When a freak thunderstorm blazes through Lake Bluff, Georgia, Sheriff Grace McDaniel and her deputies have their hands full. When she's run off the road and injured, Grace thinks she's imagining things when she sees a wolf and hears the wings of a Hitchcockian collection of birds. When she runs into Ian Walker in the middle of the storm, she's sure she's hallucinating, until she meets him in town the next morning. Ian, the new doctor in town, blends modern medicine with traditional Cherokee cures and is an instant hit in the small town, though Grace is wary of his presence. Her suspicions of Ian increase when the terminally ill in town begin dying at an alarming rate.

Having recently dealt with werewolves in Lake Bluff, Grace has a healthy respect for the unexplained. When the victims are examined and found to be missing their hearts, she doesn't need convincing that the supernatural has again returned to Lake Bluff. Grace has to wonder what part Ian's arrival plays in the unnatural deaths. Ian knows much about Grace's history and encourages her to embrace her heritage. Unaccustomed to sharing that part of herself with anyone, Grace struggles with the untamed wildness that's a part of her. When the evil that's stalking the residents of Lake Bluff changes the rules of the game, the only hope for survival of the town and the man she loves is for Grace to embrace her heritage and the power it gives her.

Lori Handeland's THUNDER MOON is my favorite of the Nightcreature novels. Grace is a kick-ass heroine, Ian mysteriously dangerous and the evil simply terrifying. The story is original and well-written, the running joke throughout is hilarious (who would have thought Chuck Norris was funny!) and catching up with old friends is an added bonus. Ms. Handeland has a gift for creating and sustaining a mood throughout her stories that keeps the reader eagerly turning the pages. This was a hard-to-put- down thriller.