First published back in 1974, 'Werewolf by Moonlight' was Guy N Smith's debut novel, starting off his lucrative career that will span decades, involving an almost unusually high volume of releases throughout. 'Werewolf by Moonlight' was also the only horror novel to date to appear under Guy's name without his middle initial being included. The novel was later followed by two sequels; 'Return of the Werewolf' in 1976 and 'The Son of the Werewolf' in 1978. The novel has since become one of the more collectable of Smith's novels, fetching reasonably large sums of money due to its subsequent rarity.

The novel is set at the border between Shropshire and Wales, in the heart of wooded hillside known as the Black Hill. Here the Owen family run their farm amongst the few other farms situated around the area. Gwynne Owen has recently acquired a jet black dog named Loup, that he had imported from the Black Forest of Germany. Before long the dog bites the leg of Gwynne Owen's son Philip Owen. The bite isn't too bad, barely breaking the skin, and as such Philip doesn't mention his wound to anyone.

The Owens's nearest neighbours are Vic and Margaret Gunn who own a farm within walking distance. With Vic often out performing the daily chores of the farm, Margaret Gunn begins a lustful affair with the reporter and hunter Gordon Hall, whose smooth and arrogantly confident nature easily wins over Margaret. Philip Owen learns of their affair when he calls around the Gunn residence whilst Vic is away, also hoping to seduce the fair Margaret Gunn.

The following day Philip returns once again to the Gunn household. Vic Gunn is away from the farm, so Philip enters the house with the intention of forcing himself onto Margaret. After a small struggle between Margaret and Philip, Gordon appears and sends the farmers boy away with a throbbing jaw.

That night with a full moon in the sky, Philip is out in the fields, tending to the sheep, as is often his way. With the moon shining down on Philip, he changes for the first time into a bloodthirsty werewolf. His lustful thoughts once again return to Margaret, but a hunger for blood quickly overwhelms these desires. Philip dines on his first victims that night; a rabbit and a sheep.

The nearby Jones family have the hired help of the young Peter Pike staying with them, who is learning the ways of the farm life for a small wage and lodgings. Also staying at the Jones residence is the attractive young niece of the Jones's, Jennifer Hughes. Pike takes a shine to Hughes and soon takes her out for the night on his motorbike. Pike's advances on the girl become too much and when he turns nasty, Jennifer runs off into the night. The full moon is once again out, and with that, so is Philip Owen in his bloodthirsty new state. Owen takes his first human victim that night, satisfying both his carnal and bloodthirsty urges.

Pike is the first to find the ravaged corpse of Jennifer Hughes, and is quickly presumed to be the girls murderer by the local community. However, it is soon discovered that the girl was ripped apart by claws ad fangs, so a hunt is on for a suspected wolf that is on the loose.

With the local law enforcement, the majority of the men within the local community and with the additional help of Gordon Hall, a search is soon put together throughout the Black Hill forest area. No wolf is turned up, but it's only a matter of time before the real killer of Black Hill murders again...

Guy N Smith's novel 'Werewolf by Moonlight' is a surprisingly gory tale that throws in a thick wedge of seedy sex and graphic depictions of the gory violence that is brought about by Philip Owen whilst in his werewolf state.

The storyline itself is fast paced and layered with the intriguing subplots that weave into the developing werewolf tale.

Characterization is carefully chosen, with some characters such as that of Gordon Hall developed throughout the tale, whereas the majority of the other characters are only given a skeleton of a personality.

Smith manages to keep the erotic charge alight, with the affair between Gordon Hall and Margaret Gunn given a major role within the tale. The secretive relationship adds an additional interest value to the storyline, keeping it feeling involved and well constructed.

With regular switches to a first person perspective, Smith delivers a clever insight into the transformation process from human into werewolf, for the character of Philip Owen. This first person perspective also enables the reader to glimpse the power of the carnal and bloodthirsty urges that control Owen in his new state, as well as the confusing nature of the bestial mind.

The final few chapters of this short novel are pure edge-of-the-seat material. Owen is still on the rampage and the community are moving in fast. The characters are each given their own roles within the tale, making the potential deaths of each a dramatic turning point for the storyline.

As the novel draws towards the final conclusion, so the interweaving subplots merge with the main thrust of the tale, bringing it all together into a tight finale. Alas, with the whole tale set up for a conclusive and ultimately satisfying conclusion, Smith ends the tale on what can only be described as a weak afterthought.

For a novel that delivered an involved and fast paced approach throughout, the ending is disappointingly simplistic. Even after the ending has been set down, Smith wraps up the characters loose ends in an unrealistic and wholly out-of-character manner, deciding on a more simplistic approach to closing the tale.

All in all, 'Werewolf by Moonlight' is a thoroughly enjoyable read, with a fast paced and involved storyline that manages to keep the reader gripped from the outset. The disappointing ending does let the novel down somewhat, but does not detract too much from the enjoyable pulp horror nature of the novel.

The book runs for a total of 110 pages and was first published through the New English Library.