Hal Rupert, Animal Control Officer extraordinaire, is used to rounding up various nuisance animals. Lately, however, he's noticed more werewolves finding their way into his pickup truck's kennel. A lone Birkenstock speckled with blood captures his attention as he wonders who is stalking the hippies and fortune tellers of his town. After all, the Oregon County Fair is about to start and hippies and fortune tellers are drawn to it in the thousands. Hal is determined to protect the people of the town, but more importantly he wants to protect Desdemona Cohen, a woman he loves even though she barely acknowledges his existence. Can Hal Rupert become the hero he already is in his own mind?
I love Desdemona and her reactions to Hal! Hal is definitely the Creep, as she calls him. In fact, once I adjusted to Hal's more than quirky personality, I started to enjoy all the reactions to him—from the bicyclist to his coworkers to even the bad guys. Hal is not initially likeable. In fact, he's almost a caricature of a hero rather than an actual hero. Hal is an easy guy to overlook, despite being a legend in his own mind, but his belief that he is heroic makes him become exactly that. The only thing that continued to bother me throughout the story was the idea that a stalker could turn into a love interest.
However, it's the secondary characters who truly make THINNING THE HERD enjoyable. I particularly liked Nick Thomas and Galahad Jones. They help offset Hal's peculiarity as you almost have to like him if Nick and Galahad accept him as he is! I also thoroughly enjoyed meeting Della and reading her sometimes motherly sounding wisdom.
THINNING THE HERD is a zany, humorous urban fantasy tale that takes all the hero tropes and turns them upside down. I have to admit it took me a bit to adjust as I was expecting a more conventional urban fantasy book but once I got into the lighthearted wackiness, THINNING THE HERD was pure fun to read! If you are looking for an urban fantasy tale that dares to be different, then look no further than THINNING THE HERD!
From the New York Times bestselling author of A RUSH OF WINGS and The Maker’s Song series, a humorous, action- packed urban fantasy about a werewolf pack and an animal control officer in way over his head! Someone is picking off fortune tellers and hippies in Oregon, snatching them out of their Birkenstocks mid- stride. And when the legend himself, Hal Rupert, Animal Control Officer, gets a whiff of the mystery, he knows he’s the man to solve it. In between proudly wrangling out-of-control cats and dogs, he’s noticed a peculiar uptick in another sort of animal…werewolves. Hal infiltrates the country fair to investigate the disappearance of the flower children. But his real priority is protecting the love of his life, Desdemona Cohen, whose long purple tresses and black-glossed lips captured his heart the moment he first saw her standing behind the register at Hot Topic. Desdemona may have nicknamed Hal “Creep,” but he’s determined to win her heart. And, you know, save everyone else, too.
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