Naked Brunch: A howlingly funny novel of love run wild [Paperback]

Sparkle Hayter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 27, 2003

Annie Engel hasn’t been feeling herself lately. With good reason. A mousy secretary by day, she’s been morphing into a werewolf at night. In the morning, she’s not quite sure what she’s been up to, but she knows she’d like to do it again. She soon discovers that her odd dreams and strange hangovers are actually the remnants of a night out on the prowl.

But Annie’s predatory activities have not gone unnoticed, and soon she is being pursued by one hapless reporter, a psychiatrist who wants to save her from her beastly impulses, and another (guy) werewolf who captures her heart. Who is a nice werewolf to trust? Get ready for a manic, madcap chase through the dank underbelly of the big city, a place where no one seems to sleep and the scents of fear and desire are always in the air.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fans of Hayter's wild Robin Hudson mystery series (The Last Manly Man) may be surprised by Annie Engel, Manhattan legal secretary by day, werewolf by night. Unlike sleuthing hipster Robin, 20-something Annie is clueless and not half as entertaining as the supporting cast and clever plot in this witty but uneven supernatural mystery. She leads a self-declared boring life, mourning a lost romance and working for the monolithic Synergy Enterprises. Boring, that is, if you don't count her turning into a werewolf at night and committing mayhem, including the murder of a Synergy executive (her lupine nose catches a whiff of his rotten soul). Annie isn't aware of her nocturnal exploits, but the city is buzzing about the strange serial murders, and soon several people are trailing her. One of them is the comically inept Sam Deverell, an over-the-hill former TV anchor now working as a Citywide Cable News overnight reporter ("the newsroom equivalent of an ice floe"). Another is Dr. Marco Potenza, head of the underground Center for Lycanthropic Metamorphic Disorder, dedicated to helping "people living with LMD." As a psychiatrist from a long line of werewolves who've mastered the art of controlling their urges via drugs and hypnotherapy, Potenza wants to rehabilitate Annie. But his former assistant and enemy, Jim Valiente (now a "free werewolf" indulging his wild side), is determined to keep Annie far from Potenza's clutches. The madcap antics make this book a pleasure, though readers will wish that the passive Annie had a more forceful role. Hayter's writing is sharp, but she needs a stronger heroine for the book to really howl.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Hayter, author of the Robin Hudson mysteries, ventures into the world of fantasy with a comic werewolf adventure. Secretary Annie Engel feels very odd when she reads about the deaths of businessmen whose throats have been ripped apart. Could she have witnessed these deaths? She realizes she has done more than witness when Dr. Marco Potenza tracks her down and tells her that she has lycanthropic morphic disorder; in other words, she's a werewolf. But can Annie trust Marco? Jim, a handsome werewolf who has already stolen her heart, claims she can't. But then, Marco says the same about Jim. Annie is torn. Marco offers her a normal life by teaching her to suppress and possibly control her werewolf instincts, whereas Jim offers love and excitement. Hayter mixes chick lit (Annie's two best friends are shallow social climbers) and mystery (a reporter is hot on Annie's trail, though too daft to realize his wife is cheating on him) with dark fantasy for a jolly good romp. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (May 27, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400047439
• ISBN-13: 978-1400047437
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,821,347 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Interesting Departure from the Usual Werewolf Fare, July 1, 2003

By 

MONTGOMERY (WASHINGTON, DC - U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Naked Brunch: A howlingly funny novel of love run wild (Paperback)

I finished reading "NAKED BRUNCH" a few days ago, and enjoyed the way the author tied in the stories of the main characters (e.g., Annie Engel, Jim, Dr. Marco, Sam), thus making for a harmonious whole. It's a refreshing morality tale and provides an interesting departure from the usual werewolf fare. Annie Engel, both as a woman and as a werewolf, has a big heart and soul. She is representative of those of us who are sickened by the rich and powerful, who, time and again, place profit and personal gain over the best interests of humanity. Consequently, we feel frustrated by our relative powerlessness as individuals to do anything to stop the amoral robber barons and 'merchants of death' in today's world. At least, when Annie becomes a Wolf, she can sniff out these amoral powerbrokers and hunt them down. She's a righteous Wolf!

WHEN WILL THERE BE A SEQUEL???

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crunchy Reading!, July 3, 2003

By 

Charles Cale (Austin, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Naked Brunch: A howlingly funny novel of love run wild (Paperback)

Mz. Hayter writes well! Her 'Robin Hudson' books are amazing good fun! "Tart Noir" at it's best!

This "Naked Brunch" is a whole new animal! This book is gonna be a socio-political classic! It sincerely puts her into the Vonnegut, Orwell, Oates realm of literature! A view of our current political world through the eyes of folks who can't help ripping out the throats of those who would destroy in the name of profit! Not only is this book hilarious, horrific and deeply thought provoking, it's intelligently sexy! Leave out those oddball "Anne Rice meets Kafka meets Dorothy Parker" comparisons, and just accept that Sparkle Hayter is the best damn writer this world has going! HA! How's THAT?

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I didnt want to... but I do, June 20, 2005

By 

Page Turner (Chicago, Il USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Naked Brunch: A howlingly funny novel of love run wild (Paperback)

I picked up this novel, a departure from the Robin Hudson series, and wanted to love it. 20 pages in, I decided that Hayter had failed me terribly and tossed the book aside. Months passed and without a new Hudson book to appease me, I again picked up Naked Brunch. Still hated it. I read and re-read the reviews here at Amazon time and again and thought about how everyone must be reading some chapters that were left out of my copy. How could these people love this book so much? The one negative review I read still failed to execute the horrible justice that I felt Naked Brunch deserved.

Again months passed and STILL no new Hudson novel. So, on the third try I discovered something. I hadnt seperated myself from the series that I felt so protective of. Hayter had betrayed Robin Hudson and this new Annie Engle person was weak and pathetic, werewolves are a ridiculous choice of topic, and who did this Dear Tweets person think he was?

On that third try, and almost a year after reading anything about Robin Hudson, Tomayo, Mrs. R and the gang, I realized that Hayter had actually written a beautiful book and I had wasted months bashing it because I was expecting someone else to be in its pages. I wonder now if I should seek therapy for my charachter attatchments, but first, this:

This is not a Robin Hudson book and it doesnt pretend to be. Theres no need to re-tell the plot as several have already done so. What you should know is the book is quick paced, funny, but not in a hilarious way, and not chick-litesque at all. The charachters are brilliant and stick with you long after the book ends and all have a fascinating story to tell.

The truth is I want to live in Hayters world. As with the Hudson books, Sparkle Hayter makes our city a more magical place. And while reading her, and for a long time after, you notice things differently, and wonder if the guy next to you on the bus could be smuggling a dangerous chemical agent in that brown bagged bottle or may even be a werewolf.