I’m not normally a fan of werewolf stories, but this is a more subtle and psychological story of a man in 1970’s London slowly succumbing to an animalistic madness as he becomes ever more violently aggressive in both behaviour and sexual lust

There’s a lot of ambiguous trails that weave throughout the story which work really well from his early life, leaving the reader guessing to how they connect Bobby Ives’ unravelling condition. What perhaps stands out best is the clever way Tessier ramps up the beast not with classic lycanthrope tropisms, but through acts of rage, through his thoughts, through his postures and through the degradation of lifestyle—at one point reflected in a change in the music he listens to. His descriptions of London also change and darken with his descent into madness, in fact London itself positions itself almost as a supporting character in its own right.

This isn’t a classic or overt story of the wolfman tale and anyone looking for a visually impressive were-beast of lore should look elsewhere. Instead this is a triumph of psychological bestial horror that burrows in deep and does not retract its claws. ( )

Whoa, I don't look at ratings or reviews until after I've read something but this book is just a little over 3 stars! That means most people don't get it or know what it was really about. Tessier is a tough author to categorize. He never writes the same novel twice and he rarely even crosses the same genre twice. And he's not very prolific. Because of this he has little loyal following and a lot of people build an expectation from reading just one of his novels or stories and this leads to both disappointment and a tendency for readers not to understand what is really going on. Tessier is not going to write the same book twice and he is not going to try to do the same thing twice, so forget that from the start and read the book again if you only gave it 2 or 3 stars; expect the unexpected.

What we have here is a slim little novel with an overworked horror trope. It's a pretty original lycanthropy story but certainly not the best I've ever read. If that was all it was, three stars, but oh dear reader, there is so much more going on here than in your average Stephen King novel. Tessier is leaving clues all over the place that lycanthropy is not what he wants you to really think about. He's going to not only sublimate the trope, he's going to bend the genre a little at the same time.

Why does Bobby consider Hyde Park his particular "spot" in London? Why does he pick up a copy of [b:The Man in the High Castle|216363|The Man in the High Castle|Philip K. Dick|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347388495s/216363.jpg|2398287] by [a:Philip K. Dick|4764|Philip K. Dick|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1264613853p2/4764.jpg]? Why the seeming digression into a real or imagined past life as a Zombie in the Caribbean? Contrast Bobby's pure (as in uncluttered) thoughts as a lycanthrope against his unsatisfying but depraved lifestyle in his normal life. Why a seemingly digressive dream or vision right at the penultimate moment? Think about fate and coincidence and people trapped in a life they never made, either physically or mentally.

This novel is very tightly wound. Tessier is spare in his prose and every word carries meaning. Most people will pick this up and race through it thinking, "that was an okay werewolf story," but they've missed more than the half of it. Read it again slowly and look up any overt cultural references you don't know, like the Dick novel that you should have already read. Think symbolism. ( )

This is a short novel about a Vietnam veteran living in London who finds himself falling into unexplainable fits of rage, violence and, eventually, murder. I hesitate to call it a werewolf novel; lycanthropy is discussed late in the story, but it bears none of the typical markings of such tales. In fact, there is a certain ambiguity about the entire situation. Although written in third person, we get a good look at things from the main character's perspective, and since he tends to black out when it happens, we have little more information than he does. Until the end.

Some good sex in this too, if you don't mind blood play.

The Centipede Press limited edition also includes the story "The Dreams of Dr Ladybank," about a psychiatrist who discovers he is able to project thoughts and commands into the mind of one of his patients. ( )

The violent episode which takes over him when he finds a neighbor caused a fire in his building is just the beginning to other episodes warning Bobby a horrific change is happening. This author knows how to move the reader in a narrative of psychological, paranormal terror.
--Review can be found on Le Coeur de l'Artiste http://www.djadamson.com/le-coeur-de-lartiste/archives/02-2017
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Brisk, unpleasant, and very unconventional 'werewolf' story. I quite enjoyed it, in spite of the unpleasantness and found the story, at its core, to not be all that mean-spirited, in spite of some of the more horrific goings-on. Certainly not one I'd recommend to everyone, but the lightning pacing and visceral scene-writing had me hooked. Remarkable also for its insightful and detailed depiction of late 1970's London, which was almost as much a core 'character' as Bobby Ives himself. ( )