Wolf's Gambit

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.

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.