Wolf Hunt by Jeff Strand

I've recently had the good fortune of having the chance to read Jeff Strand's Wolf Hunt several months before publication. Being a huge fan of Strand's work, you can imagine just how floored I was when I received it. I dove in right away, and 2 days later I was done. I can't see anyone wanting to put this one down - it's that good.

George and Lou - two hired thugs who make a living collecting money and breaking the bones of those who do their clients wrong - have a new job to do. It involves driving a man who is locked in a cage in the back of their van to their client, who is five hours away. This human cargo is claimed to be a werewolf. It's supposed to be an easy transport job, but doesn't end up being as such. When the werewolf escapes, they face a much bigger problem than before. Now they're hunting the werewolf because their lives depend on it.

This is a lightning fast read, capable of taking you all over the place and then dropping you off in the middle of the most incredible action I've read this side of Vertical Run. (For those of you who are not familiar with Joseph Garber's Vertical Run - it's basically Die Hard in book form...but way better!)

Strand's latest effort does not fail to entertain, nor does it pull punches. The action is intense, the scares are abundant, and the gore - the beautiful, beautiful gore - is plentiful and visceral. Strand has also amped up the humor in this one, crafting some of the smoothest, funniest, and most awe inspiring dialogue you'll ever read.

The dynamic between the two main characters is something not often seen in in fiction these days, prompting me to believe that Leisure has struck gold with Strand. I would dare to say that it's what every reader hopes to find in a book, making Strand one of Leisure's most diverse and capable authors.

To quote something I said earlier on a forum:

In short, Jeff Strand is magic.

It's like he has some sort of extra-sensory ability to do this.

He may look like a regular human being, but he's not. He is words - wrapped so tightly around an idea - that he has taken the form of a human in order to make us all feel comfortable while he spends his time coming up with ingenius plans to take over the world. All he has to do is touch a keyboard, and the computer sighs and shudders with ecstatic glee, exploding the most incredible words all over the screen in something not unlike a digital orgasm.

That is the power of Jeff Strand.

Every facet of this book drips with perfection, and I can sincerely say that you're going to love it. If you enjoyed Dweller and Pressure - Strand's previous efforts with Leisure - you're going to want to pick this up when it drops in December. I know I will.

If you can't wait that long, pick up the Hardcover edition from Dark Regions Press soon. While you're at it, pick up their Hardcover edition of Dweller as well.

And don't forget to stalk the shit out of him on Twitter and check up on his recent activity on his website.

Happy hunting, folks!

PBH.