The Wolfman

Spare, evocative prose lifts this impressive debut from Pekearo, who was killed in the line of duty as an auxiliary police officer in New York City in 2007. Marlowe Higgins, who’s both a werewolf and a detective, lives in the small town of Evelyn, “just outside the Tennessee border,” flipping burgers by day and waiting for the full moon that will awaken the blood curse that has afflicted his family for generations. Higgins has hit on a way to alleviate the guilt he feels for having claimed countless innocent lives—he investigates vicious crimes that have gone unsolved by the police and targets the perpetrators in his lupine form. When a sadistic serial killer known as the Rose Killer for the flowers left in the victims’ eye sockets appears in Evelyn, Higgins turns his attention to tracking him down. Higgins may remind some of Jeff Lindsay’s Dexter, but Pekearo’s skill at making Higgins both believable and sympathetic is a considerable achievement that should give this novel crossover appeal beyond crime and horror readers. (May)