High Bloods-John Farris

High Bloods
John Farris
Tor, Jul 21 2009, $25.95
ISBN: 9780765325969

At the end of WWII in the Pacific, specifically in the Kingdom of Kalimanton, the returning soldiers brought home a microbe that turned into werewolves. For twenty-seven days of the month, they were as humans as the True Bloods; but when the moon was full they turned into maniacal killing machines. The disease spreads epidemically across the globe until the species becomes greater in number than Homo sapiens.

The International Lycan Control (ILC) monitors 80% of the werewolf population and has methods to control the change in order to keep the True Bloods safe during the full moon. ILC agent Rawson is shocked when he witnesses an Avenging Fury of a werewolf rip the head off businessman Artie of Arthur Excalibur Enterprises during a non full moon. Artie provided lycan escorts to pure humans, but the key is to figure out how someone was able to turn a lycan into a killing werewolf when the moon was in no way full. While he searches for the real culprits, Rawson also looks for Mal who is like a younger sister to him, before hunters preparing for a Mal de Lune (werewolf hunt) to kill her. Both tasks prove dangerous as enemies try to kill Rawson.

This is an exciting, fast-paced futuristic urban Noir fantasy in which American has been torn apart due to the Lycan virus. The story line is fast-paced from the onset and makes Los Angeles and Santa Monica seem genuinely filled with werewolves and True Bloods. Rawson is a believable Noir like hero who does what he believes is the right thing though he knows the cost may be those few he cherishes. Although, nothing new is added to the sub-genre as the premises have been overly done recently, John Farris provides a super thriller as the plot is faster than a speeding silver bullet.

Harriet Klausner