Customer Reviews

Howling Mad

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I can't believe I waited so long to read HOWLING MAD. Peter David takes a traditional mythical creature and stands it on its head. "Josh" is a standard timberwolf that runs into trouble when he's bitten by a werewolf. At the full moon he starts turning into a human man. This story follows his trials and tribulations of trying to accept his transformation, being taken far away from his forest and then trying to return to his pack. Along the way he encouters Darlene, a co-dependent do-gooder who falls in love with him; Duncan, the vampire, who leads a rather non-traditional vampiric existence; and the werewolf himself who is intent on destroying Josh. Josh struggles between his wolf self and his human self, and it's a scream to watch how he develops as a human man (no enlightened savant here, it's beer and television all the way). The story is told by Josh as a series of recollections to an unseen writer who is a friend of Darlene. The characters are quirky, the plot is fantastic, and even the wolves have funny dialogue. I laughed so hard throughout the novel that people started to ask if I was alright! It's funny, it's fast-paced, and it's delightfully tongue-in-cheek. This one is a keeper!

"Howling Mad" is one of Peter David's first books, and ranks as one of his best. Why this gem was out of print for so long is beyond me. Peter David has always had a talent for adding comedy into his stories without making them simply an excersise in silliness. And the plot, about a wolf bitten by a particularly nasty werewolf, is wholly original. And lets not forget about the vampire...or the beautiful girl...or the...oh, just by all means READ THIS BOOK!

This is a smart and funny tale of a wolf who is bitten by a werewolf and every full moon turns into a man, who is taken under the shelter of Darlene, who names him Josh. The story involves other supernatural creatures and ends with an awesome battle with Josh and another werewolf...I won't tell you too much. I could totally see a hilarious Sci-Fi Fantasy movie made in this. GGT

I love Peter David when he writes comics. In that medium, he is one of my absolute favorites. Unfortunately, his skill doesn't seem to translate into other areas quite as well. Don't misinterpret that though because this is a pretty good novel.

It's short, and I like short. Modern fiction of nearly every genre is soooo long. And the stories are not any deeper, the writing any more complex. They're just loooong, excessively plotted, redundantly written. I rarely read a novel that can't lose at least a hundred pages. My GF says most people are wannabe writers but that I'm a wannabe editor. True, because even this novel could lose a few pages here or there.

But it's still good. An amusing idea presented in an interesting style. Read the summary if you want the plot. I'm not going to get into it. But if you're looking for something fairly unique, I recommend it.

One of the better, unintended elements of the novel to me is that occasionally it breaks into present tense and has the wolf talk to the narrator. These bits were totally unnecessary to me, and since they were italicized, I just skipped them automatically. If you the kind of reader who likes them, then go right ahead. I liked the easy way of telling what I didn't care about reading, though it was unintentional. I wish more books did that.

I happened to catch this book for $1 and I gotta say I REALLY liked it. I don't know that I woulda been happy if I had paid the $5.99 that on the cover?! But I would recommend this for anything that enjoys a good supernatural beings book ( vampires, werewolves, fairies, etc... ). It handles it well.

A Comedy?

I don't think so... But, it is rather tongue-in-cheek at a few points, it'll make you chuckle.

I guess the best light I could put it in is this...
If this was a TV show?
I would compare this to a mixture of "The X-Files and Monk".
There's something to make you smile, but it ain't JUST a comedy...
and
There's something to creep you out a little too...

Good read!
Wish I could meet the author, I would love to talk with someone that can think like the writer of this book obviously does...

One of the funniest books I have ever read in any genre! Howling Mad is a biting tale of a poor, confused wolf who gets bitten by a werewolf... and faces the horrible curse of becoming a human every night of the full moon. When this "were-man" is accidently sent to New York, the fur really starts to fly. A wry and inventive twist on the entire genre of horror, I truly could not put it down (except when I was laughing too hard). A must read, no matter how hard it is to find

Another great effort from the pen of Peter David. He has a great mixture of action, horror and humor which makes reading his books so enjoyable. My favorite characters were Joshua Wolf & Duncan the vampire. Darlene was great too but Mr.David always writes a great female character--strong and tender. I hope to read more of the misadventures of Josh and Darlene (sequel maybe? )

About 20 years ago I started reading this book and accidentally left it a cab. I HAD to buy another copy, and it was worth the twice price. Now I have to buy another copy because I want my son to enjoy it like I did. Easy to read, makes you think, makes you laugh. I just wish it were available on Kindle!

The Werewolf's Guide to Life: A Manual for the Newly Bitten Fantastic tale of a wolf bitten by a man, or werewolf in reverse if you like, it will have you laughing and crying! Again this is another book that is hard to find at a reasonable price in a reasonable state... But there is a rumor going around that there is going to be a movie made about this book, which I hope is true and would love to see, and who knows maybe then they would republish this book!!

I loved this book - absolutely loved it! The premise was utterly unique and just terrific. The writing was great, it had a lot of humour - I laughed out loud to the point of getting dirty looks from strangers on the bus. It had it all - adventure, romance, vampires and of course, werewolves. I just loved it!