The Frenzy Way

The Frenzy Cycle #1

by Gregory Lamberson

When raped and dismembered corpses start to appear throughout New York City, the investigation draws police captain Mace into a plot that plays like a horror movie. Taking the lead role in this chilling story may be the challenge of his career, testing his skills and his stamina, but even a superhero would find the series of terrifying crimes daunting. Unlike anything Mace has experienced, every blood-spattered scene is filled with body parts and partially eaten human remains and in the wake of each attack is the haunting premonition of another murdering onslaught. As Mace follows this crimson trail of madness, he must accept the inevitable conclusion: whomever or whatever is responsible for this terror does not intend to stop, and it's up to him to put an end to the chaotic reign of a perpetrator whom, until now, he's met only in the annals of mythology. Unfortunately, the mere mention of the word-werewolf-would send New Yorkers into a panic.

Genres: Horror, Werewolves, Urban Fantasy, Mystery, Supernatural, Paranormal, Fantasy

368 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Gregory Lamberson is an author and filmmaker who specializes in horror entertainment. He is a two-time winner of the IPPY Gold Medal for Horror and a three-time Bram Stoker Award finalist. A motion picture based on his award-winning novel JOHNNY GRUESOME will be completed and released in 2017,. Fangoria magazine called him "the hardest working man in horror."

Lamberson is the author of the six-novel occult detective series The Jake Helman Files (PERSONAL DEMONS, DESPERATE SOULS, COSMIC FORCES, TORTURED SPIRITS, STORM DEMON and HUMAN MONSTERS), the werewolf trilogy The Frenzy Cycle (THE FRENZY WAY, THE FRENZY WAR and THE FRENZY WOLVES). In addition to GRUESOME, his stand alone works include BLACK CREEK, THE JULIAN YEAR, the zombie novella CARNAGE ROAD, and the instructional filmmaking book CHEAP SCARES: LOW BUDGET HORROR FILMMAKERS SHARE THEIR SECRETS.

In 2016, Lamberson directed a feature length movie version of JOHNNY GRUESOME, currently in post-production. He previously directed the cult films SLIME CITY, SLIME CITY MASSACRE and KILLER RACK. He is currently hard at work developing his literary properties as films and TV series.

Reviews

[11811 (Eleven) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, fast paced werewolf novel. It is basically a supernatural police procedural (werewolf noir?) but it has enough blood and gore to fit snugly in the horror genre. Fans of High Moor should enjoy this one and anyone who enjoys writers like J.A. Konrath or Jeff Strand (their more serious stuff.)

[Gef · Rating 4 out of 5]

Years back I read a book by Whitley Strieber called Wolfen, about a couple of NYPD detectives battling it out with giant wolves. Greg Lamberson's Frenzy Way kind of reminded me of that, at least starting out, since it involves NYPD detectives battling it out with werewolves. I didn't really enjoy the Strieber novel a whole lot, mainly because it played out like a police procedural with some horror elements thrown in. As I started reading Frenzy Way, I wondered if I was in for more of the same.

Short answer: no, I wasn't.

See, I'm not big on police procedural stories, at least the ones that feel like lost episodes of Law & Order or CSI. What I've sampled from the genre usually focuses on the tools of the trade (the techniques and technology), rather than the trade itself (the conflict and the intrigue). With my preconceived notions of what this book would be like, I had my fingers crossed the werewolves (one of my favorite monsters) could steal the show and drive the story.

Thankfully, that turned out to be the case. After a few chapters that had a heckuva lot of lingo and procedure on the part of Captain Mace and his investigators, the book livened up considerably with a genuine werewolf stalking the streets of New York and racking up a bit of a hit list. Mace, a celebrity cop in the wake of busting a famed serial killer, is brought on to an especially gruesome murder investigation surrounding a university professor who has been attacked and decapitated--and a bloody message left on the wall with the word "skinwalker." From there, what is already considered a career-killer of a case by Mace and others on the force gets even worse, as more murders occur by the killer, and more and more evidence points towards a wolfman.

The book plays out in very cinematic fashion, starting out as that straight detective mystery, then swerving into a built of a thriller as the killer emerges, and then to an outright action-horror onslaught leading into the climax. The characters take a while to shine, with even the villain getting a chance to do a lot more than twirl his proverbial mustache. The mythos involving the werewolves, the multicultural aspects especially, and a centuries old conflict with a Catholic sect of guardians really added depth to the story, too.

For me, this was one of those books that gets better as it goes along. I suppose all books should do that, but some that get off to a bit of an underwhelming start never find their footing. The Frenzy Way definitely finds its footing--or rather its claws.

[Allan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A believable Werewolf story? Who would have thought it? Amazing detail, with historical and plenty of myth behind it. How does a Police Captain cope after he sees what can not possibly be? This is a intense action packed book. I highly reccomend it to anyone who likes believable horror. Five stars easily. I can hardly wait to read the sequel.

[Danielle Gypsy Soul · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this book 3 stars but that's because this just isn't my genre. It's got a good mystery but so much violence in it. If you like a mystery/horror book with supernatural elements than this book should be right up your alley.

[Scott Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Monsters in books and movies are cyclic. For a while, Vampires were all the rage (until they turned into a sparkling mockery of what a movie monster should be). Then Zombies dominated the scene for a while. Now, for those who like their horror with more fur, fangs and claws, werewolves seem to be on the rise. And answering the feral call with a stylish and well-written entry is Gregory Lamberson (Johnny Gruesome, Personal Demons) with The Frenzy Way.

Set in New York City, The Frenzy Way opens with a middle-of-the-night phone call to Police Captain Anthony Mace about a gruesome murder. An old man has been ripped to pieces, and the killer left the word "skinwalker" scrawled in the victim's blood on the wall. In the old man's safe, they discover a broken sword, its blade forged of solid silver. What starts off as a horrific and bizarre case becomes much more menacing as more bodies turn up, each torn apart, each missing their heads, and with strange words, written in blood, on walls that all mean the same thing: "werewolf." Mace soon discovers that there are more things in the world than fits into his vision of reality, and that not everyone is what they seem. As in, if there's one werewolf, there are probably a lot more than you think.

Lamberson does not waste time with pleasantries as he starts the book out with a shot to the gut and keeps amping up the pressure from there. His plot is so tight that readers barely notice how many pages are going by. In addition, just when you think you know what's going on, who the heroes are, and how the whole thing's going to end out, Lamberson pulls the rug out from under you, letting the reader know that there are no rules, and that anything can happen.

One of Lamberson's strongest points is his ability to make the reader care about his characters. He accomplishes this rather difficult task by bringing the reader into the characters' heads and presenting their points of view on the situation at hand. In doing so, he makes even his most brutal creation into a sympathetic creature with whom the reader can almost identify. While he doesn't excuse the rage, he does let the reader know that there are reasons, no matter how twisted they may be. So much care is taken with the characters that the reader will be genuinely affected when they die.

In short, The Frenzy Way is a good, pulpy detective novel with more to it than meets the eye. Fast paced, well written, bloody, sexy and brutal, this is Lamberson at his best.

[Rachel the Book Harlot · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really dang good. It was well written, contained some thrilling action scenes, and the author got the atmosphere of NYC just right. I also really appreciated that he captured the diversity of the city, as well as the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) underlying racial divide. It gave the story and the characters an added layer of authenticity.

There were quite a number of POV's featured, and I'm torn on how I feel about that. Sometimes I felt the shifts enhanced the story (and I did like them), especially when providing another viewpoint to a scene or action sequence, but sometimes it did get a tad tiresome. There were one or two moments after a pivotal scene that a shift to another POV drove me a little bonkers. That being said, I was extremely impressed with the fact that each and every character featured, with the exception of one, was fleshed out and well done. No matter how minor, they had their own voice. Very impressive!

The only character I felt was not fleshed out well was Mace's wife. She felt 2 dimensional. In fact,
sometimes she came across as a little...dumb. For example, after Mace tells her he thought he'd seen a werewolf, she tells him not to tell anyone (which made sense), but then she says she's tired and is going to bed. Whaaa? Another example is when Mace thinks he's being followed by the villain. She asks Mace how the villain would know who he was and where he lived. It's already been established that Mace is quite well known due to the media attention of the crimes--something she is well aware of.

The story is quite dark, and there is some gore and some very gory scenes. Trigger alert: there is one very brief rape scene.

The book is tagged as horror, but I thought it fell more along the lines of a dark thriller/urban fantasy.

As a random aside, I love the cover. It was the first thing that caught my eye. However, I think the cover for Book 2 is spectacular, and I just might have to create a new shelf titled 'awesome covers' because of it.

Love that cover, and loved this book. Looking forward to Book 2.

Final Rating: 4 stars

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty solid horror story. Lamberson takes a more traditional view of werewolves, but the werewolf element really takes the backseat. The real horror comes from the element of delight that the Berserker feels every time he kills. The rest of the characters are kind of murky. Lamberson should have focused on the basic elements of the story instead of trying to create so much mystery about the killer himself. The violent scenes more than make up for it, and it all just became superfluous. I didn't particularly pay attention to the Vatican-sponsored assassin until he died, even Stalk was pretty useless, although it did seem like he was their only hope. Mace, as a hero, lacks personality. He's really static throughout the whole book and failed to elicit any sort of emotion from me.

The chase was the best part of the book. Everytime he rips into someone and our protagonists are just minutes too late is really what kept me going. Those scenes were exactly as gory and terrifying as they should have been; I felt genuinely panicked for the victims. It was that skill that kept me reading.

[nolandia.usa · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you feel like a New York populated by lycanthropes, then take the Hudson River line to the book/kindle store and grab/download a copy of this chilling, exhilarating romp. The author, Lamberson, does not disappoint. The book takes a cool concept - police procedural with a werewolf serial killer - and delivers it with panache: great characterization, werewolf mythology/history, secret Catholic and werewolf cults, and heart-pounding, horrific scenes that urge you to turn the page.

[Sommer Marsden · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty darn good read. Must admit to a bit of a crush on Mace (our m/c). Love a good werewolf tale (pun partially intended) I grabbed this on a whim and am super glad I did. I feel like I found a little gem. I'll be reading more of this author.

[Dan Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, entertaining, not so scary horror story. The book felt like and old fashioned detective murder mystery with a werewolf thrown in. Definitely recommend reading it if you like either or both of those genres.

[Nicholas Morgan anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite book series by Gregory Lamberson. The book reads like a movie. You can picture each scene vividly as it unravels on the pages. An interesting look at the world of werewolves from a slightly different perspective.

[Dimka · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story wasn't the typical werewolf in the city story. It was bolder with at more thrills & twists. It draws you into the story. A good read.

[Mark Mclenaghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't wait for the sequel!!

[Joshua Hair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly enough, this one didn't excite me as much as I'd hoped. It was decent as far as werewolf novels go, but the main villain came off too silly for me. "I am the strongest, most dangerous predator to have ever lived. All the other werewolves are stupid to hide in the shadows. I will hunt and kill as I please!" I don't know why, but it just didn't impress me. Besides that, I didn't understand what made him so much better than every other werewolf. Why should they fear him? How did he get so powerful? It was fun for awhile, but there were too many gaps in the story and too much that felt like filler.

[Richard Meese · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was overall pretty good. It reads often like a TV cop show, but the best parts are the weird werewolf scenes. The combat scenes were well done, and the characters are good. Unfortunately, most of the good ones are killed off. The final fight in a NYC brownstone during a lightning storm was impressive. The villains lair is fairly unusually creepy—torture chambers and all.

There’s a lot of comic book style gore, but I guess that’s what goes with the genre. This is good enough to make me interested in the rest of the series. I just hope they leave the main character alone(alive); he was pretty cool.

[Ursula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blood dripping from the ceiling! Flying intestines! Heads rolling! "Howling" (yes, I had to go there) fun!!!!!

[Monster]

Anthony Mace, captain of the NYPD "Murder Police", faces the most difficult case of his career. When one horrific murder becomes two, then three, then more, Mace learns that there are THINGS in the world that he never believed could exist. As the search for the vicious serial killer continues, Anthony Mace will have to go further than ever before to protect his city and find a way to stop a killer who may be unstoppable.
Gregory Lamberson really knows how to tell a story. The Frenzy Way flies by at a frenzied pace. From page one, Lamberson tears through the narrative as if a monster is breathing down his neck. The characters are detailed, yet Lamberson doesn't slow things down by dumping the character information all at once. He parcels it out in bite sized pieces, which are easily digested. Anthony Mace is the kind of cop that every city needs. He loves his wife, is loyal to the officers under his command, and thinks of the people of New York more than the politics of the job. And when faced with a seemingly impossible situation, he doesn't back down.
The story is filled with twists and turns, and I was surprised by a number of things. (Don't want to give anything away!) Lamberson is a master storyteller. His use of language is masterful, and his imagery ranges from beautiful to grotesque. I'm happy to know that he has a number of projects in various stages of production, as I can't wait to see what he comes up with next. I highly recommend The Frenzy Way for any library and all horror fans.
Contains: Gore, violence, sex, and strong language.
Reviewed by Erik Smith

[Brice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lamberson aptly tackles werewolf fiction in The Frenzy Way and fills the novel with many winks and nods to we werefans with ample references to classic films and scenes that feel like homages to some of those films, particularly a chase in New York's subway system that feels like you are reading parts of the scene from An American Werewolf in London. Admittedly, there's nothing here we haven't seen before and the whole book feels like a B-movie waiting to be made. That's not necessarily a bad thing, the book makes easy reading even if some of Lamberson's dialogue is way too over the top. One could do worse when seeking some werewolf fiction but there are other books out there that take the mythology in directions we haven't seen.

[April · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an OK urban fantasy about a werewolf pack in current NYC. The "good" wolves are led by Gabriel and follow the rules of the pack. The "bad" wolves are led by his brother Raphael and dangerously flout pack rules such that the public becomes aware of the werewolves' existence. And then there is a crazy but powerful rogue wolf who breaks out of prison and goes on a murder spree. There is also a good cop who is hampered by beaurocrats but allied with Gabriel. All the parts make sense, but I found it hard to care about the characters.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novel. Well-paced, some good scares, and an interesting plot. The primary characters are vivid and engaging. My only complaint (and it's a minor one) is that I think there are too many charactes, especially detectives. After a while, all the different names just ran together and I had trouble remembering who was who and why this so-and-so was different than that so-and-so.

But that's not a big deal. A fun and frightening read.

[Tasula · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it, because it was an interesting story and realistic (the goods guys did not always win) but it was really brutal. So more for readers who enjoy the gory details than myself.

Werewolves living in secret as protection against the Society of Torquemada, which over centuries has killed thousands of werewolves.

Interesting quotes at the start of each chapter - many relating to the annihilation of wolves. As an animal lover, I was quite sad to read them.

[Ruthie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish - I encountered some typos right off the bat and then one of the scenes was just... ugh.

On a separate note: Am I the only one who things goodreads needs a Did Not Finish option? I mean, I don't want this marked as "want to read" because I don't, but at the same time, I didn't read long enough to really count it as read, but this way I at least know to look for me thoughts on it. *sigh*

[Janelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gratuitous gore? Check.
Gratuitous sex? Check.
Minority stereotypes? Check. (partial check--really, he's just not imaginative with names)

This reads like the best kind of B-rate monster movie. Can't speak for the author's actual b-rate horror movies that he's directed, but his book is fast-paced and vicious, and kept me turning pages. It wrapped up pretty decently at the end, but I'm still planning to pick up the second one.

[Tobyann Aparisi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was just not for me. I really wanted to like it, It really seemed like it should be there right up my alley. Unfortunately, I just could not get into it. It ran a bit long on the description of things for me and I often found myself getting lost in action.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun book to read about werewolves. Not for kids.

[Evan Jensen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Awfully cheesy but also a solid story.

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting take, but tends to kill everyone off.

[RUSA CODES · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a Reading List Short List honor title in the Horror category for 2011. For the complete list, go to http://ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/rusa/aw...

[Paul Ohlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the werewolf lore, and the action is intense.

[Wdmoor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of action and lots of werewolves.