnected narratives.

This captivating collection of stories leaves the reader well satisfied. Wedel deftly weaves recognizable events in American history into the werewolf mythology he has created. This touch adds a hint of familiarity to the drama and leaves us wondering what role the wolf played in our past.
Two of Wedel's new stories, Journey to a New World and Of Witches and Werewolves, give us a compelling look at human nature and hypocrisy. The steamy Kiss of the Wolf will certainly make us think twice before slipping away from a party with a stranger.
My only complaint is that there were not more stories - I could read Wedel's work all day and never tire of it.

Fans of werewolf thrillers will want to howl with this strong twelve story compilation. Most of the tales are set in the eighteenth century, which Steven E. Wedel uses to deftly portray an eerie environs in spite of commonly known American historical events like an escaped slave, life on the frontier with the Sioux, or the battle of Saratoga. Seven of the contributions star Josef Ulrik, an interesting lycanthrope who steals the show even when the competition is the queen of howling Shara Wellington. For the most part the tales are serious with Sunday Dentistry more a tongue in cheek tale. Readers will feast on this fabulous journey into the world wild werewolves and latent lycanthropic who prove to the enthralled audience that Mr. Wedel knows his subject while also wondering if this author takes the full moon off.

Harriet Klausner