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!