Night Howl

Having penned scads of novels under his name over the last two decades, Andrew Neiderman is undoubtedly in a class of his own. Year after year he manages to satisfy his readers by creating original unputdownable page-turners like PIN, IMP, BABY SQUAD. When not so original, his novels are still a treat, if not for their fast-paced reads, for the skillful way Neiderman creates his own take on the subject, such as in NIGHT HOWL, the tale of a laboratory man-made German shepherd on the loose and the people chasing it. A reminiscence of Steve King's CUJO (where a viscous dog is attacking a woman and her son) and of Dean Koontz's WATCHERS (centered around a dog and its pursuers), NIGHT HOWL mostly delivers when Neiderman gets rid of his first third cliché-ridden plot. Then it becomes a roller-coaster thrill ride where the hunters become the hunted, the enemies are not what they appear to be and the creature's itinerary to freedom is taking him (and us) to undiscovered places. The author's philosophical vision of the dog's journey even adds sparks to it all. Just like a good grade-B novel, NIGHT HOWL succeeds what it's set out to do : entertain its readers. It is a well constructed if sometimes stereotypical piece of suspenseful fluff.-----Martin Boucher