The Wolf's Moon (The Linden Chronicles Book 1)

SPOILER WARNING
Character additions uninteresting and lengthy. Main character supposedly a perfect killing machine , special forces op but blunders it in an ending that is not culpable. High and antiquated in misogyny.

Is the discovery of a knowledgeable author crafting a world class novel that is both faithful to the setting and accurate in even minute details of the geographical and climatology effects on the situation and characters of the storyline.

I admit being biased by a long military career and living almost all my life in Missouri while visiting most of the rivers for canoeing and trails for hiking. I cannot claim to be a hunter, but accept its appeal to others. I have traveled the U.S. extensively, and much of Europe, and there are no other places I have found to match the Ozark mountains for interesting characters for authors to develop in their works.

This books balances the story development with believable main and incidental real people and the emotional/intellectual descriptive narrative that keeps the suspense
and interest levels climbing while weaving events and interactions into a suspenseful book that will keep the batteries drained on your Kindle as you will not want to recharge until finished.

The best part is no werewolves or zombies were hurt in the making of this book as not every recent book requires them to create fear. A great author does the creating, not the overworked evil of the month club drivel.

These Dire Wolves really did exist four thousand years ago. They are double the size of the grey wolf. Their bones were found in the La Brea Tar Pit in Los Angeles. Why did they become extinct? Who knows?

Mark Lansdowne saw a sign saying Granny Barton's Antiques. He was curious and stopped. He was just browsing when he spotted an old book and was drawn to it. He purchased it for five dollars and left.

He was reading the book, when the dogs, he had three named after the Three Stooges, growled and the hair on their backs rose . He went out, but saw only a pair of red eyes and smelled a scent of rotting meat. The red eyes drifted back into the forest as if they were never there.

As he sat drinking a cup of tea, he heard a scream. It could be anything, a wild animal. He decided he couldn't do anything in the dark, so he'd check it out in the morning.

In the morning, Lansdowne checked around his pond and found something had come to eat or drink. Just the one with huge paws, but no nail prints. The dogs were with him, and these prints did not look anything like theirs. And then there was the awful smell , which he and the dogs followed.

His dogs all had something that distinguished them from each other. Larry was the biggest, Moe heard the best and Curly was the smeller in the group. Curly returned with a bone. It could only be human, it contained a screw. It was Janey Malone, the waitress at Barkers.

In Maple Hills, Missouri, it is such a small community that everyone knew everyone else. Barkers was the local gathering place. Farmers were talking about missing cows and deer hunters were seeing no deer.

Dave and Janey didn't show up for work at Barkers. Now Myron Cox was missing, with just a trail of blood . Lansdowne called the sheriff. Sheriff Ralph Benson showed up. Morrison, a deputy was at the Cox home, investigating his disappearance, while Benson was at Lansdowne's. Benson received a call from Morrison saying Christine McKay, from the Department of Conservation, had found Dave Morris, dead.

Benson joined up with Skruggs, Lansdowne's lifelong friend, and Lansdowne to follow the smell to the cave. The woods were silent, no sound of squirrels or birds. The smell was stronger than before and he spotted a paw print that hadn't been there earlier.

Months ago two girls had turned up missing from their rafting trip. He found a tennis shoe belonging to one of them. As they left the cave, Lansdowne said one of them had to stay in the area. He told them he would stay and protect what was left of Janey.

Lansdowne had climbed a tree with a view of the cave entrance. As the creature approached, Lansdowne came down from the tree to track it. The creature felt something was wrong and turned around. It had laid a trap for Lansdowne. Now Lansdowne became the hunted.

The bite caused excruciating pain, but he was still able to kill the beast. He felt he was going to die.

When he came to, his pal, Skruggs, was there. He must have been at death's door, because his wife, Glenna, had come to him telling him he must get better and move on. Mark seemed to be healing very quickly, he was hungry and anxious to go home.

As the sheriff and Lansdowne talked, Amy came in. She always cut his hair. She kissed his cheek and told "Mike" how glad she was he wasn't dead. She looked to see if Benson caught what she had said.

The sheriff thought there were seven missing, but Lansdowne figured nine, maybe eleven. Too many in too short a time for it be done by one animal.

The carcass of the wolf had been taken in for examination. It was an extra-large wolf, even though there had never been any wolves in the Ozarks. It couldn't be identified in any database. Where had it come from? Are there more?

4 STARS - Would Highly Recommend To Others

I won this book in a Goodreads First Read Giveaway. The author was gracious enough to autograph the book for me. Thank you. This is Patrick's Jones debut novel and I feel he knocked it out of the ballpark. I can hardly wait to see what he comes up with next.

I thought it was going to be just another werewolf book, by the cover and title, but was very pleasantly surprised. The blurb made me a little more curious, but didn't do the book justice.

It is about wolves that had gone extinct 4,000 years ago. I love creature books. It is so realistic and I can see how it could be true. With all the scientific advances of today, why couldn't someone recreate a wolf? Jurassic wolves, what's not to love?

The writing was excellent and the characters were well developed. I fell in love with Lansdowne and his "puppies". He has an awesome best friend in Skruggs, now all he needs is a love interest, or does he already have one and not realize it? He thinks he hasn't moved on from his wife's death, but has this experience made him realize life is too short, you must live it, not just exist.

There is more than one mystery, and it seems Mark Lansdowne is not what he appears to be. This is a series and I am eagerly awaiting the next book, whether it is about how Mark came to be in Maple Hills, or about the wolves, I don't care. I feel it can only get better. Soooooooo, write faster Mr. Jones. lol

The Wolf's Moon

This is an action/thriller/horror story that has a really good premise and quickly draws the reader in. My favourite characters by far are Lansdowne's dogs. Their attitude, intelligence, loyalty, and skills when tackling their adversary (wolves) is second to none. Jones does a brilliant job during these scenes. In addition to this there is plenty of other action going on.

The ending is predictable from too early on in the story, but what really lets it down for me is the level of testosterone. It's very male-dominated with an outdated attitude towards women. Sadly, this attitude may still be prominent in some small back of the woods/rural towns as depicted in the book, and not just in Missouri. Hence, its appeal to some. If this had been written back in the 1970's/80's it would have fit the bill perfectly.

While the structure and grammar of the work are not too bad, there are still some noticeable errors. However, it's recently come to my attention that Jones did hire an editor, and a very expensive one at that. (from Createspace!) This is completely horrendous, inexcusable, and a grave injustice to this writer and his work.

The Prologue drew me in with little snippets about various characters, leading up to a spine tingling scene setting.
Chapter One continued to lure me even further, with each following chapter taking me up and down the tension rollercoaster, not permitting me to put the book down until I'd finished it.
If you like tense 'Creature Feature' stories, I can recommend this book.

Full of suspense, adventure and a touch of romance, this is a great read that takes you into a supernatural experience and doesn't let you go until the last page. I enjoyed the author's writing style right along with the story.I felt the characters were believable as they face something none of us would care to,

Finally....an author who can deliver! Cannot wait for more. Please....do buy this book. You will not be disappointed. The plot...adventures...descriptions...scary parts....emotions of the characters .....all of it, was an exceptional read. Thank you. A book that is not a series, but an excellent read unto its'self. Found myself totally engrossed and did not put it down until I was done.

I bought the book on Saturday afternoon and finished it Monday night. Great job, Pat, on your first published novel! I thoroughly enjoyed it!! There was plenty of suspense to keep me turning the pages and I look forward to the next Linden Chronicles..

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have to admit that while I was reading it, I experienced a chill everytime my dog went out, sniffed the air and barked. I found myself sniffing for a foul odor. Can't wait for the next book. Mark Lansdowne is surely a character I want to get to know better!

I really enjoyed Patrick Jones' "The Wolf's Moon". It was a very exciting book and situated in an area of Missouri near where I live. The only negative I can say about this book is that I couldn't put it down and stayed up too late several nights reading. I'm looking forward to the next adventure of Mark Lansdowne (or Mike Linden).