The best werewolf thrillers without motorbikes or erotica

A family of werewolves tries to live large in a world that hates and fears them. Mongrels is one-part urban fantasy, one-part horror, one-part family drama, one-part Great American Novel, a coming-of-age story in its essence, a search for identity, a family epic. This book had me laughing out loud at times and "Wow"-ing at others because of the beauty of its prose and ideas. And then there were the moments where I winced and grimaced because of the pain the main character suffered. The violence, when it comes, is raw and brutal. The point-of-view narrative is believable as coming directly from the brain of an adolescent (but this is not a YA novel). Wonderful stuff. 

This Aussie lycan tale is your classic “I’ve turned into a what!?!”

It’s wonderfully Australian and it’s decent werewolf fare. Not a romance in sight. Not a hint of alpha males riding motorbikes. Our main character faces the consequences and the mysteries that follow “getting bit.” Violent, stark, and tense.

Oh, man, can Paul Kearney write. The language in this book is so beautiful, at first you think you’re reading a mainstream historical novel. Oh, you’re definitely not. When this novel starts, you think there’ll never be any violence or horror in this story. Oh, there most certainly will be. Imagine a story where a Chronicles of Narnia child discovers a netherworld where people say “fuck,” change shape and invite her to join them in doing questionable things.

Wolf in the Attic deals in part with an adolescent finding her place/identity in an unfriendly world. Set in the 1930s, the book features brilliantly-rendered cameos from CS Lewis and Tolkien. Clever and atmospheric, with a kickass payoff.

Okay, so the title already has you frowning. Stay with me here. This indie ebook novelette had me smiling, nodding, and ooo-ing. I loved the brave way the author attempted something new and, well, left field. Because this is a lot of left field…

Our main character is a hitman. Or is he? He’s a werewolf. Or is he? I loved every paragraph of this story’s prose. But it was this “what’s really going on here?” aspect that had me smiling all the way through. It reminded me of Mad Max: Fury Road—because you can watch that entire movie as a psychotic episode on Max’s part. Same with this book. Leaves you guessing until the last page while keeping things fun along the way.

Now this is classic werewolf fare. The kind you’ve watched in dozens of movies or TV series. But with that Stephen King touch …

What I loved about this novel: King’s signature dive into small-town lives and small lives’ details. The arrangement of what is really a long short story or novelette: the 12 chapters as vignettes are cute and make for an easy read on a rainy afternoon. The magnificent artwork throughout (which, let’s face it, is there to pad out the paperback and make it look bigger in paperback). The unlikely hero who, though a little problematic, was still satisfying to me. And there are moments of typical gnarly King prose and human insight.