The Hunter From The Woods by Robert McCammon

My favorite (pre-Matthew Corbett) books by Robert McCammon are Mine (Hollywood bemoans the lack of stories with strong female leads. They must be blind. This one is the ticket), Boy's Life (absolutely outstanding story of a year in the life of a 12yo boy in rural Alabama. If you read nothing else, read this) and The Wolf's Hour that tells of Mikhail Gallantinov's upbringing by wolves in the Russian forest (after the Russian revolution took his parents) and then his life as Michael Gallatin, British OSS agent during WWII.  According to McCammon's website, Gallatin is one of his favorite characters. This book is a collection of short stories about various stages in Gallatin's life.

So, I goofed right off the bat. I read one review that said the stories were uneven and for some reason, I took that to mean the Gallatin stories were good, but the others were not about Gallatin and thus were  less enthralling. So, assuming that the short stories were not tightly connected, I flipped from chapter to chapter to see which ones were opened with Gallatin and read those first. Then I went back to the first story and learned quickly that all the stories were about Gallantinov/Gallatin. Oh, well. The stories are presented chronologic and there are occasional references to earlier escapades, but each really is a standalone story, so no harm no foul. I'll just relate the overall topic of each.  Any deeper might spoil a fun ride.

1. The Great White Way: Teenage Michael is working as a stable hand for a traveling Russian circus and helps out the wife of the circus strongman/wrestler.

2. The Man From London: British Colonel in what is to become the OSS hears of the amazing teenager living, under the protection of the local cop and the citizenry, in a depressed area of Russia. Colonel finds the boy and tries to recruit him to be a part of a new order; to become a man of the world. Colonel sees Michael's secret. It's true. This kid is special. He has a gift.

3. Sea Chase: Michael's been trained and is ready for an assignment. He is to accompany a German weapons expert (and family) on a freighter voyage from Poland to England and make sure they arrive safely. Thing is, the Nazi's don't want their expert to leave and put a warship on the chase.

4. The Wolf and The Eagle: Michael in on assignment in North Africa and being transported by airplane and fighter escorts when German Luftwaffe attack. Numerous planes are shot down over the desert. Two survivors are Gallatin (The Wolf) and German ace Rolfe Gantt (The Eagle). They forge an uneasy partnership to survive the desert on foot.

5. The Room At The Bottom Of The Stairs: There is a group of German's working against Hitler from the inside. Call themselves the Inner Ring. But someone is taking them out one by one. Michael is tasked with keeping a eye on Franziska Luxe, a photographer who is suspected of supplying information about the Inner Ring to the Germans and Michael has to verify her role.

6. Death of A Hunter: It's the 1950's. Michael is becoming an old man, pushed out of the OSS by a new wave of operatives. He is scarred by wars and battles, living his life out in rural Wales with his memories, important trinkets from his past, curiosity about a lost son. He wonders about just how a hunter dies; probably as the hunted. Question is not are the hunters coming, but does he have one last hunt left in him?

Gallatin has a very unique trait. At will, he can transform into a wolf; handy trick to have when the Gestapo have you tied up naked and are torturing you and your girlfriend. You can transform and turn a torture squad of the Master Race into the Marx brothers (McCammon's line, not mine. I'm not that creative). The torture description will     a b s o l u t e l y   curl your hair. As will most other descriptions of the wolf's responses to his enemies. Our hero fights to keep his lycanthrope alter ego contained as it's almost always snarling just below the surface, itching to get out and into the game.

Like I've said before in each McCammon review - ECD is a McCammon fan. And to come back to further tales of a favorite character is comforting, even if the character has a tendency to rip out the bad guy's throat, leave entrails in the mud, and rivers of blood flowing. A wild ride. McCammon's done right by bringing Gallatin back. Sadly, I'm betting it's the last we see of The Wolf.

East Coast Don