Customer Reviews

The Howling II: The Return

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

 

 

Apparently the previous reviewer saw the movie but didn't actually read this book. (They're completely different.) Nevertheless, this is a very fun and suspenseful sequel to Brander's original masterpiece. It might seem somewhat tame by today's standards but Brandner's work is always entertaining and perfectly plotted.

After finally finishing the pile of books I'd picked up on my splurge, I had to wait until the holidays were over (buying your kids gifts taps the old wallet), but after Christmas I returned to the used bookstore (and Ebay) for more of my most recent favorite authors: Dean R. Koontz, Christopher Andrews, and Gary Brandner.

"The Howling II" was a decent sequel. And that pretty much sums it up. It did a respectable job continuing the story of Karen and Chris, and Roy and Marcia. One of my few complaints about the original was that the ending had seemed to abrupt, and this book replaced some of that frustration with satisfaction of knowing what happened next.

But, sadly, the strength of the first book was not as evident here. Karen continues to intrigue me, dealing with her situation realistically, thinking that she is crazy first, and then deciding to believe in herself and DO something about her situation. But the book as a whole just didn't stand up as well as the first.

Another complaint: The time line does not make sense. We are shown that a couple of years have passed, Karen has gotten remarried, and so on. But then, when we're with Roy and Marcia, there's talk of her having been terribly ill for "months," and she's just now getting better. So ... what happened to the missing months before, or after, or during? It didn't track.

Overall, an entertaining, but not enthralling, book. I must admit to some disappointment, as I really enjoyed "The Howling," but no real regret. My only decision now is whether to read Koontz's "Velocity" or Andrews' "Dream Parlor" next.

This is about as good a sequel as one could hope for. Remember, at the end of The Howling (the book, not the movie) the town of Drago was destroyed by fire. Some of the wolves escaped. The plot picks up three years later. Karyn and Chris are no longer together and she has remarried. Roy and Marcia however, are still together and Marcia wants revenge. The silver bullet fired into her head has deprived her of the ability to change into a full-on werewolf, so she makes Roy do her bidding. This is a weakness of the story - Roy comes across as a weak character who is thoroughly "whipped", even though he is the principle werewolf.

The lycanthropic couple pursue Karyn from Seattle to LA to Mexico, where the final confrontation finally takes place. As with the first book, it is tightly plotted and a fast read. I enjoyed the climax of the story - the werewolf attacks in Mazatlan. All in all, it is a good sequel.

Thank God for Gary Brandner's The Howling II. I was beginning to think I couldn't make it through another novel without quitting. Don't get me wrong, The Howling II is no great literary masterpiece, but it is a quick, easy read; a pulp-fiction delight, and I liked it. Hell, I really liked it! It's been three years since the tiny village of Drago burned to the ground, and the only two known survivors (according to the Los Angeles UPI) Karyn Beatty and Christopher Halloran have long since split from each other following what can best be described as a mutual destructive binge immediately following the burning. You see, they can't forget Drago, and all that went down there, and the dreadful howling that still haunts their dreams. But Karyn is working to escape her past; she has remarried and has a young stepson and is undergoing professional counseling. But recently she's been getting these uneasy feelings that someone may be watching her, and she's hearing soft noises in their house late at night, and her beloved house plants are sick and dying, and the howling has started up again. If I have one regret, it's that I didn't read Howling I before Howling II, but as far as I know, I didn't miss anything. I have heard that the first book is a pulp-fiction masterpiece. I can't wait till I locate a copy and find out for myself.

The Howling 2 is in my oppinon the worst in the trilogy. While im very fond of the trilogy howling 2 didnt satisfy me. It begins well telling how Karen has gone on with her life and I was thrilled when Marca the shewolf came back more erotic then ever with her mate Roy Karrens x huspend. When Roy and Marca start stalking Karen the suspence is good. Gary Bradners werewolves are still intresting creatures. The way the werewolves get protection from the gypsys was fasentating. the Gipsys being outsiders who understand the suppernarle and from a league with them for protection. Roy having been made into a werewolf still has hummen feelings but marca born a wolf doesnt. The simplistic reveng plot didnt satisfy me I think it should have been a subplot. SURLY Roy and Marca arnt the only survivors from the fire in DRAGO. What about the others. The others would need to kill both Chriss and Karren for there nolleg. What would happen if Kerren found a way to prove the werewolves egsisted. I think there should have been a hole underground sosiety werewolves stalking Kerren and Criss. I thot all the trouble Karren had finding chriss was realistic and I could relat to it. It just got dull. Marca and Roy show up. Kill some animals and stock Karren. So Kerren moves and it happens agein. Chriss's new girlfriend made some interesting obsticles for Kerren and Chriss to face when she turns on them, BUT she was so anoying witch would have been ok IF Marca had eaten her when she was done using her. She didnt. So Crisses brod trater girl friend escapes. When the climax of the book comes Marcas ultimate reveng plan is truly horrific but does not live up to its 250 pg billed up. The Howling 2 was made into a totaly diffrent movei that began interestingly and then became to campy to take serusly. It had a cool sountrack if you like 80s pop rock. In the end the Howling 2 has some interesting ideas but the simplistic plot and the lack of exploration in to the fasenating and erotic wourld of Bradners werewolves hurts the potental. There just isent much new. An avereg 2 out of five at best

It is about a town haunted by werewolves in a huge suthern town to steal the grave of karen white a rep- orter in the first one shes the woman that the first one follows trying to catch the blood crazed hound eddie a visous werewolf in his first novel THE HOWLING and ends up in the end becoming a werewolf hers- lelf .And in this secend masterpeice its about three m- ain people Bill,stephone,and a reporter chick who worked with karen.A and they try to destroy the leader stylva the leader werewolf.But they end up getting alot more than they expect.The secend best novel of Gary brandners and a true motion picture of 1984 a must read horror novel and rare to come by