THE PROMISE

by Mary Ryan ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 12, 1999

Densely imagined sequel to the werewolf saga begun with Boyd's brilliant horror/love story The Passion (1998). Each literary age gets the werewolf it deserves, and the werewolf for the '90s is the luxuriously high-living ruler of a $30-billion financial empire who also rules the worldwide pack of werewolves that, in human form, run the globe, accept its Oscars for best actor, and hold summit conferences for stratospheric deal-making. Pack leader Alexander Devoncroix has been murdered in Central Park; his son and heir, Nicholas, knows that the Dark Brotherhood of the Moon, supposedly extinct, is actually behind it. Werewolves have lived peacefully with humans for nearly a thousand years and with their superior intelligence and instincts have risen to veiled power over the Homo sapiens herd. Nicholas, who believes that the tie with humans has degraded the nobility of the werewolf, plans to announce an Edict of Separation, which will again part werewolves and humans into separate factions. The edict was opposed by his late father, however, and even Nicholas's closest advisors are against it. Then, on a flight to the North, his helicopter is downed by a hidden bomb. Nicholas's burned and maimed body (in its immense wolf form) is found, kept alive, and brought back to health by Hannah, who has given up civilization to tend to beasts of the Alaskan wilderness. She also finds in the wreckage a family manuscript written by Matise Devoncroix that chronicles his forbidden love for Brianna and the coming of a great werewolf leader. Brought back to health, Nicholas wishes to rescind his edict, but he's been betrayed: the Brotherhood has made sure that the separation is in effect. The ensuing turmoil promises a third installment. A novel no sensible werewolf could refuse, crackling with moonswept courtship rituals whose instinctual electricity would overcharge the merely human reader.

Pub Date: July 12, 1999

ISBN: ---

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Dunne/St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1999

Categories: FICTION