Michele Lee

Lachesis, 2009
ISBN: 9781897562369
Available: New, used & digital

Years ago, Carrie was kidnapped from her coven by a wolf cult and initiated, her body becoming the home to the Mother of the Wolves. Despite her coven’s attempts to save her, time has moved on, the spirit of the Wolf Mother has grown slowly inside her, and the people of the her coven have found other life paths. Now, as their children edge into adulthood, the remaining members of the white coven find themselves under attack by Carrie, now fully under the control of the Wolf Mother and determined to take out the coven that held her bound for so long.
The decision on including Of Wolf and Man in public collections is a split one. The first half of the book, if not more, is spent in slow set up, so much that a chunk of readers will not make it past page 100, where most of the action actually starts. Once the plot pushes forward, so does the speed of the book and the attention to detail and story, avalanching toward a dramatic end. At first, the story seems scattered and restless, nothing but detail with no action to make the handful of point of view characters and their back stories relevant. Slow to advance, the story does bloom into a more familiar traditional horror tale, complete with complex character and plot and payoff for patient (and bloodthirsty) readers. Of Wolf and Man shouldn’t be included because of its subject matter, but rather because of its style. In libraries where Stephen King and his stylistically similar peers are popular, readers will find this book to be an interesting new slant on werewolves. However, wiith so much werewolf fiction available in paranormal romance and urban fantasy these days, readers coming from that angle will find this book too slow to start and lacking the drive and focus they’re used to. With so much crossover between the two types of readers, librarians should consider their audience before adding this one to their collections.
Contains: sex, violence

Reviewed for MonsterLibrarian.com

Apex Publications, 2009
ISBN: 9780982159675
Available: New
The blurb on the back of The Changed will have you believe that it’s about zombies, but not a zombie apocalypse book. Don’t be fooled- hese zombies rot, gnaw human prey and will devastate the world we know… they just might not kill us. The Changed follows a handful of characters, some alive, some dead, who have “changed” into something else. Retaining their personalities and skills (and with the help of  embalmers, retaining their bits as well), the Changed quickly become the world’s largest minority, facing prejudice and oppression, plus flamethrowers. With open hunting season declared by the military (shown more as bullies than any kind of defense against the invasion) these undead can’t be sure who are their friends, and who are their foes. Then Chris changes. A middle-of-the-road, plain-looking man, he finally finds a political cause that inspires him. Chris quickly organizes a new political party, The Changed, fronted by a shock jock DJ recently fired for having the gall to die. The whole landscape of America changes as The Changed party not only grows in number and drive, but becomes the only surety the living have to look forward to- how do you fight death itself?

The Changed still manages to give zombie fans plenty of their favorite elements. There is a sort-of apocalypse, and plenty of violence and gore, and there are tongue-in-cheek asides hinting at what pop culture would be like if the undead walked. The Changed is an excellent addition to the zombie genre, something new and fun in a tiring routine. Recommended for public and private collections- it’s an excellent read through and through.