Lincoln Child is a master of the techno thriller/horror genre, and he does not disappoint in Full Wolf Moon. This entry in the Jeremy Logan series is a page turner as the puzzle pieces fall into place, seemingly suggesting the impossible--that a series of gruesome murders, including that of Jeremy's friend, have been the work of lycanthropy. Is the reclusive clan feared by the locals responsible? Or the scientist ridiculed for his theories about the power of the moon to affect life forms on Earth? Or are other sinister forces at work? Entertaining, absorbing fun!

Full Disclosure--Net Gallery and the publisher provided me with a digital ARC of this book. This is my honest review.

Have you ever wondered about the link between the words lunar and lunacy? There is a connection. In the past, strange things happened around the full moon (part of the basis for the word lunatic) and people I've known who work in hospitals say the time around the full moon is always busier in the ER than the rest of the month. It's because of these things that I can totally see the events in this book happening.

I've read many Lincoln Child books, those he wrote alone and with Douglas Preston, and this is one of the better ones. It could fit right in with the Pendergast Series if Jeremy Logan were richer and more cultured. It has just the right blend of science, a smidgen of history, and plenty of mystery to get me to finish the book in 24 hours.

Jeremy Logan travels to a remote area of the Adirondacks to work on a history project, when an old friend contacts him to ask for help in a string of deaths in the area. The work appears to be that of a rabid bear, but not all of the evidence points to that, and why are the attacks happening around the full moon? Logan demurs at first, but then gets wrapped up in the mystery as more people die.

The mystery is a good one. I thought I knew what was happening fairly early on, but I'm pleased to say I was wrong and it's probably not what you think. I only wish the book was a bit longer and that the ending wasn't so abrupt. It felt somewhat rushed at the end, but it still satisfied.

I'm now going to go out and get the few Lincoln Child books I haven't already read.

I was given a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this novel. I've been a big fan of Lincoln Child for many years. I've enjoyed everything that he and his co-author Douglas Preston have produced over the years. They seem to have come up with a very successful formula, they both write entertaining novels (separately and collaboratively), there is nothing here that is going to stick with the reader, but rather the reader will find an enjoyable, fast-paced thriller, with a little pseudo-science and lore mixed in. Overall, a nice addition to the Jeremy Logan series. Will be purchasing at my library and expect to have many patrons waiting in line for it.

I have read many…most…of Lincoln Child’s books. I have read many…most…of his collaborations with Douglas Preston. One of those collaborations, Relic, remains one of the scariest stories I’ve ever read! Insert creepy shudders! It was awesome! I love this genre. It’s not quite horror and not quite paranormal, but way more than a mystery/thriller. It is its own genre, and it’s always fun.

Logan is a smart guy…educated, open-minded and curious. His curiosity seems to be what leads him into chasing down one enigma after another. Some things just shouldn’t be possible. The scientist Logan encounters in this story has a fascinating theory about the effects of moonlight, moonlight unfiltered by human air pollution, on nocturnal animals. The theory is pretty compelling, leading Logan deeper and deeper into a closely guarded secret and encounters with a strange and secretive family.

Lincoln Child is always a pleasure to read, and this book does not disappoint. Smooth, literate and engaging, I couldn’t put it down for a minute. If you have a weakness for exploring the inexplicable, choose this book and…

Enjoy!

2shay

I usually love Lincoln Child, but this book just didn't excite me. It was well written and the characters were well developed. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood for werewolves.

A mysterious creature is killing in the Adirondacks in a particularly vicious and brutal manner. A bear or a feral wolf are suspected but an unspoken theory is that the killer is a werewolf. the story moves along at a steady pace but I found it lacking the shocks and thrills of Lincoln Child's other books.

I first discovered Lincoln Child through his pairings with Douglas Preston on the Pendergast series of thrillers. After doing so, I went back and read the individual works of each author, and found myself a much bigger fan of Child's early solo efforts (Utopia and Death Match) than Preston's. However, Child was much less prodigious. In 2007, Child introduced the Jeremy Logan character in Deep Storm, an otherwise-standalone novel that featured a standard Preston/Child plot device of brilliant character (in this case, not Logan) being summoned to a technological facility with every contingency presumably planned for that devolves due to events both natural and human into a horror show of death and destruction. Logan reappeared as a minor character in the similarly-plotted Terminal Freeze, and he ascended to protagonist status in The Third Gate, but not until The Forgotten Room did he take part in a plot other than "highly-technological project goes spectacularly wrong".

In Full Wolf Moon, Child deviates from his standard narrative even further. Logan isn't summoned at all, but rather just happens to be at a swanky artists' retreat in the Adirondacks near where the story's action takes place. So rather than being summoned by a desperate supervisor, Logan is often poking around where he isn't wanted. While longtime Child readers will notice some of his standard tropes (all animalistic beasts smell "goatish", for example), the overall plot is fresh enough to maintain interest and enjoyment, even when the "twists" are fairly guessable.

Logan's abilities as an "empath" (someone able to sense the underlying emotions of those around him at an acute level) are played up a lot in this story, moreso than I recall in any of his previous outings. He still isn't given much of a characterization or backstory otherwise, however, nor is it ever explained how he's able to afford to drive a Lotus and stay at an expensive artist's retreat on an "enimaologist"'s salary. You can picture Logan in your head as any sort of generic 40- or 50-somethingish white guy, and the story's description won't contradict you. He has no particular personality traits (unlike the gruff loyalty of Lieutenant D'Agosta or the macabre detachment of Aloysius Pendergast from Child's collaborations with Preston), which leads one to assume that in their collaborations Child is the "plot guy" while Preston is the "character guy".

Still, if you're in the moon for a fairly mindless thriller with some interesting underlying conceits, this one is worthy addition to the loosely-connected Jeremy Logan series. You can read them in any order, so starting with a previous entry isn't at all necessary.

3.5 stars

Jeremy Logan is taking a break to go deep into the Adirondack mountains and finish his paper/book (He calls is some fancy-smancy name) and once he gets there he sees that his old college friend is now the park ranger for the area...and some funky stuff has been happening when the moon is full.
His friend reaches out to him to help with what's going on. The reason why is Logan is an "enigmologist"--an investigator who specializes in analyzing phenomena that have no obvious explanation--fancy name again for someone who investigates some weird stuff. As you read you also find out that he is an "empath" too. He can touch or feel 'feelings' of the place/person. Whooowoo stuff.
I'd probably understand Logan a bit better if I had read the previous books about him but this one reads fine as a standalone. I like this kind of stuff so I may have to pick up some of the others.

Anyways..there has been some gruesome murders going on in the deep, dark woods. Rumors are flying high in the remote mountain town. "Tainted Blood" gets mentioned.
And something is tearing the murdered folks all up. At first they think it's a rogue bear.
But then there is that weird family that has built up a fortress and wants nothing to do with anyone.
Backwoodsy stuff. (LOVE)

Rumors are floating around about a certain kind of creature, since the attacks happen near that weird family and when the moon is full.
Logan has his doubts though.

There is lots and lots of sciency stuff in this short little book. I skimmed over that part when I got bored but this actually wasn't a bad book. It did make me interested in other adventures that Logan gets himself into. I just hope he doesn't always talk to the reader like I felt he did in this one...he is the smartest and makes sure we know it.
Made me kinda want to go out and look at the moon though.

Another solid book in the Jeremy Logan series. We find out some more about Logan's past as he explores a new mystery in the Adirondack moutains.

I finished reading this a few days ago, but I had to think a bit before writing my review.

I’ve always said that I’m a fan of Lincoln & Child. But I’ve discovered that I’m a fan of them together. You know, Pendergast and Constance?

Now, I did like this book. But, perhaps unfairly to Mr. Child, I’ve come to expect my sociopathic girl power heroine and her tall pale dude.

Jeremy Logan? He’s okay.

The book has a good mystery to it. I do like Logan’s position as an enigmologist (I may have typed that incorrectly). And I wanted to know what would happen.

But I was never excited. Logan’s melancholia leads the book to be more introspective than action packed. And frankly, there weren’t as many surprises as I had hoped.

A solid book, but not my favorite. It’s possible that Jeremy Logan just isn’t the character for me.

Jeremy Logan, a history professor, is spending time in the Adirondacks finishing up some work, but his help is needed in another matter. An “enigmalogist” who studies paranormal phenomena, Jeremy’s asked to look into several puzzling local murders. Could they have been committed by a local man recently paroled? A strange family who keeps to themselves? A wild animal previously unknown to the area? A werewolf? This fast-paced thriller is the first novel I have read by Child; I look forward to reading more of his work.

I have enjoyed Lincoln Child’s novels for years, both his solo works and those written with Douglas Preston. I was excited to see Full Wolf Moon available for an Advance Review Copy from both Netgalley and Edelweiss. I requested from both to double my odds of scoring a copy. What do you know? I ended up with copies from both.

Jeremy Logan is a professor of Medieval History at Yale in Massachusetts. He first appeared in Deep Storm published in 2007 as a minor character. He appeared again in a side role in 2009’s Terminal Freeze. Logan finally got a bigger part in the 2012 thriller The Third Gate. The Forgotten Room, published in 2015 was all his. It is also the only one of the four I had not read. Full Wolf Moon to be published in May 2017 is again built around Logan’s character. In addition to his day job as a historian, Logan moonlights (pun intended) as an enigmalogist or one who studies unexplained phenomena. It is in this capacity that he appears in the novels named.

Logan is in the Adirondack Mountains at an artist retreat. He is planning on spending several weeks cut off from distractions to finally finish a medieval history academic paper. The retreat has a good reputation and is hosting Logan as a historian, certainly not in his other capacity. The first night at the retreat, an old classmate from Yale arrives, now serving as a Ranger for the wilderness areas that comprise the Adirondacks. There have been several murders over the last few months in an area around Desolation Mountain (great name but not sure I would buy real estate there). The Ranger asks Logan to look into the murders as a favor to him as a friend. There is something “wrong” about the situation that the Ranger cannot quite put his finger on. Logan has to separate fact from fiction and study the myths of the isolated area to try to find answers. He also has to finish his academic paper and not attract unwanted attention to the artist retreat and be asked to leave.

Logan was an interesting character. One of the area residents, Albright, was also interesting. The rest of the characters were somewhat two dimensional, including the Ranger. I never really had a strong feel one way or the other for any of them. I figured out the villain as soon as he was introduced. By the time I reached the last quarter of the book, I knew the basics of how, who, where, why and when. So the ending was not a total surprise. It was an enjoyable read though I have enjoyed Child’s stand alone novels Utopia and Death Match more. I would recommend Full Wolf Moon as an enjoyable mystery. If you are looking for full out werewolf horror Benjamin Percy’s Red Moon is still the yardstick by which I measure.

Jeremy Logan is a man who has made an interesting hobby into a controversial career. He's a historian, but he's also made a name for himself by seeking the truth of folklore and cryptozoology. He calls himself an enigmologist.

Logan makes reservations at a rural artist's retreat in order to complete a historical paper he's been working on for ages. While he's there he gets a visit from an old friend--a forestry service warden who wants to get to the bottom of some strange deaths that have been happening in his woods.

Hikers have been found during full moons savaged to death from what looks like wolf bites--but are ripped in a way that would be impossible for the average wolf to accomplish. The locals whisper to one another that a reclusive family of mountain people are responsible--and that the family harbors a werewolf. Logan is determined to do as his friend asks of him, and get to the bottom of this strange mystery.

Child writes the kind of novel we've come to expect from him--stories where since and folklore collide. Unfortunately, it makes some of the conclusions almost predictable, but he does bring up some science that's probably wilder than the idea of werewolves. Entertaining, and comparable to other titles Child has written.

The werewolf premise is anyone else's hands would be ludicrous but Child's use of language always makes any scenerio ring true. The reason I gave it 3 stars was because I enjoy character driven novels with action as opposed to little character interaction driven by a cerebral quest with little action. The ranger character is the one I most bonded with and.....

A fast, but pretty empty read. I do enjoy the Pendergast books, outlandish as they are, they are fun. I won't be reading any more in this series, however.

Review of FULL WOLF MOON by Lincoln Child

Suspension of disbelief provides strong tension throughout as our protagonist himself struggles with his intent to maintain an open mind. Dr. Jeremy Logan, Yale Professor of History, is by avocation (and a growing reputation), an "enigmalogist,' an individual who studies and investigates odd phenomena without an apparent cause. For example, Dr. Logan has investigated "Nessie," Scotland's Loch Ness Monster.

When the novel commences, he is ensconcing himself for a six-week retreat at Cloudland in the scenic, densely-forested Adirondacks if upstate New York. He has scarcely arrived when a visitor appears, a former friend from his undergraduate days, a philosopher who is also a Forest Ranger. He requests Dr. Logan, who is also a sensitive--an empath who perceives emotions and energy, both from humans and locations--to look into a series of deaths-by-mauling, each occurring in the Desolation Mountain wilderness, each during a full moon. Possible causes are bear or wolf, but the evidence is erratic. Investigators are certain the killer could not be human, due to the strength required for the degree of violence. Locals blame a reclusive clan living deep in the forest since the early 18th century, or earlier, who are believed to be both werewolves, and ritual child murders. Author Lincoln Child keeps the suspense boiling and delivers an unexpected denouement which leaves protagonist and reader reeling.

Jeremy Logan is in an egmologist who travels all over the world investigating bizarre phenomena . Now he is taking a break and has traveled to an isolated writers retreat in the Adirondack mountains to work on his book. But there are bizarre doings in the small town, a dead hiker has been found on Desolation Mountain, his body has been mauled and bitten and covered with claw marks and at first he appears to be the victim of a bear attack. But as Logan investigates he believes the man was attacked by something very unlike a bear. The man had plenty of human enemies but there is also a rumor about town about a pack of werewolves. How can that be? Jeremy teams up with a scientist who is still struggling with the violent death of her own father. Is it actually possible that there are werewolves loose in this small community? Child can always be counted onto provide a thrilling read, and enough nightmares to keep readers awake at night

Another great installment in the Jeremy Logan series. This one kept me reading way into the night, then up early to finish it!