The Werewolf Trace

by John Gardner

Vintage paperback

Genres: Thriller, Historical Fiction, Alternate History, Espionage, Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Before coming an author of fiction in the early 1960s, John Gardner was variously a stage magician, a Royal Marine officer and a journalist. In all, Gardner has fifty-four novels to his credit, including Maestro, which was the New York Times book of the year. He was also invited by Ian Fleming’s literary copyright holders to write a series of continuation James Bond novels, which proved to be so successful that instead of the contracted three books he went on to publish some fourteen titles, including Licence Renewed and Icebreaker.

Having lived in the Republic of Ireland, the United States and the UK, John Gardner sadly died in August of 2007 having just completed his third novel in the Moriarty trilogy, Conan Doyle’s eponymous villain of the Sherlock Holmes series.

Reviews

[J.S. Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first Gardner. I’m impressed! It was very refreshing to read actual good writing. Something about the writing of the past that doesn’t tell the reader every little detail of the characters emotion but simply tells the story & assumes intelligence on the part of the reader.
Anyway, this was a spy thriller, which I don’t usually like but worked here, & a creepy ghost tale all in one. Gardner did a phenomenal job with the creepy ghost part! I love that he left it hanging & didn’t tie up all the loose ends.
It also had some elements that really made you stop & think for awhile after reading it.

[Bill FromPA · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Gothic spy novel.

A woman married to a man of mysterious background, living in a house that might be haunted. In the meantime, the husband's background is also of interest to the British spy agency, who have undertaken an extensive investigation.

The novel does not quite feel like it has earned its dark cynicism.

[Alex Fell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hostel Finds #4

An interesting blend of genres offset by a litany of tropes and cliches. I think this novel had something thematically regarding the innocent getting swept up in the motives of those in power, combined with its several hints at “history is written by the victors” and the inability to know what truly happened during some historical events.

But it doesn’t quite stick the landing on either of those thematic elements. We don’t quite get to where we need to go to really make the reader think deeply about those points. Instead we get haunted house and love story side plots.

The Nazi body-switch mystery is an interesting enough premise, and again it opens the door to a really interesting conversation - can you blame child soldiers for their actions; they didn’t choose to be born where they were or serve for their nations. But again, we don’t really thoroughly explore the morality of what the secret service does to Joseph Gotterson because of who he might’ve been in a past life. There’s an attempt to dive into all of this in the last 2 chapters, but it’s too little, too late.

Overall, 2.5 stars. Intriguing enough premise but I’d love to see this novel cut the unnecessary B plots and add 50 pages of philosophical drama about the morality issues at play here.

[Mark C. Jackson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting story line and concept. I always enjoy conspiracy theory stories about the bunker, so I was excited to read it. It took off fast, built up intrigue, then it just finished super fast with a dumb ghost story. It never let the conspiracy theory develop past what it just was; an idea. It finished so abruptly and lamely that it appeared the author got tired off writing and decided to close. Very disappointed.

[Larry West · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great thriller.

[Erik Tanouye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got this for $1 from the cart outside Bookworks at Trolley Square in Salt Lake City in September 2019.

[Kally Sheng · Rating 3 out of 5]

Men in certain trades should not have conscience!


Suspicion breeds suspicion; security breeds hypersecurity. - Loc 371

All men are not equal, and no political power on earth can make them so. - Loc 425-26

What is truth? It depended on where you were standing at a certain time and on certain date in history. - Loc 3802

It’s the innocent who always get mangled. - Loc 3815

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

By the author of James Bond novels, the Werewolf Trace is not really a paranormal book, more a book with odd cryptic names for various persons of interest in the spy world. A bit dated, it was a decent read for I do enjoy things about Hitler.

[Ant Koplowitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting premise by John Gardner, the discovery thirty years later that one of Goebbels' children didn't die in the Berlin Bunker in 1945, but was spirited away. He now lives the life of an upstanding businessman in one of the home counties, but for some reason he comes to the attention of the British Secret Service and they want to find out all about him and what he 'knows' about the final days before Hitler's suicide. The book starts well and is fairly gripping throughout, but nothing is really explained - why are the intelligence services so interested in him? What could be know? What's planned for him? What is the reason for the apparent haunting in his new luxury home? We never get the answers to any of these questions, and I found myself asking what's the point, once I reached the end. Underwhelming pretty much sums up this book.