The Nightwalker

This is not your straight forward typical werewolf tale. It is an indepth take on the werewolf and a man's change, both physiological and mental. It's about a man's struggle with what he's been and become. The beginning is a little slow, but picks up full throttle. Dont go in with expectations, just read it.

As Jack Ketchum notes in the introduction to Thomas Tessier's The Nightwalker, the werewolf is generally underrepresented in fiction, especially compared to ghosts, vampires and zombies. This reprint of Tessier's 1979 novel helps to fill the void. Actually, Bobby Ives may or may not be a werewolf. He is, however, an American in London who is haunted by memories of the Vietnam War as well as a possible past life. He is also occasionally finding himself disconnected from reality and overwhelmed with violent feelings. He is possibly becoming a werewolf, but he is certainly because some sort of beast, and he is relishing the feeling more and more. This is a decent enough novel, which plays with the werewolf legend while not necessarily adhering to it. For one thing, Ives is not the victim of a werewolf bite, nor are his transformations constrained by the moon. Since the whole story follows Ives's point-of-view, for the most part we only given glimpses into what he becomes. Indeed, that is the heart of this small novel: it has less to do with the physical monster than the transformation of Ives's soul. As I just mentioned, this is a small novel, just a shade over 200 pages. As a bonus, this book includes a 100 page novella called The Dreams of Dr. Ladybank. This is a tale of the title psychiatrist who has discovered he can project his thoughts into other people. Unfortunately, it only works on two people, a male prostitute and a pimp; Ladybank manipulates both of their lives, quickly discarding the motive of "scientific interest" in favor of sadistic pleasure. Both stories are good tales of both psychological and supernatural horror. While entertaining, they lack that extra oomph that could make them truly great; in part, this is because there are times when things are a little predictable. They do have enough originality, however, to merit reading if you're a horror fan.

A riveting exploration of lycanthropy and insanity, The Nightwalker has several things going for it, among them Tessier's lucid prose, expert plotting, and a remarkable evocation of the city of London. The novel tells the story of US expatriate Bobby Ives, an aimless Vietnam veteran living in London with his girlfriend. The extremely volatile Ives is obsessed with two strange events in his past: the fact that he was declared dead in Vietnam via administrative error, and the time he experienced a vivid waking dream, in which he became a zombie. Ives finds himself becoming more susceptible to uncontrolled rage; he also experiences quasi-fugue states where he lets that rage overwhelm him. In the midst of such a fugue state, he's capable of great violence. His girlfriend dies as the result of one of his rages; other victims soon follow. At first, he perversely revels in the changes that have occurred. Then, realizing that he is swiftly losing control, he seeks help from a clairvoyant who seems to have insight into his condition. She initially refuses, and his rampages continue. Eventually, she relents, and tries to help him by imprisoning him. Her efforts prove unsuccessful, as he escapes confinement, forcing her to take more drastic action. Effective and disturbing , The Nightwalker is a compelling fictional study of one man's descent into madness, exploring the chaos that results when a troubled individual gives in to his inner rage. Whether viewed as a terrifying novel of the supernatural or as a gripping psychological study, The Nightwalker, to paraphrase Stephen King's words in praise of the book (see Danse Macabre for his full evaluation), is perhaps the finest werewolf novel of the past forty years.

I collect horror novels and keep the good ones. This one is a keeper. Very good writing short and to the point moves quickly and is very scary. I own two copies. "The Nightwalker" and "The Wolf's Hour" are my favorite werewolf stories ever written.

I'll read it for the third time one day. I don't actually keep many horror novels after reading them, but this, along w/ Tessier's FINISHING TOUCHES, I certainly have! You just won't come across a better modern psychological werewolf-in-London story than this. And guess who agrees with that? Stephen King.