Customer Reviews

Wolf's Gambit

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

 

 

I really liked this as well as "Wolf's Trap"; the story line is very exciting, action packed, and both books have sexual scenes that are very explicit. Nick Lupo is Cop / Good Werewolf and fights the evilest of evil people and werewolves. What is most interesting is the true story about how one becomes a werewolf; both from the American Indian culture and the European culture. It describes the early struggles of just learning to control the creature within and then once controlled it becomes the personality of the person, whether good or evil. The best is that the author left "Wolf's Gambit" with the ending leading to his next Nick Lupo novel.

Nick Lupo returns in the second book of the Wolf Series. A menace is stalking the Northwest Woods, massacring elders involved with the reservation's new casino plans. Nick and his girlfriend Jessi are determined to find out who is behind it all. It seems that a pack of werewolves is stalking the reservation, but who exactly is calling the shots?

The second book in the Wolf series literally gave me nightmares, it was that frightening. I never get nightmares from reading, but this time, I did. Kudos to Gagliani for scaring me silly, and not just with the supernatural lore. The thriller aspect of the book is actually probably the scarier part, because that is where we meet the monsters that could actually exisit.

Again, Gagliani uses his shifts in point of view and time in a clever manner, giving us a better picture of the character of Nick Lupo, both past and present, and a more robust idea of the action taking place. Many new characters are introduced, some of which I hope we will see more of later. I absolutely loved the twist when we finally found out who the real bad guy was.

As with the other works of Gagliani which I have reviewed, this book is rife with violence, which makes sense to the plot, and increasingly graphic sexual scenes, which, some may argue, also serve a distinct purpose to the story. I think some readers may find the sex gratuitous, but we are talking about werewolves, would they rather they just sparkle? I find it interesting that the sex scenes with the good guys are passionate and intense but still romantic, while the sex scenes with bad guys are raw, and at times scary. I think this distinction does serve a real purpose in terms of developing the characters involved.

All in all, I found the book captivating and entertaining. I think fans of horror and thriller books will enjoy Wolf's Gambit. I personally am looking forward to reading the next book in the series, though perhaps not at night.

If your into Werewolf fiction, this series is a must. Not the ever so popular "urban fantasy romance", but a nice dark werewolf story with all the necessary questions to keep the pages turning. Book one was good, but this takes the story to a whole new level. Serial killing, mixed with native american legend, in a resort town, creates a mix that will keep your mind guessing, I know I was wrong about who/what the story was all about. Can't wait for the third book in the series...Nick Lupo rocks!!!!!!!!!! Highly recommended!

I really liked the first book in the Nick Lupo series, Wolf's Trap, and I enjoyed Wolf's Gambit even more. W. D. Gagliani has created an intriguing main character and surrounded him with an equally impressive supporting cast. This time around, the plot took a few interesting twists and turns, weaving together several seemingly unrelated threads to craft a truly masterful whole. I can't wait for the next installment, Wolf's Bluff.

What is horror? Despite the efforts by bookstores to lump novels into various genres, it is not always easy to define what those genres are. For horror, is it the presence of the supernatural? Not necessarily: Psycho and Silence of the Lambs are often considered horror, and they have no supernatural aspects. Does the presence of the horror archetypes like vampires or werewolves automatically make a story horror? Once again, no. Van Helsing may be an action movie, but it isn't horror.

I thought a bit about this as I read W.D. Gagliani's Wolf's Gambit. To me, one of things that horror cannot be (generally) is series fiction. To fully relish a horror novel, you need to have doubts about the survival of the main characters; in a series, this doubt is removed. Wolf's Gambit is part of a series feature homicide detective Nick Lupo, who also happens to be a werewolf.

In this tale, he is visiting the town of Eagle River, which neighbors an Indian reservation where a casino is being erected. The problem is that the proponents of the casino are being killed by werewolves who in their human guise are employees of the mysterious Mr. XYZ. What XYZ's agenda is may be unknown, but while he isn't hiring others to kill, he is preying on solitary women in his own sadistic fashion.

For Lupo, encounters with others of his kind may be deadly for him. What's worse, though, is that he is noticing the distrust in those he loves. He will need to overcome both of these problems.

In the end, I decided that Wolf's Gambit, despite the presence of recurring characters, could still be considered horror. One other crucial element of horror is that it needs to be horrifying, and the actions of the villains fit well enough into that category. Even if it is likely that Lupo will survive the story, Wolf's Gambit is still good enough to please most horror fans.

For an action-filled horror/thriller, it's hard to beat W.D. Gagliani's Nick Lupo books. I really enjoyed the first novel in this series that introduced werewolf police detective Nick Lupo on the trail of a serial killer. Now in Wolf's Gambit, Lupo is back along with other characters from the first novel. This time Nick gets pulled into an investigation of deadly attacks on supporters of a Native American casino in northern Wisconsin. The attacks look suspiciously like werewolf attacks.

This time around Nick faces another serial killer (Hmmmm. Wonder if there's something in the North Woods that draws serial killers like flies?) and three - count 'em, three! - werewolves working for a shadowy Mr. XYZ. As the body count rises, the vicious deaths of Native American tribal council members draws the attention of am ambitious TV reporter. Figuring he would be able to get away from police work, see his girlfriend and let his wolf run free for a few days, Nick is suddenly in the middle of the case and the other werewolves have caught his scent.

This is vintage Gagliari. He tosses out bits and pieces of the story like raw meat in the path of a rampaging werewolf. Gagliani is one of those writers who know how to handle a story and set a blazing pace that leaves readers almost gasping for breath along the way. Few authors handle rapid pacing quite as effectively as Gagliani.

However ...

At least in Wolf's Gambit, Gagliani does not handle his female characters with such a sure hand. When if comes to female characters in Wolf's Gambit Gagliani seems to know only three types of women: 1) erotic goddesses driven by desire; 2) victims (in this case, mostly victims of a serial killer); and 3) the kind of female characters usually referred to by a word often used in kennels.

This time around Lupo's girlfriend, a doctor on the local reservation, seems to divide her time about equally between purring sex kitten who's able to match Lupo's sex drive perfectly and jealous lover who accuses Lupo of lusting after the curvaceous TV reporter. It's not an attractive combination.

For femme fatales, there's the aforementioned reporter, a seductive, manipulative sort who isn't above using sex to get the story. Filling out the "b-word" quotient of the book is Lupo's psychologist from the police department who follows him from Milwaukee. She's not exactly the poster girl for psychology as a caring profession, but this being a bit of a male fantasy world, don't worry because she will get her just rewards by the end of the story.

The rest of the female cast is basically victims who show up only long enough to be dispatched by the serial killer. Honestly, I'm not sure by Gagliani bothered to give them names since they are seldom around more than four or five pages.

I hope Mr. Gagliari is more enlightened than Wolf's Gambit would suggest. In the world of Nick Lupo, werewolf detective, it appears women fill only three roles: compliant sex partners; evil, manipulative ... ummmm ... "female canines"; and victims. I really enjoy Gagliari's novels. They aren't literary works of art, but they can definitely deliver the thrills and chills. I just hope Wolf's Gambit can be blamed on poor editing or some other reason and that future novels in the series can reflect a more enlightened world view. (Geez, I absolutely hate arguing the merits of a book on the basis of political correctness, but in the case of Wolf's Gambit the issue is so apparent it's hard to review the book without tripping over it.)

On the other hand, I loved Nick's taste in music so I wasn't quite so negative toward the book as I might have been otherwise. Alan Parsons Project? I thought I was the only one who had them on his iPod.

I really liked the first book in this series, and had purchased it before it was picked up by a major publisher. I liked the setting, the relationship between Nick and the Dr. and the native american characters/presence. I also enjoyed the killer and his lipstick/mouth fetish which was distinctive. But even in that book I found it relied a little to heavily on coincidence and contrived plot. The second book takes that into overdrive, the Blackwater wannabe werewolf militia is an interesting idea, but not developed enough outside of "Nazi bad guys" the additional serial killer XYZ and his motives regarding the casino where nonsensical at best. The book also relies a little too heavily on sex for sex's sake, and repetitive violence that does not necessarily move the plot along.

All in all a readable book (but I am a biased fan-my love of lycanthropes being what it is) but I just felt that it lacked for me. Too many bad guys, a too over the top plot with an obvious killer reveal, and too many coincidences for me to find believable.