By Myra Gabor
The story begins as we witness the murder of a woman and her two children, a murder we later discover took place hundreds of years ago in Eastern Europe. The woman was accused of being a witch. Her children were killed in front of her, and then she herself was burned in her cabin. She vowed revenge against the instigator of the murder. We then travel to what is now Homestead, Montana. The modern story takes place in the fall, in that beautiful rural community, nestled among the mountains and forests. The people who live there are interested in hiking and hunting. The community is large enough to support a decent-sized school as well as several small businesses.
Before dawn, figures appear in the fog. They are wolves, and they suddenly appear in various corners of the town. The townspeople are nervous, even though it is clear that the wolves are not attacking anyone. No one knows why so many wolves suddenly appear in a populated area. They don’t even seem to notice people, but they look like they are looking for something. Fog, wolves, mystery. This book has a very strong tone.
Sadly, the rest of the story can’t sustain this premise. A regular character appears in the story. Wolf expert Nils Johans just happens to choose to live in this town. In the movie, this character should be the kindly old professor who has an explanation for everything that happens. However, Nils is young enough to attract the attention of the heroine. Enter the heroine Annette Hyland. She is a single mother with two adolescent children who will protect her children at all costs. What can I say about the children? They are constantly attacking each other, but they don’t want to admit that they really like each other and will do everything to protect each other.
Mysterious things keep happening, like a book about werewolves that appears and disappears. The book appears and disappears as needed. Also, Annette seems to be two people at once. Somehow, the murdered woman magically shares Annette’s body and manages to turn her into a wolf again, as needed. It’s clear that a paranormal wolf is attacking and killing people in the town. However, when I found out who it was, I stopped caring.
The secondary characters, or the supporting characters in the film, are more interesting than the main characters. Lucas Webber, the retired lawyer; good guy Sheriff Baker; Les Farnum, the real estate agent and various mobsters.
This book started off slow and didn’t pick up the pace. The author has said that he is a huge fan of Lovecraft and the work of Dean Koontz. I do, too. Too bad the book didn’t reflect that. I give this book an average score. This book was readable, just not amazing. I found myself counting the pages to see when the book would end, which I haven’t done in a long time.
Order your Autumn Moon right here.
score:3/5
