Wolf's Hour

The headline is true! I have read this werewolf/WWII thriller at least 4 times over a span of 30 years! Yes, the same spine creased copy! Get this book now and you’ll be hooked on page one!

Michael Gallatin is a British spy. Handsome, intelligent, cunning, seductive, he is everything James Bond could ever hope to be...except Gallatin is a werewolf. Caught up in the troubles of WWII, desperately trying to uncover and stop a top-secret Nazi experiment, Gallatin meets a wide array of interesting and quirky characters, some of them friendly, some of them deadly. He must also come to grips with what he is, and face his own inner enemies...before time runs out. Okay, so a werewolf solider in WWII doesn't sound like a great idea for a book; or, at least, not a good book. But Robert McCammon pulls it off--he has written a top-notch, gripping, emotional thriller that defies logic and critics' expectations. Indeed, it has such emotional power--especially in the flashback sequences of Gallatin's troubled childhood--that it even wrenched a few tears from me...and that's not an easy thing to do. "The Wolf's Hour" is certainly one of my top-five favorite books of all time (and I've read a lot, people!). Robert McCammon has written some doozies in his time, but this one surpasses all of them. Gripping, thrilling, intoxicating...everything a good suspense novel should be. You want a war story? Romance? Horror novel? Action-adventure? This is it.

A spy/werewolf in WWII helping the Allies defeat the Nazi war-machine? OK. I figured it was going to be a campy, childish horror story that I wouldn't be able to get through. Nevertheless, enjoying McCammon's writing style from his other novels, I decided to give it a try. I'm glad I did because McCammon delivers and comes up with a well-thought-out plot with (dare I say) believable characters, non-stop action, and cliff-hanging suspense.The Allied forces get word from one of their spies in Nazi-occupied France that he has top secret information which could be detrimental to their up-coming D-Day invasion. However, since he is being closley monitored by the Nazis he needs a personal courier to retrieve it. Michael Gallatin, a first-class British spy who unbeknownst to anyone is a werewolf, is coaxed into the assignment. What follows is an action-filled race against time as Gallatin is aided by other agents and underground networks to get this mysterious and vital info before the D-Day invasion only weeks away. And that's only one half of the book. The other half intertwines an interesting and insightful look at how he became a werewolf and his life before he was a spy.This book comes across more like a superbly-written, edge-of-your-seat, spy story whose protagonist just happens to be a werewolf than it does a horror book. I realize that I've used a lot of those catch phrases such as "edge-of-your-seat" and "cliff-hanging suspense" that seem to get thrown around a lot these days on book blurbs. But when I find myself constantly being drawn back to a book to "just see what happens next" there's no other way I can describe it.

Reading the works of Robert McCammon is like seeing a Saturday matinee cliff-hanger. The Wolf's Hour is the 6th book by McCammon that I have read and like many readers I passed it by for years because the plot seemed a little too bizarre for me. How cool can a werewolf book set in World War II be? And finally in 2001 I discovered the answer...VERY VERY COOL!McCammon tells the story of Michael Gallatin in two parts. Part one deals with the early years of werewolf life and addresses the myth/fact areas of the legend that will be necessary for the novel. Part two is sheer action as Gallatin goes on a mission deep into Nazi Germany. The stories are told concurrently and intertwine throughout the novel. The book is a study in duality - good vs. evil, man vs. wolf, action vs. horror...and through it all we are left to ponder the question, "What is the werewolf in the eyes of God?"As with his other excellent novels They Thirst, Stinger, and Blue World, McCammon provides a strong protagonist and more importantly an equal antagonist. The Wolf's Hour gives us three villains that the hero must deal with: Colonel Jerek Blok, his muscular henchman "Boots", and big-game hunter Harry Sandler. Waiting for these characters to meet and battle really made the read even more compelling. McCammon starts the ride in motion on Page 1 and takes us through more suspense and action than we could get at any theme park. The book is sheer KINETIC ENERGY. And, just like the cliff-hangers of yesteryear, McCammon puts our hero into numerous perils in every single chapter. Whether it is battling a Berzerker wolf in the forest, fighting off Nazi's on the roof of the Paris opera house, struggling for survival in a Nazi death camp, or battling a vicious hunter on board a literal locomotive death-trap, we are continually asking ourselves "How will the hero get out of this one?"The Wolf's Hour is the best book that I have read this year and it is a sad commentary that McCammon gave up being a professional author. I strongly recommend that you do the leg work and dig up as many of his works as you can...you won't be disappointed with the ride.

How many times can you say you've read a truly unique book. Because there are so many writers, especially in the horror genre, ideas seem to run out pretty quick, only to be repeated a few years later by another author. Well, at first sight, it might appear that Robert McCammon has just written about the same old idea of the Werewolf, that was created in the beginning of the last century. Thinking this, I was not prepared for such a unique story. I am awe struck even now. I dont believe that I have EVER read a book with such detailed action, and suspense. This is the perfect book for those boring, rainy, depressing days, when you need a little exitement in your life. My applause, once again, to Robert McCammon, for such a wonderful book.

This book was not high on my list,I passed it on the shelves at the store a great many times. It was a W.W.II Werewolf story not to inticing, until there was nothing that suited my taste left on the shelves and I thought well I read his others and they were good I'll give it a try. Glad I did. Micheal the werewolf,very sexy character! But the whole idea behind the transformation was so well thought out and more in keeping w/thoughts on lycanthropy. It wasn't you get bit,you grow hair and bite people,it was a very moving story. About a man who was using his ability to change to serve his government as a spy. Move over James Bond there's a new spy in town and you'll never be able to do what he can do....