Talulla Rising [Hardcover]

Glen Duncan (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 26, 2012

When I change I change fast. The moon drags the whatever-it-is up from the earth and it goes through me with crazy wriggling impatience . . . I’m twisted, torn, churned, throttled—then rushed through a blind chicane into ludicrous power . . . A heel settles. A last canine hurries through. A shoulder blade pops. The woman is a werewolf.
 
The woman is Talulla Demetriou.
She’s grieving for her werewolf lover, Jake, whose violent death has left her alone with her own sublime monstrousness. On the run, pursued by the hunters of WOCOP (World Organisation for the Control of Occult Phenomena), she must find a place to give birth to Jake’s child in secret.
            The birth, under a full moon at a remote Alaska lodge, leaves Talulla ravaged, but with her infant son in her arms she believes the worst is over—until the windows crash in, and she discovers that the worst has only just begun . . .
            What follows throws Talulla into a race against time to save both herself and her child as she faces down the new, psychotic leader of WOCOP, a cabal of blood-drinking religious fanatics, and (rumor has it) the oldest living vampire.
Harnessing the same audacious imagination and dark humor, the same depths of horror and sympathy, the same full-tilt narrative energy with which he crafted his acclaimed novel The Last Werewolf, Glen Duncan now gives us a heroine like no other, the definitive twenty-first-century female of the species. 

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The horror genre at its best—wildly imaginative, written with wit and intelligence, wickedly entertaining.” 
—The Times (UK)

“Irresistible . . . As with The Last Werewolf, Duncan writes with caustic edge and pop-culturally relevant humor . . . His gorgeous prose makes these books more than just werewolf-genre flashes in the proverbial pan.”
—Dallas Morning News

“The arch relationship Duncan establishes with his readers—along with his scathingly intelligent psychological insights and flat-out killer writing, his companionably high-mannered narrative voice, and his mad plot chops—makes Talulla Rising a high-calorie blast . . . Duncan’s throbbing, fornication-crazy plot defies easy encapsulation, but is best described as a gleeful three-way between Raymond Chandler’s entire oeuvre, Anne Rice’s vampire novels, and Umberto Eco’s Foucault’s Pendulum. Proust, as usual, is watching from the corner . . . Duncan delivers with intelligent humanity a monster we want to track and befriend, even knowing she would happily eat us alive.”
—Heidi Julavits, New York Times Book Review
 
“Duncan’s writing does more than transcend genre fiction: it creeps up on it in the dead of night, rips out its heart, then eats it. There is something liberating about a novel like this. As well as offering a new vantage point from which to consider the old questions of life, it also provides a welcome fantasy in which there is not just extreme sex and violence, but also smoking, drinking, and a lot of very fancy hotels . . . Who wouldn’t want to be part of their world for a while? . . . As well as being thought-provoking, it’s all great fun.”
—The Guardian (UK)

“Duncan’s antihero is an apex female predator . . . She’s smart, confident, and a caring mother. She’s also a ferocious man-eater . . . The spectacle alone is worth the price of admission.”
—NPR.org

“Adventurous readers who are looking for a break from the usual beach read should consider this alternately horrifying and humorous, imaginative and energetic novel.”
—CNN.org

“Duncan is an immensely talented literary novelist, and with Talulla Rising, he has again proved you don’t have to be driving with a learner’s permit to enjoy a good vampire-versus-werewolf book.”
—Richmond Times-Dispatch

“Last year Glen Duncan brought fresh blood to the monster market with the moonstruck hero and toothsome prose of his novel The Last Werewolf . . . In Talulla Rising, Duncan again creates an oddly engaging world defined almost exclusively by the abnormal . . . Duncan can be awfully entertaining.”
—Bloomberg News

“A bone-crunchingly, page-plungingly good book (necessary reading just for the language) that limns the primal darkness within us but is ultimately about love . . . Highly recommended.”
—Library Journal (starred)

“A lusty, visceral, bloody tale [told in] capable, muscular prose . . . This is enjoyable stuff . . . Duncan’s werewolves are never cartoons . . . Talulla has the wit and pluck to entertain us.”
—Cleveland Plain Dealer

“[A] terrific anti-Twilight werewolves-versus-vampires saga continues . . . This is pulp fiction but of the highest order . . . It all takes place in a wonderfully constructed universe of hipster philosophy, hard-bitten humour, just enough arcane mystery, and a whole load of Tarantino-Technicolor sex and violence. As before, there’s substance beyond the flippancy, an unlaboured consideration of the beast within us all, and though beneath the wolf’s clothing lies the purringly efficient machinery of a really good thriller, it goes way beyond genre writing.”
—Word magazine (UK)
 
“Both brainy and vicious.”
—Kirkus Reviews
 
“I like now and then to be reminded that I am a companion of the Wild Beast, and Glen Duncan ensures that I never forget it. He writes brilliantly of the presence of evil in its most contemporary disguise, with its heady temptations of heedless abundance, hunger, and satiety. Never again will it be possible to think of werewolves as mere metaphor. This fierce, witty, and erotic novel is full of surprises, both provocative and illuminating.”
—Susanna Moore
 
“The sequel to Duncan’s excellent The Last Werewolf, Talulla Rising returns to the dark and humorous world that made the earlier novel such a triumph . . . Duncan’s novel is that rare and wonderful creature—literary horror . . . Duncan shows us just how vital [the werewolf tale] can be . . . filled with an irony that speaks to our complicated and troubled times.” 
—Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
 
“A fearsomely good book, mainly because Talulla is such a poignant outsider and formidable heroine.”
—Metro (UK)
 
“An enthralling look into the heart of newfound monstrosity . . . Lavish, dark, and deliciously campy.”
—Booklist

About the Author

Glen Duncan is the author of eight previous novels. He was chosen by both Arena and The Times Literary Supplement as one of Britain’s best young novelists. He lives in London.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; First Edition edition (June 26, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9780307595096
• ISBN-13: 978-0307595096
• ASIN: 0307595099
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.4 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (73 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #250,275 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Blending The Literary With The Profane: Duncan's Adult-Oriented Werewolf Saga Continues May 10, 2012

By K. Harris HALL OF FAMETOP 10 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Note: This sequel to "The Last Werewolf" really benefits from having read that book to fully enjoy the intricacies of this one.

When I read Glen Duncan's "The Last Werewolf," I felt instinctively that it was a novel that some would love and some would hate. For me, it was one of the best books of 2011. A blend of the literary and the profane, Duncan's prose was as beautiful as it was explicit. Taking its classic cues from horror literature, Duncan crafted a thoroughly entertaining and rewarding tale for adults that was as much about thoughts and emotions as it was about carnage and mayhem. Those looking for a quick fix of blood and guts certainly got that with the graphic depictions within Duncan's text, but the joys to be had from that incredibly well written tome didn't have to be limited to genre readers. I really wasn't anticipating a sequel, although the possibility was there. When I heard of "Talulla Rising," I instantly put it on my must-read list.

Part of "The Last Werewolf" was comprised of a fascinating romantic entanglement. "Talulla Rising" is very much a continuation of that story line. While it may be enjoyable on its own, I would not recommend it without having sampled its predecessor. Many of the same characters are carried over with little new development and if you don't know who they are or their history, it may lessen the impact of this sequel. Many of Duncan's principle themes are carried over (loneliness, regret, inevitability) and reconfigured with notions about renewed hope, inclusion and responsibility. Seriously, this is a story that crosses into the literary realm with its vivid prose and contemplative themes--and miraculously, it balances its sophistication and smarts with the expected brutality and blunt sexuality in very complicated and effective ways.

The story opens with our werewolf heroine Talulla in seclusion. At first, her only intent is to stay off the grid as various parties still have an interest in hunting her down. Ambivalent about new motherhood, Talulla must confront a lot of inner demons when her son is abducted. And more from responsibility than from love, she intends to rescue the newborn at any cost. Crossing paths with old foes, strange cults, mercenaries, and unexpected new alliances--this journey of maternal focus actually starts to bring a humanity back to Talulla that she had been missing. Like Jake from "The Last Werewolf," Talulla is a fascinatingly complex character--one you may not always like, but one that feels inherently real (strange as she's a werewolf). The story remains an interesting blend of introspection and action set pieces and both are done quite well.

Long story short: if you loved "The Last Werewolf," it's a story worth continuing. I didn't love it as much as the former volume, but I enjoyed carrying on with these characters. If you hated "The Last Werewolf," nothing here will change that opinion. It is done in the same style. If you haven't read the first book, however, I don't recommend "Talulla Rising" at all. This is literary fiction with a bite! KGHarris, 5/12.

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Talulla Rising May 14, 2012

By Brendan Moody VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

In my review of Glen Duncan's The Last Werewolf, I wrote "the novel ends... with... several plot threads merrily dangling in a way that, intentionally or not, suggests the possibility of a sequel." Now, a year later, here is that sequel. The major plot twist of The Last Werewolf was that title character Jake Marlowe was not, in fact, what that title suggested, and this novel is the tale of that other werewolf, who is not the last werewolf either, or at least she won't be once she gives birth to her and the late Jake Marlowe's child. Talulla thinks she's made all the necessary plans for a safe delivery, but this being a supernatural thriller, events spiral out of control. And then do so again. And again. Soon she has no choice but to reenter the world of vampires and vampire (and werewolf) hunters that brought about Jake's death. New enemies and unlikely allies will play their own roles in her desperate quest, but even if she gets what she wants, can she ever hope for a normal and happy family life?

Like The Last Werewolf before it, Talulla Rising achieves its greatest success as a page-turning thriller. In fact, rather than having to build up a dramatic situation, it begins with one already established, so it's more immediately compelling than its predecessor. There's nothing terribly original about the plot twists that Duncan lines up; the very fact that his characters talk knowingly about what cliches some of them are underlines the derivative nature of his world-building, and the habit (left over from The Last Werewolf) of having Talulla declare that "in the movies" some obvious thing would happen ignores the fact that there are plenty of standard narrative gambits in this book, including the escape that's only possible because of serious incompetence on the part of supposedly skilled and dangerous captors. But as traditional thrillers go, this one is pretty taut and involving right up to the end, and Duncan has more of a sense of prose style than most writers of similar fare.

The catch is that there isn't much substance to complement that style. Duncan can write a technically effective description of one or another emotional response, but there's nothing behind the clever wording to suggest that he has any distinctive understanding of that response, any insight into the ups and downs of personality or the forces that shape character. Impressive language makes it all too easy to overlook pat observations and easy generalizations. Talulla's voice is generally different from Jake's-- less consciously world-weary, less ponderous, more likable-- but she shares his habit of making threadbare thematic pronouncements as though they were profound. Yes, it's true: the world doesn't end when one does something terrible. People have a remarkable capacity to endure even when they've become monstrous. This wasn't a novel enough insight to serve as the thematic center of one book, let alone two, and there's nothing here to supplement it, except some material about Talulla's maternal guilt that's tiresomely obvious and repetitive. And, for all the self-conscious "I am a monster now" material, I'm not sure that Duncan is really committed to the darkness of his characters. At one point he manipulates the plot so that circumstances prevent Talulla from doing something truly horrendous of which she is apparently capable; at another she engages in an act of moral generosity that runs against the amoral survival instinct that has been so emphasized. Duncan is undeniably a clever writer, but when it comes to weighty matters his reach consistently exceeds his grasp.

In spite of that, I was enjoying the narrative arc of Talulla Rising, and was prepared to write a positive overall review, until I came to the climax. That sequence depends for its resolution on a development that hasn't been adequately set up. Some aspects of the twist have been foreshadowed, but the specific features that allow events to fall out as they do come from nowhere, resulting in something with the taste of deus ex machina that doesn't demand any character evolution, wisdom, or sacrifice from Talulla, who is largely reduced to bystander status at the endpoint of a deeply personal quest. That, plus the too-familiar nature of a couple earlier developments, makes it hard to wholeheartedly recommend the book even as an exercise in story. But as with The Last Werewolf, those looking for a slickly-stylized ride, with plenty of bloody werewolf action, will still find a lot to like. Another way Talulla Rising is like The Last Werewolf is that it too leaves the door open for a continuation of the story. Indeed, the ending practically promises a third entry in this series. And if such a book is published, I'll be sure to read it. Although I was, on balance, dissatisfied with Glen Duncan's first two werewolf yarns, there was enough promise in both to keep me involved, and enough improvement from the first to the second-- in intensity of plot, in control of the excesses of character voice-- to make me hope that the third time will be the charm.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Spectacular sequel to The Last Werewolf May 6, 2012

By James Tepper TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Glen Duncan has done it again. "Talulla Rising" is a terrific follow-up to "The Last Werewolf" . WARNING: If you haven't yet read The Last Werewolf (but certainly should), then STOP reading this review until you have finished said novel. OK. You've been warned.

Talllula Rising is the story of Tallula Demetriou, a relatively newly "turned" werewolf who met and fell in love with Jake Marlowe, the titular 200 year old character of The Last Werewolf in the series opener. That novel ends as Jake is killed by agents of WOCOP, an organization dedicated to the eradication of paranormals (werewolves and vampires), leaving Tallula, rich, heartbroken and somehow, impossibly (werewolves do not reproduce sexually), pregnant. After a difficulty pregnancy, Tallula gives birth prematurely under a full moon in werewolf form and immediately has her infant son snatched from her hands by a group of vampires who want him for a ritual sacrifice that they believe will enable them exist in the sunlight. The vamps leave before Tallula gives birth to the second twin, a girl. The bulk of the novel deals with Tallula's efforts to save her son, with a cadre of unexpected and unlikely (but very likable) allies.

Duncan's take on werewolves is highly original. They're 9 feet tall, they love killing and eating their victims, and they love having sex, either in wolf or human form. When not in full wolf form the "wulf" (the non-human part of werewolves) is still present, most strongly in the days leading up to the full moon. But it's always there. It dominates the waking and sleeping thoughts and behaviors of the human form of the werewolves.

There are plot twists and turns galore, and lots of suspense. Also violence, some of it by werewolves and vampires and some (perhaps the most horrible), by regular old humans. As with The Last Werewolf, there is lots of dry humor, and also lots of deep feelings. The feelings are discussed, like most real feelings in real people, as consisting of a wealth of simultaneously held contradictory and conflicting emotions and thoughts. Which is to say, that also like The Last Werewolf, Tallula Rising is written in a much more literary style than most horror fantasy. The style and texture of the writing is complex - rich and dense, and very tasty.

Duncan's writing is also extremely explicit. There are near constant references to sex acts and common expressions for both male and female genitalia, as the psychology of the "wulf", is intimately involved with killing, sex and eating (the kill). This offended me not a bit and I did not find the descriptions of the sex scenes (some between humans and some between werewolves) as titillating or shocking as some people seem to have here, where they abound, as in the The Last Werewolf. Both novels are for adult readers in all senses of the word. If you are easily offended by real language and real sex, then these novels are most definitely not for you. (Try instead, "The Vampire Diaries".)

The conclusion wraps everything up nicely (although not necessarily happily ever after for everyone), but still leaves open the possibility of another sequel. I wouldn't mind one at all. In fact I just found out that the third and last book in the series is called "By Blood We Live" and will be published in 2013.

Very Highly Recommended.

JM Tepper