Autobiography of a Werewolf Hunter

I bought this with high expectations based on all the great reviews. Personally, I found this book to be too boring to finish. It started off promising, but went on and on with little werewolf encounters. I was hoping for more werewolves, not insight into the Vietnam war and life in prison. Maybe if this were my first werewolf book, I would have been more impressed. I forced myself to get as far as half way, but stopped. I did skip to the end just to see how it all turned out. I hate to be one of the few people that doesn't like this, but it's my personal opinion. Very disappointed.

The blurbs and book description did not do this novel justice. This story by Brian P. Easton was one of the best pieces of fiction, in any genre, that I have ever read. Easton has an incredible writing style that shows remarkable attention to detail, as well as an exceptional portrayal of the werewolf theme. While I did not consider this a work of horror as much as a thriller, it still triggered night terrors for three nights in a row...not something that happens very often. Even my husband said that I was constantly yelling about "werewolves" during the night -- which is slightly surprising, considering that werewolves are not necessarily the core of this novel (and I have never had a fear of werewolves).

At first, I wasn't sure if this was about a man who hunted werewolves, or a werewolf that hunted, but after a few chapters, I was convinced that the real struggle was not between a man and monsters, but a man and his emotional turmoil, specifically dealing with hatred and grief that has been built up over his lifetime. Sylvester James, who was born in 1950 and changes his name several times throughout the book to suit his purposes, finds himself on a path with the Beast after his father is rendered to pieces in front of him in the Canadian Rockies when he is only 13. A family friend, Michael Winterfox, uses Cheyenne traditions to prepare Sylvester for his chosen lifelong vendetta.

Sylvester's purpose in life was to avenge his father's death, but there were many years between each werewolf encounter, and the events in those years were just as gripping as his actual battles with various werewolves. From a tour in Vietnam to stint as a convict to a government agent, Sylvester's life is a constant gauntlet of pain, both emotionally and physically. However, the chapter with Harwintowne was my absolute favorite; the fight scenes were startlingly vicious, and I couldn't tear my eyes from the pages. Eventually, Sylvester discovers a pattern in the events of his life that lead him to the Wolf he was looking for in the beginning.

I've never heard of Easton before this novel, but I am definitely looking forward to reading the sequel [[ASIN:1934861634 Heart of Scars (Autobiography of a Werewolf Hunter Book 2)]].

The werewolf. Simply put a monster of legend that has been, for the most part, ignored in modern horror. Vampires are all the rage in current pop culture leaving a void where the lycanthrope should be right along side them. Brain P. Easton remedies the lack of werewolves in new dark fiction with a vengeance in his amazing new novel `Autobiography of a Werewolf'.
The story starts with the main character, Sylvester Logan James, describing his childhood with his woodsman French-Canadian father. We learn Sylvester lost his mother during his birth and during a winter trip to see an old family friend, Michael Winterfox, loses his dad to a werewolf attack. Winterfox trains our young hero in the ways of the Reydosnin Warriors; an ancient and all but extinct line of ultra bad ass Native American warriors. Winterfox reveals he has hunted werewolves, or the Beast as he calls them, and young Sylvester's rage commands him to do the same. So begins a lifetime of revenge and heart ache for our hero.
Winterfox trains Sylvester from the age thirteen to the age eighteen. The old man passes on knowledge of battle, the forest, the spirit world, and most importantly the Beast. Once of age young Sylvester strikes out for Vietnam as an outlet for his fathomless rage. Once the action starts here it never wanes. The story develops surprisingly solid amidst great action scene after great action scene.
I must take a minute here to tell you the action sequences in `Autobiography of a Werewolf Hunter' are Grade A Hollywood film quality. Each is fast paced, well described and would leave Chuck Norris with aches and pains. Even though Sylvester hunts the Beast his entire life not every battle is with his clawed fanged and furry arch nemeses. Oh, no, in fact a fight scene from Sylvester's time in prison (a long story you'll have to read for yourself to believe) is one of the best written and paced through out the book. When our hero does engage the Beast the violence is brutal, vivid, and satisfying.
For those monster fiends like me, you will love this book. During his training, Sylvester learns of the several known kinds of werewolves. There is Noble Wolven were full blooded direct descendants of the original six beast princes. These wolves could change at will and were nearly the most powerful of their kind. A second breed is known as High Wolven. Most of these were powerful and respected but not full blooded. Then there is the baddest of the bunch, the Darkest Wolven. These monsters were raging unstoppable behemoths that never took human form. As Sylvester learns there are many different kinds that even Michael Winterfox didn't know about. He travels from Canada to Vietnam to the United States and back. Before he can get used to Canada he is off to Russia. Kicking werewolf ass along the way. Sylvester finds clues to finding beasts through a highly honed instinct and his superior tracking skills. He picks up on a trail, always in original and interesting ways, and follows it to the beasts waiting at the other end. Once he finds the wolf he exterminates with extreme prejudice, always in original and interesting ways as well.
I can't get over how great the action here is but in order to be thorough I also have to tell you how deep and engrossing the seamless story is and how naturally it flows. Mr. Easton peppers his brutal battle scenes with an ever-developing plot that grabs you with the strength of the beast's claw. There are a range of emotions here that is uncommon for such an action packed book. The details in Sylvester's travels lead me to believe either Mr. Easton researches the way Sylvester tracks or he really has been slaying werewolves for the past forty-some-odd years.
I not only recommend Autobiography of a Werewolf Hunter, I say if you are a werewolf fan you can't live without it. This novel should be required reading on the subject of Lycans from now until the end of the world.

Brian P. Eastton's book " Autobiography of a Werewolf Hunter " Is everything i have come to excpect from a Permuted Press book and so much more. This story is light years away from just being a horror book, it's wild and structured all at the same time! Brians ability to write is amazingly simple in form yet so full of horific detail and fire, it is crushingly gripping from start to finish. It took only a few pages of this wonderfully fervent tomb to get me hooked and even after the last page was turned my mind is still raceing with it's ferociousness and hart crushing detail. The Hero of this wicked tail is so well writen that your almost talking to him and not reading an authors words. The emotional rolercoster that Brian P. Easton manages to put his reader through is a punishing ride, yet evily wonderfull at the same time. I recomend this book will all the vehemence i can muster. In a time when it seems that our monters of the past have been watered down, fluffed and powdered......Easton puts the teath....claws.....and terror back into our nightmares......and i for one thank him!!!!!!!!!

Read this after a recommendation from my brother. For some reason it took me a chapter or two to "get in" to it (although, that could be interruptions from 2 toddlers), but after that, I couldn't put it down. At the end, this book left me with that feeling you get at the end of a great story: "when does the next one come out??". I was pretty happy when book 2 "Heart of Scars" came out :). So I am passing on my brother's recommendation. Good story. And the werewolves here? They are nasty. Like they should be.

I have read many werewolf books over my 50 some years Brian's werewolf hunter books are great. I have read and reread both several times. The story line moves at a good rate. There are times when the story is shocking scary. I will be the first to buy the third book.

I have no Idea how this book showed up on my radar, but I decided to click on the option that allows you to read the first few pages (through the kindle version). About 3 pages in I purchased the book and I didn't put it down once I started it. I have always enjoyed stories that start from the beginning with a "life changing" event then chronicle a "hero's" training before the story gets into the meat of it. If you are a fan of action books or werewolf books then this is a great read for you. I purchased the second book before I was halfway through this one and I am eagerly looking forward to more books. Give this a book a read, you won't be disappointed..

Evil takes on many forms and for the main character, Sylvester Logan James, in Autobiography of a Werewolf Hunter by Brian P. Easton, that evil comes in the form of a werewolf and the haunting memory of watching his father die at the vicious claws of the beast. The prose used by Easton to tell our main character's tale wraps around you like those claws and holds on tight forcing you to live through the terrifying and touching life of Sylvester. The life of our protagonist was most definitely not an easy one and the author used his talent to piece together his life in such vivid detail that I felt the pain, sorrow, anger, fear and love that continually pushed Sylvester to do what he felt must be done in order to avenge his father's death. Yes, even at his lowest points where Sylvester is preparing or has already done some inexplicable things I still cared about him and what would happen to him should he continue down this path of destruction.

Another important character in Autobiography of a Werewolf Hunter is Michael Winterfox, a Cheyenne mystic. Michael takes over care of Sylvester upon the death of his father and trains Sylvester to be a warrior. To hunt the beast that took his family from him. Michael is a kind and wise man, full of knowledge that has been passed to him and he does all he can to instill these traits into Sylvester as he prepares to seek his revenge.

Autobiography of a Werewolf Hunter takes us to many locations. A POW camp in Vietnam, the Louisiana bayous and the mountainous regions and forests of Canada, just to name a few. The details put into the locations, along with the depth and description of the characters our hunter comes in contact with add an element to the story that makes it nearly tangible. The action is thrilling. It's dangerous. It's bloody....and I loved it! There are no punches pulled in this book. Easton tells it like it is. The description of the hunt and kills are descriptive and gory. It's not gory purely for the sake of being gory, but it is definitely a visual picture that is painted.

I will say that there were a few points in the second half of the book where things got a little slow, but then they picked up again, so that's all I'll say about that.

To say I loved this book is an understatement, Brian Easton tells a story that is a must read for anyone who enjoys tales of werewolves and for anyone interested in trying out a new genre.

found this book on amazon about five years ago while looking for werewolf fiction (which seemed to be sadly lacking at the time) and was completely taken by it-plot, characters, pacing-this one has it all-and while it was an immensely satisfying book on it's own, i knew there was much, much more to tell-that's what heart of scars does, in spades-furthering the story and filling in some details that enrich the overall plot-look up cliffhanger ending in the dictionary and it should reference the bomb dropped at the end of heart of scars

I often take my time when reading, but I literally could not put this book down. This author possesses a unique ability to paint a stunningly vivid portrayal of events that leaves you wanting more. The characters are also highly developed and compelling. This is a fantastic book and I wasted no time purchasing the second installment in the series.