Thomas Emson

Warning: this is an anthology you shouldn't read before bedtime. There were scary stories in this one. Some of the best stories: David Wellington - Hunter's Moon. There is something to say about a combination of werewolves and vampires: they are both really scary. And I liked vampire hunter Laura.
David Watkins - The original. Really interesting because of the Roman look to werewolves, a direction I never thought of.
Jonathan Janz - The Kiss of Divna Antonov. The ladies are werewolves.
Thomas Emson - The Hunt. Set in 1995 with Laura and in 60AD with the Roman Marius Victor, who hunts werewolves especially the she-wolves. This one I thought was really creepy.
Paul Kane - Lifeline. About Beth who came out of an abusive relationship and lives alone with her son Robbie. She is someone else and that story is told in a pretty good way. I liked this one.
Some stories I really didn't like, some were the beginning of a longer story told in a book. But the whole anthology was pretty good.
Disclaimer: I got this book in the Librarything Early Reviewers.… (mais)

In all fairness, there are probably a couple of points I should express before I start this review. #1: I'm not a great fan of short stories and, #2: Werewolf horror ranks only slightly higher on my list than supernatural horror. (I'm not a big follower of either.) So, dear reader, armed with that information, you'd guess that I wasn't too enamored with "Leaders of the Pack: A Werewolf Anthology", wouldn't you?

Well, you're wrong. This tasty little compilation is filled with a number of entertaining, albeit fairly short stories, each dealing with the werewolf mythos. Many of the stories are prequels or background illumination about characters or series' that some of the authors have already created. Of these, some were much better than others because the reader is sometimes required to have that previous information in order to fully appreciate characters and/or plot lines. Not having this information in advance is certainly not a "deal-breaker" and shouldn't affect many readers, so don't let that stand in your way of a satisfying reading experience. While I'm at it, I'd like to note that each story is preceded by some really stylish illustrations compliments of Michelle Merlini. Patrick Cornett's cover is pretty cool, too!

Six of these authors are probably a little more well known than others (at least to this reviewer), so let's start with them:
Glenn Rolfe: Rolfe pens a really solid story that's part of his Gilson Creek series. Made me want to check out the series.
David Wellington: It's werewolves vs. vampires in Wellington's story. It was even too far-fetched for me. I expected more from Wellington.
Jonathan Janz: First of all, I was thrilled when I found out a Janz story was included in this compilation. He's one of the top 3 horror novelists working today and I never miss one of his books. His story is set in the 1940's and, as usual, creates wonderfully memorable characters in an exquisitely well-crafted plot. This story is the cream of this crop.
Ray Garton: When I think "werewolves", I often think "Garton". This "campfire" story has a lot of scary, gory, and craftiness woven into it. It's really good.
Graeme Reynolds: I think Reynolds has arguably the best werewolf series in print - the High Moor books. This story is part of that series (living somewhere between books 2 and 3) and adds even more depth to the set. In this entertaining yarn, a young English girl is sent away by her confused and terrified father after she "turns" in front of him.
Jeff Strand: Strand's story is the most disappointing of the better-known authors. It seemed "phoned-in" as it explained a werewolf's dilemma of deciding to kill a family of four as a werewolf or a human.

Now for the lesser-known (again, at least for me) group of six:
David Watkins: Watkins' story is part of his "Originals" series and is set in medieval times. It's an interesting tale with a decent number of "didn't see that coming" moments.
T.W. Piperbrook: Another author with a story from his series. In this case, it's a prequel to Piperbrook's "Outage" books. The story revolves around a young boy and girl fleeing from a pack of werewolves during a power outage affecting a small community.
Thomas Emson: Just a fair story that switches back and forth between 60 A.D. and the present as a female gas station attendant learns about her lycanthropic history.
Nick Stead: This is another story that's part of a series that's actually quite good and can stand alone without the need for much backstory. It stars, "Slayers" (those who hunt down and kill werewolves), a few vampires, and a sympathetic boy who's believed to be the last of a bloodline.
Matt Serafini: This was probably my 2nd favorite story because it was so "Twilight Zone-like". The plot deals with an unhappy husband and wife who relocate to a private community connected to her new job. Hmmm, many of the neighbors seem to have an affinity for the full moon...
Paul Kane: Kane's story deals with an abused wife and her son on the run. Things are going well for them until a friend tells her that she and her son have been discovered. Is it the husband or someone else? A really solid story.

If you like this type of horror, then you'll want to grab a copy of this anthology and enjoy some stories from some of the best in this part of the genre'. It comes close to making me a believer in short stories and werewolves...

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.… (mais)

I was a bit disappointed by this book, it had bad editing, was repetitive in places, badly written in some spots (clearly the author is not at home with sex scenes) and the logic in the story and the motivation of the characters were not consistent.
Having said that, the action was good and the author did have an original idea about his zombies. All in all, an okay read if you're not too critical.
The story is in fact 4 stories alongside each other, following different groups that don't come together.… (mais)