latest additions.
by Susan Krinard As the third in the Forster Family series, Secret of the Wolf is . . . pretty good, if very different from the previous two, regarding Braden and Rowena. In a nutshell? It's the story of Quentin's new life in the Americas and how he went mad. He saves a woman, Dr. Johanna Schell, from attack, whom herself was saving a little boy from a vicious beating by his father. Before she can thank him, Quentin disappears. The next time she sees him, Quentin is passed out drunk in the middle of the road, leading from the scene of the attack, Silverado Springs, to her small hospital, the Haven. She takes him in and when he wakes up, tries diligently to cure him of his alcoholism, through hypnosis--only to learn he's probably sicker than she thought: suffering PTSD and clearly under the delusion he's a werewolf. ;) Little does she know...it's no delusion. She'll soon learn, though, as Quentin ensconces himself into the little community of fellow sufferers Johanna cares for under the Haven's roof. He even comes to care very deeply for them. So deeply, he doesn't realize his own demons are worse than he thought, and that feeling of being followed is emanating from a very real source; though he feels the threat, complacency and jealously shroud the stalker's true identity. Quentin, not thinking with his brain, or with a clear head, at any rate, so clouded is he by fantasies of Johanna, he won't recognize his age-old enemy, until it's too late, and his new friends caught in the middle. Secret Of The Wolf was a very different book from its two predecessors. While the circumstances of Quentin's madness are very plausible, and Dr. Johanna is the kind of gal fans might want for Quentin, it felt more like Ms. Krinard yearning to write about a serious subject, but maybe was under pressure to finish out an expected round of books for her publisher? And so, Secret was the result? I don't know... while I applaud it, I just wasn't personally taken with the melding of the two situations; and more often than not, Quentin felt less the main character than a figure from a series built around a family unit should. And though the population of the Haven was necessary to the plausibility of a 19th century hospital for the mentally challenged, it felt to this reader as if there were just too many minor characters. The book was enjoyable, but... in relation to the other two, very strange and yet, in the end it was satisfying, and we recommend it. However, if you've not read the previous two, I'd warn you to start with them first, if you can; otherwise you won't get a true sense of the Forsters, I think. Bt if you have, Secret is a fine continuation, if quite different. Nonetheless, ...Enjoy. Set made with art by John William Waterhouse made webmistress exclusively for Raven and Rose Cottage and her partner sites. Please do not snag. ©2005 & ever after to our webmistress |