Strip Mauled

By Esther Friesner
Baen, $7.99, 407 pages

In this anthology, editor Esther Friesner has collected twenty-one hilarious stories of werewolves in suburbia. Soccer moms, angst-ridden teenagers, mid-life crisis dads, annoying little boys, and even a hardboiled detective find their way into these very funny stories. Of particular note are: Jody Lynn Nye’s “Howl,” which gives a man in a dead-end job a new lease on life; “Blame It on the Moonlight” by Tim Waggoner, recounts a most unusual first date; Esther Friesner’s “Isn’t That Special” turns the tables on a manipulative soccer mom; “Prowling for Love” by Linda L. Donahue shows that finding love, for a werewolf, is not an easy prospect; Dave Freer’s dwarf detective solves the crime in “Wolfy Ladies”; K. D. Wentworth redefines the term “Special Needs” in her tale, and Jim C. Hines takes a ubiquitous childhood TV show and writes a diabolically funny new script. Strip Mauled cleverly mashes up the funniest aspects of suburban life with the troublesome nature of the wolf. Each of these stories is entertaining and fans of paranormal or comic fantasy will want to be sure to add this book to their collections.

Reviewed by John Ottinger