Customer Reviews

Prowlers

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Jack Dwyer runs a bar in Boston with his sister Courtney and is having a pretty good life. However, the morning after a date, Jack wakes up to find out that his best friend Archie was murdered. Later, as if things weren't bad enough, Artie's ghost appears from a place called the ghostlands to warn Jack about the things caused Artie's death: the Prowlers. The Prowlers are wolflike creatures that are able to masquerade as humans and have been living since before mankind appeared. When Jack sees the damage the Prowlers can cause first hand, he wants revenge. Jack has decided to hunt the Prowlers, but with bold leader Owen Tanzer, things won't be easy. Unfortunately, the Prowlers know where Jack lives, and they want to hunt. However, when a group of Prowlers attacks the bar, Jack's world goes even more out of wack... Prowlers is a great book and one that I definitely recommend reading.

I've been reading Golden's work for a while now, (SAINTS AND SHADOWS, STRANGEWOOD, to name a few) and I've found him to be an author you can trust for great storytelling, crisp writing, and good, creepy entertainment. PROWLERS is the first of a planned series about monsters among us and a great opener. The Prowlers of the title are an ancient breed of werewolf-like creatures that do not change with the moon, but cloak themselves in human skin and change at will. They have walked among us for centuries and hunted humans. A powerful new leader is bringing the scattered packs together and making them more dangerous and organized. A young man, Jack Dwyer, stumbles across their shadowy existence when his best friend is slaughtered by several members of the pack. Jack, who has been forced to mature beyond his years due to personal tragedies, becomes the greatest enemy the pack has ever known. Strongly recommended.

I have only read a few authors who realized the possibilities of were-humans as well as were-critters. By that, I mean animals that can appear to be human. This is surprising in the light of the number of legends about mythical beasts that can appear human. Chinese dragons, selkies, and the countless creatures of the fey world for starters. So the start of Chris Golden's new series about wolf-like 'monsters' that can pass for human is a break from the usual werewolf novel.

The basic thesis is that these 'Prowlers' are of two attitudes. Many have blended into human life, carefully controlling their needs to hunt and kill. But many others long for a return to the wild, seeking human beings for sport and food. These creatures are not bound by the full moon, and are really not magical other than their shape changing abilities. But they are extremely powerful and almost impossible to elude. Basically wolves on a lot of steroids.

When Jack Dwyer and Mollie Hatcher lose Artie Carroll, their best friend and lover, to a vicious attack, the last thing Jack expects is to find himself talking to Artie's ghost. Not just Artie either, but other residents of the Ghostlands as well. All victims of the Prowlers, they are warning the youthful and ill-prepared part owner of Bridget's Irish Rose Pub that unless he does something countless citizens of Boston will die.

Jack quickly finds the he and Mollie are the next objects of the pack's unending hunt. Equally endangered are Jack's sister Courtney and many of their close friends. For all of them, angered by what happened to Artie, this quickly turns into a war. Aided by the ghosts and fighting to keep Artie's presence a secret from Mollie, Jack finds himself shifting between the Ghostlands and terra firma.

This is almost a completely successful novel. Too much time is spent setting the scene for the series to come and not enough steadily building the tension. When the action finally does kick in it does so with a vengeance. Suddenly it is as if there is barely enough time to finish the novel. I found the characters interesting if a little bit too much of the Boston Irish stereotype. We get good insight to the workings of Jack's psyche, but the other characters are less well constructed.

Sometimes I think that Golden has spend so much time writing for pre-developed characters, such as Buffy, that he is no longer completely comfortable on his own. And yet, Golden always managed to have enough moments of brilliance to keep pulling the rabbit out of the hat. There is enough here to want to follow the series through at least one more volume.

Jack Dwyer lost his mother in a car accident when he was just ten. Nine years later, Jack and his older sister Courtney run Bridget's, an Irish pub and restaurant in Boston. When Jack's best friend Artie is brutally murdered, he is devastated, as is Artie's girlfriend, Molly. But soon, Jack and Molly begin to suspect there was more to Artie's death that simple murder. When Jack is visited by Artie's ghost, he discovers that his best friend's killers were the Prowlers, an ancient race of beats that can make themselves appear human. And to make matters worse, the Prowlers have marked Jack and Molly as their next prey - for no human can discover the truth and live. Now they are fleeing for their lives, and must take one last, desperate chance. The odds are against them. But Jack and Molly are determined to survive. This book started off a thrilling new horror series for teens. I highly reccomend this new series.

Jack Dwyer is devastated over his best friend Artie's death. Artie had been with him for a long time, and had made him feel normal since the death of his mother nine years ago. Even with the help of friends Bill and Molly, something still seems disturbing about Artie's murder. Then, an amazing thing happens -- Artie appears before Jack as a ghost, more than once, and tells him of the Prowlers, hideous and brutal creatures that
prey on humans all over the world. No one can see them -- except

for Jack. And when the Prowlers discover that Jack knows about their secret, everyone is in danger. Jack is in for the wildest
and most terrifying journey of his life. The first thrilling
book in the Prowlers series is among one of the best young adult fiction books I have ever read. And, it's long too, so readers
are in for one long, wild, and suspenseful trip.

Prowlers is a page-turning book of discovery by Christopher Golden. It is a wonderful book. The genre of it is fantasy. I am not a big fantasy person but this was a good book. I would recommend it for young adults that like a book with supernatural beings. It does get a little gory sometimes but it is not too bad.
Jack Dwyer is the main character of this book. He, along with his sister Courtney, run Bridget's Irish Pub in Boston. Their mother, Bridget, died nine years ago in a car crash. As I said this story is set in Boston, which is a good place for the book to be set in. For story purposes it is large and for audience purposes people can recognize the city. It makes this story more believable.
In the story Jacks best friend Artie and his one time girlfriend Kate, are killed. Jack and Molly, Arties serious girlfriend, are devastated. They are left to deal with the pain. It seems to them that they will never get over their friends' deaths. But then Arties ghost, who wanders the Ghostlands, visits Jack. He tells Jack that he wasn't murdered by something human. He was killed by monsters, Prowlers, who masquerade as humans. They hide out in large cities and kill people until they are almost revealed and then move on. Jack wants revenge and he decides that he is going to get it. He teams up with Molly to get back and destroy these monsters. But you never know who is a prowler and who isn't.
The characters are very finely drawn in this book. They defiantly develop as the story goes on. They change and grow in ways they didn't think were possible. But what captivated me was Goldens' writing style. I was in suspense the whole book. I couldn't put this book down. I really liked how he started off the book. I was pulled into the story by the first line.
There is really no moral to the story and this book is defiantly different from his others. I think he needed a change of style. Which is good because he keeps his fans guessing. The one thing he could have done better is describing the lesser characters. They don't seem as real at the main characters do. But all in all, this book is one of my favorites. I plan to read the sequel, and there is defiantly room for a sequel and series for this story.

Although this book hasn't been released yet, I'm unpatiently awaiting it. Why? Because it's Christopher Golden's work! Christopher Golden is a very talented writer. His recent novels (e.g. Spike & Dru : Pretty Maids All in a Row, and the Strangewood series) is proof that his writing skills are excellent. I wouldn't call them skills, as I seem to think of his writing as an art. It takes a horror storyline, and relates to every day lives and problems. Thus making him one of my favorite authors. I plan on buying Prowlers the first day it is available, and instantly beginning to read it. As for the plot, it tells of a young man in a horrible situations. A pre-human race has made it's way into the young man's city - a pre-human race who began the legend of werewolves - and is murdering everyone in sight. When the guy's best friend is found dead, the guy thinks all is lost. But his friend comes back as ghost, to aid the guy in defeating the race. Yep, can't wait!

Couldn't put the book down from beginning to end. It was that good. The action kept me on the edge and it had a good premise. The ending was stellar. Starting the 2nd one as soon as it comes in.

This book is a great thriller. It kept me on my toes and wanting to read more. This is definetly a hard book to put down. I would reccomend this book to anyone who likes science fiction.

Prowlers is a rip-roaring horror thriller with touches of the 1987 movie The Lost Boys and Dean Koontz's Twilight Eyes. It's not a sweeping, apocalyptic novel set on a grand stage but, rather, is more of an intense and personal study on loss and grief, offset with grim, no-quarter-given skirmishes between average but resourceful Jack and the relentless Prowlers.

Jack Dwyer is a hardworking 19-year old, who helps run the thriving Bridget's Irish Rose Pub with his co-owner and older sister Courtney. His social life is basically nil. The few times he goes out, he does so in the accompany of his best friend Artie and Artie's girl Molly. One night, he is set up with Molly's friend Kate and they double date with Artie and Molly. Tragedy strikes when, on their way home, Artie and Kate are savagely attacked and killed.

The weirdness begins when Artie's ghost manifests and warns a still grieving Jack of the true nature of his and Kate's slayers: the horrific, shafeshifting Prowlers. Jack's newfound knowledge puts him in deadly peril as he confronts the ravenous pack of monsters, who quickly become aware that Jack knows more than he should. Very, very soon Jack, Molly, Courtney, and bartender and close family friend Bill Cantwell will be furiously fighting for their very survival against insatiable, superhuman creatures who stalked the earth before man ever crawled out of the ocean.

Christopher Golden takes a slightly slanted approach with this "werewolf" tale. In his take, Prowlers aren't humans who are bitten and then transform into cursed werewolves, but, rather, are murderous, inhuman creatures who assume the identity of humans to blend in with their unwitting, chosen prey.

Prowlers is an addictive, stay-up-all-night kind of read. Golden does take some time to set the stage and introduce the pertinent characters. But, oboy, once he revs up that engine, this novel is a non-stop thrill ride. Golden uses simple, straightforward, yet effective prose to relentlessly drive the storyline. Because Golden makes very sure to emphasize and dwell on the close-knit relations of Jack and friends, the reader invests more into the characters, especially in scenes where they are put in grave jeopardy. Maybe, too, because of the extra exposition at the start, his main protagonists Jack and Molly have substance and thus seem very real to the reader. Needless to say, Courtney and Bill are also very easy to root for.

And here's the good news: Prowlers is the introductory novel to thus far a four-book series. The sequels, in sequential order, are titled Laws of Nature, Predator and Prey, and Wild Things. And if you like the way this prolific dude writes, also check out his Shadow Saga, the Menagerie series and Myth Hunters (book 1 of the Veil series).