The Frenzy Way

They live among us in the shadows: a species unknown to man except in legend. Highly intelligent, with the ability to adapt their flesh to new forms, they are capable of great destruction and ruthless behavior but desire only to live in peace. In New York City, a rogue member of their underground society threatens to reveal their existence to mankind, which will provoke a terrifying war unlike any seen before. Anthony Mace, the heroic captain of an NYPD homicide unit, is a media darling because of his successful record in apprehending serial killers. But Mace faces the case of his career—a case no one else wants to touch—when a series of vicious and bloody murders sends the city reeling in panic. His only clue is a historic artifact discovered at one of the crime scenes: the hilt of a sword with a broken silver blade, bearing the likeness of a pious Inquisitor . . . and an angry wolf. Each horrifying murder leads Mace closer to an impossible truth that his superiors refuse to consider. In the midst of a national media firestorm, Mace must risk his career—and his very life—to stop this supernatural horror.From Publishers WeeklyA series of gory murders terrorizes New York City in this rollicking horror tale from Lamberson (Johnny Gruesome). A werewolf murderer uses blood to write taunting references to shape-shifters at each gore-splattered Greenwich Village crime scene. The victims include an elderly professor with a research interest in transformation, several attractive young clubgoers, and a cop. Police captain Anthony Mace hunts the killer, as do three supernatural investigators: tribal policeman John Stalk, occult bookstore owner Angela Domini, and Catholic secret agent Pedro Fillipe, all of whom know far more about magic than Mace does and aren't fettered by his increasingly skeptical superiors. Despite the overly familiar secret-society setup and some thinly drawn characters, Lamberson's knack for furiously fast-paced action and the building terror of the graphic and increasingly sexualized murders combine in a surprisingly compelling read for horror fans with strong stomachs. (June) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistBecoming a minor celebrity for nabbing a notorious serial killer, NYPD detective Anthony Mace is promoted to captain just as a particularly heinous new crime drops in his lap. The victims—beginning with an eccentric NYU professor whose books avow the existence of werewolves—are dispatched by bloody evisceration and marked by teeth and claw marks that are interpreted only as canine. When some of the professor's students and Mace's lead detective on the case meet similar fates, the tabloids have a field day, trumpeting news of the “Wolf Man” killer and sending the city into a panic. Then Mace witnesses the beastly killer firsthand and realizes no ordinary police work will be enough to stop it. Rather belying his novel's lurid cover, Lamberson provides rich characterization and a multilayered plot along with the obligatory gore. Together with a few speculative flourishes about werewolves' shapeshifting origins, Lamberson's clever plot twists make this a nice little werewolf yarn—relief, as it were, from the current glut of vampire fiction. --Carl Hays