Subterranean Press recently released a limited reprint of this book, which was originally published in 1989 by Grafton (Harper Collins). In honour of this, it deserves a re-read and a review as I am sure that there are a few people out there completely unaware of this gem.It is a werewolf story completely unlike any other I have ever read and even 20 years after it was released is still a good read. Forget Underworld, forget The Howling, and definitely forget Twilight... this Lycanthrope is more ‘James Bond’ than ‘Lucian’.The prologue offers us two tales – one of a wolf and one of a man - and introduces us to the two aspects of Michael Gallatin. Born Mikhail Gallatinov to an aristocratic family in Csarist Russia, Michael now works as a British spy and is sent on an important mission into Nazi occupied France.The book works almost like two novels in one, flitting between the two halves of Michael’s life and at times, is in danger of spoiling the pace of the story. The first story is an account of espionage and adventure, set in 1944 Paris. Employed as a British spy, Michael is given a mission that requires his special abilities. He is dropped behind enemy lines to recover vital intelligence from a resistance agent that is under constant surveillance from the Gestapo. His discoveries lead him onto Berlin to learn more about a Third Reich plan known as “Iron Fist”.The second story is about and how Mikhail Gallatinov acquired his lycanthropy whilst a young boy in early 1918. Less than a year after Csar Nicholas II abdicated, his mother, father and sister were all shot by revolutionaries while on a family picnic. Mikhail escapes the gunmen only to stumble upon a pack of werewolves. When he wakes, he discovers he has been bitten by a werewolf, or lycanthrope as they call themselves. After surviving the initial transformation of the virus, he is adopted and raised by the pack.The character of Michael/Mikhail is an A grade alpha male. The women he meets find him irresistible, even though he does little more than look good, and have broody green eyes. He reveals nothing about his inner feelings, and while the reader gets to learn about his past, and therefore his motivations – his conquests don’t. I struggle with understanding what drives these women to fall for someone they know absolutely nothing about. He isn’t even that great a spy – seemingly getting himself captured on a regular basis and often to the detriment of his colleagues. I was able to work out what he was searching for, knowing the same information he did, several hundreds of pages before him. Fans of Ian Fleming’s work will however, love this character.Praise must be accorded to the author as the book seems extremely well researched. A lot of historical detail regarding the Russian and WWII portions of the book is evident. It is clear that the author has also done extensive research into the mannerisms of wolves, and an obvious affection for the animal comes through.Personally speaking, the fantasy portion of the book and Mikhail’s life amongst the pack was far more entertaining for me. The family dynamics between Mikhail and the other pack members are well written and engrossing.One of a couple of things that disappointed me was the two halves of the book don’t really ever seem to meet, even though I kept hoping they would. There are some lose ends from the early years of his life that just seem to be swept under the carpet and never mentioned again. There is a big gap in Michael’s timeline when we leap forward from his feral time as a child in the forest to working for the British Government. I can only presume that the author intended on doing a sequel to fill in this plot oversight. Apparently the Subterranean Press reprint includes a recently written novella about Michael Gallatin, and so I if you are lucky enough to get hold of one of these special editions, these issues may well be addressed.The other thing I found a little grating was the use of euphemisms when recounting the unnecessarily drawn out sex scenes, seems now quite dated. I am not saying I was expecting pornographic levels of detail, but it seems inconsistent with the glorious techni-colour of detail used to describe the guts and gore.That being said, it is a good story, and the action at times is quick paced with complicated plot lines yet easy to read. Michael goes on a journey of self discovery in the book and even with the slightly misogynistic overtones, he is a character of nobility and dignified savagery as he comes to terms with his two sides. Despite the cheesy concept of werewolf-turned-spy, it is a novel well worth sticking with and one I would heartily recommend.
After reading the blurb of this book I am not sure what was I expecting from this book. I have not read a lot of World War and spy books, the only plus point of this book to me was that the lead of the book was a werewolf. I have read McCammon’s Boy’s Life which is one of my all time favorites, and I wanted to read more books by him so I picked this, a decision I am never going to regret. Wolf’s Hour tells us the story of Michael Galletine, a British spy, during the World War II. He has all the traits essential and necessary to be a master spy but his biggest strength is to be able to shape shift into a Werewolf when the situation calls for. Michael has said goodbye to secret services until he has to accept a mission for which he has to travel all the way to Germany and uncover a top Nazi experiment. Mr McCammon also told us how Mikahil, a young Russian boy became a werewolf and later turned himself into Michael, a topmost British spy. Mikahil and Michael both were great but my heart went out for the child Mikhail and how he struggled to accept all the changes that comes with being a Werewolf. How he learned to live in a pack and how he earned the respect of his fellow pack members was truly a heart-warming story, a part which I enjoyed much more than Michael’s.World War and Werewolf is not a combination that looks very promising at first time and that's what I had thought but this book simply blew me away. Mr McCammon’s way of telling story is just so good. Every adventure of Michael’s life, be it from his childhood or his very secretive spy life, is told in beautiful words that made me kept turning pages after pages. the other thing that rocked me to the core was atrocities of War and how it was effecting the lives of normal people. Some of the events described in books were absolutely brutal. I truly enjoyed reading this book and will recommend it to everyone.
What do You think about The Wolf's Hour (1990)?
I’ve only read two McCammon books so far (SWAN SONG and THE WOLF’S HOUR), but I’ve come to a conclusion.Robert McCammon doesn’t write novels. He writes masterpieces.I expected that of SWAN SONG, since many folks place it up there with (and, in some minds, above) one of my favorite novels, Stephen King’s THE STAND. After reading SWAN SONG, I felt the praise was warranted. It’s a towering classic of our genre.What I didn’t expect was for THE WOLF’S HOUR to rival the majesty of SWAN SONG.THE WOLF’S HOUR is a completely different type of novel than SWAN SONG (and I would argue that SWAN SONG is very different from THE STAND), but it’s no less impressive. In fact, I found Michael Gallatin (the protagonist of THE WOLF’S HOUR) more interesting than any character in SWAN SONG (which was crammed with awesome characters, especially Josh, the ex-pro wrestler).I’ll leave the synopsis of THE WOLF’S HOUR to other reviewers—it’s not like this is a new release anyway—and instead limit my observations to a few brief reactions:1. The aforementioned Michael Gallatin is one of those larger-than-life characters that nevertheless feels grounded in reality. More importantly, McCammon manages to make Michael vulnerable without making him weak. The result is a crackling species of suspense whenever Michael is in danger, which then transforms into a plausible relief whenever Michael triumphs. We believe he can be killed, but we also believe he can overcome. The difficulty of achieving this balance cannot be understated, but McCammon makes it all seem effortless.2. The novel contains set pieces that beg for a big screen treatment. One involves the Paris Opera House. Another takes place on a specially-rigged “death train,” which is one of the coolest settings I’ve read in a good while. These set pieces alone vault THE WOLF’S HOUR into high adventure territory, and they begin to speak to my next point…3. The story is a true epic. It contains horror, action, romance, adventure, humor, heartbreak, eroticism, and historical flavor. Despite the fact that we know how WWII ended, we feel genuine terror when the Nazi plot is revealed and teeth-chattering suspense when Michael attempts to bring down (literally and figuratively) Hitler’s diabolical plan.From the above comments it might seem I’m bashing SWAN SONG. I’m not. It’s an incredible work of fiction. And if I had to choose between THE WOLF’S HOUR and SWAN SONG, I’d choose the latter as the better of the two books. But THE WOLF’S HOUR certainly deserves to be mentioned alongside SWAN SONG when folks discuss horror’s best novels.I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention McCammon’s writing, which is absolutely superb. The man has a poet’s ear and a carpenter’s exactitude, but he also possesses the sheer brawn to create such a robust tale. McCammon is a masterful writer who has already taught me a great deal. He’s also a riveting storyteller who entertains the heck out of me.And before you say anything, let me answer you: I know I need to read BOY’S LIFE and plan to do so by year’s end. For now, though, I’m going to savor THE WOLF’S HOUR. It was everything a great book should be.
—Jonathan Janz
The Wolf's Hour is my second McCammon book. The first read, The Night Boat was Nazi Zombies which I enjoyed and this book, which may be termed Nazi's and Werewolves was equally enjoyable.McCammon is mentioned in the same breath as Stephen King and is an author I want to read more of (along with King).There are two stories in this book. First, is how the main character became a werewolf and his experiences with his pack. Second, is the main character taking on the might of the Nazi's.The Nazi story is more of a spy thriller with elements of horror rather then an out and out werewolf tail (tale). I could picture a Die Hard era Bruce Willis in the leading role. This is a different approach to a werewolf story and one that I enjoyed.At 600 pages it is a long book (for me anyway, not for any fantasy reader) but the story never dragged and I was never bored. I love how fiction merges with non fiction. How the book is written around factual events in WW2 and shows how a werewolf helped to defeat the Nazis. Who would have thought that!
—Nick
You know how sometimes you read a book and you can just tell that it's being written to a specific genre even if you don't know what genre conventions it's actually answering? Well, this book is clearly a Manly Adventure Story of a sort which is unfamiliar to me. Since the first time I read this I've tried to get into several of the author's other novels and just sort of rebounded off the genre.Why do I enjoy this one, then? I think it's the concept, and I think you'll agree it's a doozy: Werewolf Secret Service vs Nazis!You see? Three stars.This is a decently substantial book, covering not just the "vs Nazis!" section but also an extended series of flashbacks to werewolf childhood. The "Secret Service" bits are...well, how fancy do you need the plot to be? Just play along.There are some pretty graphic "vs Nazis!" parts, including some horrific concentration camp scenes and a lot of torture (explicit) and rape (implied) -- pretty much what you'd expect in a "Werewolf Secret Service vs Nazis!" story, carefully rendered as fiction so it's not too traumatic to read (whether or not it should be). The perils of using real-life monsters, I suppose.There are also several rather ridiculous sex scenes, but those can be easily skimmed: his eyes are very green and he smells strangely musky; she has always been cool and competent but that musk drives her wild. There, that's all you need to know.Anyway, if Werewolf Secret Service vs Nazis! intrigues, here you go.
—Cait
