CRESCENT MOON

Author: Lori Handeland ISBN: 0312938489 2/2006 PARANORMAL Publisher: ST. MARTIN'S PRESS

New Orleans is known for sinful pleasures and strange magic, but for cryptozoologist Diana Malone it offers one irresistible attraction. For over a hundred years there have been whispers of wolves around the Crescent City, and the recent discovery of bodies in the nearby swamps hints at a creature even more dangerous…one that could make Diana’s career and fortune, if she lives to capture it. Adam Ruelle is a reclusive former Special Forces officer, the last of a mysterious Cajun family rumored to be cursed, and the only person skilled enough to guide Diana in her search. Rugged and captivating, he fills her nights with desire…but by day, Diana is plagued with doubts. Adam clearly knows more than he’s telling, but is his aim to protect her or distract her? Something is stalking its prey in the Louisiana bayous, and every step towards the horrifying truth brings Diana closer to a centuries-old enemy that lives for the smell of fear and the thrill of killing, again and again…

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

CRESCENT MOON begins a new chapter in the Handeland werewolf saga that began with BLUE MOON. She is going to introduce us to new characters and creatures, and after meeting a few newbies in CRESCENT MOON, I, for one, cannot wait!

Sometimes I think that series books can get dull, boring, and often revisit a lot of the same places and scenes the previous books do. Thank goodness Lori Handeland knows how to keep her novels fresh and scary, while keeping the heroes some of the best I have ever found. She keeps the mysterious plot flowing with lots of suspicious characters and some even creepier saviors. There are always different paranormal elements mixed with legends, religion, and tales handed down from generation to generation. In other words, there is never a dull moment or a repeated anything—besides some characters that I love anyway—so, these books are pretty much perfect.

Since CRESCENT MOON starts a different chronicle in what is sure to be a fabulous line of stories, you can read it and love it without having to read any of the other books before it. I don't recommend that, because you deprive yourself of some fabulous reads and unbelievably hot heroes, but you can if you want. It possesses everything a great up all night book should have.

Shannon Johnson