Customer Reviews

The Werewolf's Tale

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

 

 

I found this book to be a perfect read. A few caveats: I did not read it for a literature class but literally found it while on vacation. I picked it up because of the cheesy cover art. Given those initial conditions, I was very far from disappointed. Man is it pulpy, fleshy and pulpy. Beyond that, I found the writing style to be a laugh out loud interplay with the outlandish narrative. As for the outlandish narrative, it covers a lot of terrain. The continual, historical and literary references kept me scratching my head at the actual thought and effort that went into its writing. One reviewer found these references pretentious and the authors "pretentions to moral superiority" insufferable. I found them charming. What better attitude to affect than moral superiority while you enjoy some carnal and carnage poking?

I don't know if he invented the genre--but Richard Jaccoma has melded vampires, werewolves and sex scenes in his fiction longer than virtually any other writer currently in vogue. This, in a volatile mix of Old Lefty politics. Lesbo vampire pirates meet commies, mummies 'n' Nazis. The political slant reflects the leanings of Jimmy Underhill, which gives Jaccoma's detective noir its unique flavor. The pornographic parts merely describe action that would have been omitted in Chandler or Hammett's time. Many of Jaccoma's stories saw light in the men's magazine demimonde, now part of the last century. Jaccoma is, to say the least, a master pornographer.
Any rational thinking reader acquainted with his first novel would be forced to agree on one controversial matter concerning Richard Jaccoma: The Yellow Peril, published in hardcover by Putnam in 1978, contained a point-by-point blueprint for Raiders of the Lost Ark. The Indiana Jones franchise emerged during the following decade. Jaccoma took the gentleman's path, so to speak, and decided to forego unpleasant litigation that might have resulted in a slam-dunk settlement.
He put his energy into a series of high-adventure pulp novels that are only pulp on the surface. The Werewolf's Tale begins in New York, 1939. Poland is on the brink of falling to the Nazis, and Jimmy is drinking off his 1930's sorrows in Germantown on the upper east side of Manhattan. He barroom brawls with Nazi sympathizers from the German-American Bund. Mysterious Asian folks are "Orientals," an incorrect term these days unless referring to rugs. Who would have known that Manhattan was awash in mysticism, the occult and cannibalism?
So will today's youth, whose political consciousness was awakened by Occupy Wall Street, be intrigued by this 1930's brew of Lefty politics and occultism? Would followers of Taylor Swift ("Swifties"), Katy Perry or the Twilight series get turned on by Jaccoma's narratives of violent sex with werewolves? My guess is that The Werewolf's Tale will indeed unlock the disturbed sexual fantasies of teenyboppers. And elevate their social consciousness. Originally published in 1988, it raises the bar a few notches to the Left of Sookie Stackhouse. And will provide young readers the thrills they've paid their money for. Especially when describing the alien spice of the female werewolf's steaming breath; the sweet, pungent musk of her fur, the emerald green glow of her eyes through membranous lids. If that isn't romantic enough, this succubus violently rapes hero Jimmy Underhill, veteran of the Spanish Civil War, fighter of fascists. Artfully plotted, and with more substance than most pulps of yore, Jaccoma wears his politics on his sleeve. And they are correct by righteous standards.

I couldn't believe what a great read! A friend recommended it and told me I could get it on my Kindle. I am a big fan of noir mysteries and especially when the writer has a political awareness. The plot and characters all seamlessly weave thoughout the book.

I had just read Charlie Huston's NYC vampire books, and this is every bit as good. The reason I stay with a book is that it transports me to places I have never been and I get to know characters that I can believe existed. This was all that and more. My list of favorite writers is now updated; along with Willeford, Burke, Huston, Pelecanos, the name Jaccoma is now included.

Leegee

This is a great book. The author writes in a way that really lets you feel what it's like to become a werewolf by accident. I love the late 30s period setting and every page gives you some wonderful image. This is a fast easy read and the characters are so real. Every time I read this book I got taken right into the story and it was like I was right there. There's hookers and cops and the baddest of bad guys and the hottest of hot babes plus as an added bonus you'll meet werewolves and vampires and mummies. There is the perfect mix of real and weird and fantasmagorical. You'll love it because it's an easy book to love.

I've added The Werewolf's Tale to my list of all-time favorite novels. I've read Jaccoma's other novels too -- Yellow Peril and The Werewolf's Revenge -- and I think they are all great. In my opinion they are not just wild, exciting page turning stories, with a lot of action and fantastic characters and plot twists, but all together a really interesting look at history and racism and the nature of evil -- serious stuff -- in the context of pulp fiction -- detective novel conventions, fantasy conventions, historical narratives -- an unexpected mixture of viewpoints. This is quite artfully done by Jaccoma, and it's fresh, fun, and illuminating at every turn. The Werewolf's Tale is definitely the one to start with -- a great fun read about a man struggling with his werewolfishness while fighting against Evil -- and there's a lot more too it beneath the surface. I recommend it to everyone.

If you like Horror and Werewolf books you may find this book enjoyable.

The concept, plot, and characters are all interesting and intriguing. Everything about the book holds great promise. You want to read and enjoy this book.

The problem is the writing is not up to the promise or standard that the rest of the book promotes. The quality of writing is average at best especially in the beginning of the book. The writing quality does seem to improve as the book progresses. The flow is excruciating at times. It's choppy and hard to follow and this does not improve.

In spite of this, it's an enjoyable read. You may have to put the book down a couple of times before you can finish it. However you will find yourself picking the book up again. The book will draw you back each time.

My rating reflects the book itself. The book promises more enjoyment than it actually delivers. The book should be a better novel than it turns out to be. I desperately want to give this book a 4 star rating but the quality of writing and the choppy flow to the novel force me to reduce it to a 3 star rating.

It's a good book and an enjoyable read - it just could have been a lot more.

One comment - I have not read the first book mentioned by one of the other reviewers. Nor I have I read the Werewolf's Revenge. I reviewed and judged this book totally on it's own merit.

Though it takes place within the same universe a few years after the events of "Yellow Peril": The Adventures of Sir John Weymouth-Smythe, The Werewolf's Tale is not truly a sequel. Lacking any non-historical characters in common and containing a number of concepts, characters, and entire scenes that have clearly been reused with little alteration, it reads more like a rewrite, designed to avoid the problems that IMHO crippled the first book, problems I detail in my review of it.

Basically, Richard Jaccoma made the mistake of writing about a main character he despised starring in a pastiche of an original he also despised: Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu novels. This time around Jaccoma decided to write about someone he truly loved:

himself.

Jimmy Underhill, boozy anti-fascist crusader with a heart of gold underneath all of the cynicism is rather obviously Richard Jaccoma writ large, complete with anachronistically modern attitudes towards prejudice of any kind, excepting of course against the TRULY evil:

fascists, rich WASPs, and other assorted Hell-spawn.

The result is a definite improvement over the earlier novel, a clever and mostly entertaining case of setting a werewolf to catch a werewolf and her nasty friends.

Defects this time include the lack of division into chapters, which makes it hard to read, and the lack of an ending, which makes it hard to stop reading. This is especially annoying if you happen to lack the second half of the story, The Werewolf's Revenge, which I refuse to dignify with the term "sequel".

However, the worst problem is arguably the pretentiousness. Not so much the pretensions to great literature, though the overly erudite asides supposedly coming from an alcoholic gumshoe that first charm quickly begin to annoy, but rather the pretensions to MORAL superiority. Jaccoma genuinely seems to feel that he is deserving of a lot of credit for eschewing racism and condemning fascism...

in 1988!

This attitude might have reeked less if Jaccoma was not simultaneously exhibiting trendy leftwing reverse snobbery and hatred towards all of his WASP characters and if in his portrayal of some Asian villains, he wasn't so clearly owing of an apology to Sax Rohmer for every bad thing he ever said or thought about him.

With rolling eyes and lowered expectations I take up the next book: The Werewolf's Revenge.

This is a quite well-written fantasy romp where the hero gets to sexually humiliate a high society WASP named Glenda who secretly supports the Nazis. It's pretty clear that the author identifies with the narrator's anti-WASP bigotry (not just his anti-fascism). Reading it is sort of a masochistic experience for those of us who are WASP's and love our people. Fun, though definitely written by one of our enemies.