TEST
Though this is the much-awaited next installment in two paranormal series by Susan Krinard, I had a hard time getting through it. Quentin is a uniquely dark hero with unusual demons to slay, but his character is just about the only thing you can look forward to in this slow-moving and clichéd story.
Set in Napa Valley, California in 1880, Secret of the Wolf chronicles the inner struggles of a tormented werewolf and the sacrifices of the doctor who takes him in. Hoping to control his dangerous alter ego (a personality distinct from his werewolf self), Quentin Forster agrees to be hypnotized by Dr. Johanna Schell. But when violent incidents in the small town are blamed on him and the ostracized patients in Johanna’s care, Quentin must find the courage to face his inner demons – and ultimately, confront an archenemy from the werewolf world.
Johanna Schell has worked with her father in the treatment of mental illness – a relatively new science at the time – until heart disease incapacitated him. They have adopted five patients as family when no one else would take them in, and now Johanna maintains a house called The Haven for their care. Despite the public’s ambivalence at female doctors, as reflected by the wary attitude of the townsfolk toward Johanna, she is still determined to continue her father’s experiments in hypnosis as a possible cure for mental illness. When Quentin comes along and consents to assist her in her studies, she makes a breakthrough, but unwittingly unleashes a side of him that neither of them is yet capable of controlling.
It’s always refreshing to come across a special hero (or heroine, for that matter), and in certain cases, sheer characterization can transform an otherwise dull romance into a keeper. While Quentin doesn’t exactly accomplish that for this book, the unfolding of his myriad dimensions creates a pleasant suspense. However, this is spoiled by dry internal monologues inserted in too many places. And because the rest of the characters are uninteresting – particularly the heroine – an otherwise unusual plot devolves into an uninvolving, formulaic tale.
Leading a cast that’s hard to care for is Johanna, who is predictably scorned in her profession because of her sex. Apart from the requisite chauvinistic ex and that grating no-man-can-possibly-want-me complex, she also has a physical plainness that is redeemed by impossible selflessness. At times while reading this book, I mentally asked her: Is this any way to run an asylum? Any of her patients can go to town at will (this is most likely why they know more about goings-on than Johanna does). She usually lets them walk all over her and she doesn’t lock her notes. She also breaks a cardinal rule and gets involved with one of her wards. But then again, there wouldn’t be a story if she didn’t do that. I realize I’m judging her a bit by 21st century psychiatric standards, but one would assume that even those working with mental patients in 1880 would follow some guidelines. It’s true that she runs The Haven by herself and regards the patients as family rather than abstract cases, but I still found it a implausible and annoying that she doesn’t exert more discipline.
Johanna’s patients aren’t any more original – there’s a skittish, sexually-abused waif, a megalomaniac former actress, a retarded man with a golden heart, and a religious zealot with a fanaticism for cleanliness. A fifth patient, a kind of psychic, recovers rather abruptly from his autism. (These residents also have a baffling tendency to get well during freak incidents.) Even the narrow-minded townsfolk constitute a stereotype that allows for an obligatory mob scene.
Because it’s difficult to get involved with most of the characters, their interactions come across as flat despite the noble intentions behind them. This lends the book a feel-good air that makes it treacly overall, even with the dark subject matter of insanity.
Thanks to the unlikable heroine and the stereotyped characters, the real conflict here is clearly psychological. In fact, if it weren’t for the drama of Quentin’s coming to terms with all his selves in order to save the people he loves, there wouldn’t really be much to recommend about this book at all.
Grade: C
Sensuality: Hot
Review Date: 17/09/01
Publication Date: 2001
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Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.