Dark Moon
Lori Handeland
St. Martin's Jul 2005, $6.99, 352 pp.
ISBN: 0312934363

Seven years ago Elise Hanover left behind her beloved sweetheart Dominic "Nic" Franklin for his sake as she feared her lust for him, which activated the lycanthropy virus inside her, might lead to her killing him. Elise became a research virologist seeking the cure to the disease that controls her while hiding in Montana working for the monster killing Jager Suchers of Edward Mandenauer. She keeps werewolves incarcerated in a basement prison as she experiments seeking the elixir that will cure her.

FBI Agent Nic arrives, but after she beats him up, he explains an email sent him to her remote lab. He needs Elise's help as apparently many people have vanished under mysterious circumstances that imply a supernatural serial kidnapper perhaps killer behind it. As the wolves howl, her lab explodes with Nic and Elise observing in shock. Needing to get to Wisconsin to consult with their peers they travel together and Elise finds her love for Nic intensifying the virus that flows through her blood. She fears what will happen if he remains at her side when the full moon surfaces or what will happen to him if she is not there to protect him.

The third "Moon" supernatural romance (see BLUE MOON and HUNTERS MOON) is a fantastic tale starring two strong likable protagonists with a history and ever present desire between them that threatens the mission. The storyline is action-packed but it is the nature of Elise's predicament that makes the novel a howling success. She knows that she must get her beloved to leave her as she did him, but if that fails she must protect him from werewolves and other monsters, but especially from her.

Harriet Klausner