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.
© 2003-2025 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy