Bloodtype Online

Wolf's Trap

W.D. Gagliani

2006

Leisure Fiction 

    On the surface Wolf's Trap plays out like many other crime thrillers; cop is called in to investigate a murder. Believe me though there is far more to it than that though, not least being the fact that the lead detective has a lot more hair, or should I say fur, than your average detective. As if the title and cover didn't give it away the cop is a werewolf, and the manner in which the story is written utilizes this perfectly. 

    Detective Nick Lupo is called in to investigate the savage murder of a call girl, who has been killed and left in a public bathroom. The murderer, it seems, has a penchant for lipstick, oral sex and for leaving messages, which the police think is related to something Satanic. Nick of course realizes that the message is directed at him. 

    Nick, along with his partner Ben, set about trying to piece together the murder, which unbeknownst to the majority of the Force, is a little on the personal side for Nick; the girl murdered being a friend and neighbour of Nick's. So, through regular police investagative methods and his abilities as a lycanthrop he slowly pieces together the case, whilst trying to keeping the personal side away from the powers that be. 

    Wolf's Trap is a great read, it zips along at a rip-roaring pace whilst still managing to amp up the suspence as well as leaving plenty of room in which to explore the subtleties of Nick's condition, as well as introducing us to a wide array of characters; some of which are far from pleasant. 

    Violent, gory and quite often sexually explicit, Wolf's Trap sucked me in and never let go. But rather than this being because of the more explicit elements, which are nicely done although never too gratuitous, it was actually due to the fact that I cared about the characters. All are fleshed out well with enough depth and backstory to avoid them becoming two dimension nobodies. Obviously Nick's character is the focal point, and the manner in which Gagliani descibes his condition, and his ability to assert some sort of control over it, is very well done. 

    My only real negative about the book was that one or two of the relationships seemed to develop a little too quickly for my liking. However, this really doesn't effect the overall impact of the novel, which I will admit is one of the few werewolf novels I have ever read. 

    Wolf's Trap is slick, sick and damned good fun to read, and I for one will definitely be seeking out future work from Gagliani. Mind you I will say that there are only so many Prog Rock references I can take! 

Rating - ***

- Jude Felton