Secret of the Wolf
Grade : B+

Writing darker books can sometimes be a risk for an author. If she tackles a heavy subject with an equally heavy hand, the result can be a story that drags endlessly. On the other hand, if the author skims over a tough issue, the result may feel like a cop-out to the reader. Thankfully, Secret of the Wolf presents a plot that while dark, doesn't become depressing or maudlin. Secret of the Wolf is a story about the challenges faced by a werewolf with a painful past and a doctor who offers him the potential for salvation.

In Napa Valley, Dr. Johanna Schell finds a drunk and incoherent man near The Haven, the clinic she runs for patients with various mental illnesses at her home. The man turns out to be Quentin Forster, an English aristocrat who alternately charms Johanna and presents a challenge when she decides to treat him via hypnosis, the method she learned from her father, who is now just a shadow of his former self. Quentin is polite and even flirtatious with Johanna most of the time, but he can become someone entirely different in a moment - almost feral in his rage - when he has unpleasant memories. And with good reason, it would seem. Quentin himself tells Johanna, he is a werewolf. This, however, is not the whole story.

The dedicated Johanna doesn't know what to make of Quentin. She is attracted to him and the feeling is mutual, but his memories of participating in the war in India and his claims of being a werewolf mean she must keep some emotional detachment if she wishes to help him. She cannot neglect her other patients at The Haven, either, all of whom suffer different types (at varying levels) of mental illnesses. But mutal attraction has to take a back seat when attacks occur at the Haven and it looks like Quentin, who can't remember chunks of time here and there, may be responsible.

What is actually happening is far more complex, as Johanna comes to discover through her sessions with Quentin, and it presents a challenge to her both as a doctor and as a woman who comes to love the tormented man. It's a challenge for Quentin to trust Johanna, given that he suffered at the hands of his grandfather and he's not that close to his siblings, Braden (from Touch of the Wolf and Rowena (from Once a Wolf). Though Johanna and Quentin's relationship is strong from the beginning, they face many obstacles, and it's a credit to how well they're drawn that the end, although a little neat, is believable and right.

Although not a keeper, I enjoyed Secret of the Wolf and found the subjects tackled by Ms. Krinard intense, but not done in an overbearing manner. Much of the success of this book is due to Quentin and Johanna, who are each likable in their own way. An added bonus is that the secondary characters (especially the patients at The Haven) are all well developed. Although the appearance of the villain is fairly obvious, there is so much more to the story than a simple good-guys vs bad-guys that this doesn't really matter. If you've read the previous werewolf books in this series then you're probably already awaiting this installment, but Secrets of the Wolf stands well on its own.

Reviewed by Claudia Terrones
Grade : B+

Sensuality: Hot

Review Date : September 17, 2001

Publication Date: 2001

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Claudia Terrones

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