I’ve said before that werewolves are my favorite mystical beast, that they’re under represented in films. Yet I’ve also never read a book about them, something I had to change. Wolf’s Hour had been sitting on my shelf for years, it’s longish length, over 600 pages, kept me from diving in. But I’m sure glad that I did. The book is at the same time, an exciting adventure-war story and a in-depth account of a werewolf’s life. Michael Gattlin is a spy in the British army during WWII, he’s dropped into France to find out an important secret, which then leads him deep into the depths of the Gestapo, a concentration camp, until he ultimately nearly single-handedly saves the war effort for the Allies. He’s fighting evil Nazis at every turn and bedding beautiful women at every stop. Throughout his adventure through war torn Europe, we’re taken back to his childhood in Russia, where we learn about him being bitten and his painful changes into a wolf, where McCammon has a refreshing new take on the werewolf myth. The book is very well written, extremely detail oriented and undeniably fun; the only parts that I could have done without are Gattlin's sexual encounters, where the writing devolves into a cheap romance novel, with heaving breasts and feverish thrusting. But if you’re a werewolf or WWII fan, the book is well worth reading, it deftly mixes the two, along with enough real-life events to keep it grounded. – Grade: B

The Policy

I discovered Bentley Little a couple years back, thanks to a Stephen King blurb about him in EW, and he’s quickly become one of my favorite horror writers. Although once you’ve read one of his books, they all start to seem very similar, he definitely has a formula. The four I've read all build in the same manner, each with very familiar lead characters and all the titles seem to be The Something. But they're undeniably scary in sections, and he comes up with some wicked ideas. The Policy is doubly uncomfortable because it deals with insurance, a subject that is never fun. A young couple is harassed by an insurance company that forces people to buy their coverage by destroying any part of their life that isn't covered. So if they offer you job insurance, and you don't buy it, your job will soon be gone. And they get far, far dirtier than that. It's a decent, fairly brainless read. - Grade: C+

I've been a big Stephen King fan since I started reading novels. Yet I'd never read one of his most famous novels. Maybe in part because I didn't want the perfection that is Stanley Kubrick's film ruined in any way. But after reading it, I can see why King complained about Kubrick's film being such a horrible adaptation of his book. It's a beautiful film, but beyond the basic set-up they don't have a lot in common. The book is of course far more in depth. You learn much more about the hotel's history, and there is much more hauntings going on than in the film. You get a much better feeling for what's going on in Danny's head. It's also extremely scary, not often do I get scared by reading, but the scene where Danny finds the dead woman in the bath gave me the creeps, and I kept thinking about it as I was going to bed.

I'm very glad that I read it now. The next time I see the film, I'll appreciate it for what it is, but I'll also be able to enjoy it on a deeper level, having a greater understanding on everything that is going on. - Grade: A

I've never understood why more of Dean Koontz books haven't been adapted for film. Watchers and Phantoms are probably the two most popular adaptations, both which suck as films and failed at the box office. And from looking at his IMDb page, it looks like a few of his novels have made it to television, but I've never seen or heard anything about them. He's insanely popular as a writer, and even though he's not as talented of a writer as Stephen King, I believe his books offer themselves up for adaptation much easier than King's, who has near a 100 films from his works. Most of King's books have more inner conflict, while Koontz is more story, which easier to get across on screen.

Odd Thomas is the perfect example. Although I think Odd has much more going on in his head than some of Koontz's characters, his story would make a fantastic film. I've read 25-30 Koontz books in my life and this is my favorite. Odd, being his actually given name, has the ability to communicate with the dead. Yes, much like The Sixth Sense, but it's as if that character is now grown up, completely used to his role as speaker for the dead, accepted it, and tries to help out where he can.

He has a beautiful girlfriend, many wonderful friends, a job he loves as a short order cook, and a small town that he's never left. He likes to keep his life simple, because talking to ghosts makes it difficult. Besides seeing the dead, he is also able to see other unworldly things; such as bodachs, which feed off people's misery. They often lead Odd to tragedies about to occur. When a strange-looking-dude, Odd takes to calling Fungus Man, comes into his restaurant, with over a 100 bodachs following him, Odd is determined to find out what catastrophe is about to happen. It's a horrendous, real world event, that only he can stop; with quite a few scares and deaths along the way.

Odd Thomas, moves along at a brisk pace, keeping you excited and guessing what's going to happen next. With the immediate similarities to The Sixth Sense quickly out of the way, it moves into much deeper, philosophical territory. I could have done without Elvis showing up to hang out with Odd every so often, it dragged it into a cheesy area. But for the most part, it's a fantastic read; I really fell in love with Odd as a character, and am looking forward to reading the sequels, Forever Odd, Brother Odd and Odd Hours. Somebody with the right sensibilities could make a kick-ass film out of this book, but I won't hold my breath. - Grade: B+

I'd heard this was the best horror novel of 2006, and been wanting to read it since; I finally got around to it and it was definitely worth the wait. This the probably the most intense book I've ever read, a real page-turner. Usually I read a chapter or two of a book a night before I go to sleep. But I couldn't stop thinking about this book while I was reading it, and did a rare thing, and read it during the day. Finishing it in a couple of days, instead of the usual couple of weeks.

The book is about a group of young adults trekking into the jungle to look for one of the guy's brother, whose been missing for a few days, following a girl to some remote ruins. Deep into the jungle they go, finding a small village whose residents try to scare them away. The group stumble across a small hill covered in beautiful foliage, surrounded by a clearing in the vegetation. Once they make a move towards the hill, the villagers turn from trying to chase them off, to forcing them to stay there.

They find some tents at the top of the hill, along with some other signs of recent activity, but they are unable to find any people. Things start to go from bad to horrible really quickly. People are badly injured, they've brought no supplies, the villagers threaten them with death if they try to leave and there is a mysterious force far worse than anything else they're faced with.

The book takes us inside each of the characters heads as they deal with their horrendous situation. Some of them are expecting to be rescued, some trying to figure their own way out, and some waiting around to die. I won't ruin what the mysterious force is if you haven't read the book, but I expect it to work for some people who are more willing to suspended their disbelief; but if you like realism, this isn't the book for you.

Of course a movie is already in the works. The first teaser trailer is below. I expect that they'll get the events mostly right, but without being able to see into the character's minds, the effect can't possibly be the same. I expect those who've read the book will enjoy the movie more, knowing what's going on in the characters head. The situation is enough to make a good horror film out of, if they do it right; it could be great or hokey, most likely somewhere in between. I hope it's half the film that A Simple Plan is, the movie based off of author's Scott Smith's first book.