Deadlier... than the male

Wolf Series

by D. Michelle Gent

‘DEADLIER... than the male’ is set in and around Mansfield in the heart of Sherwood Forest, England and takes the reader into a dark and dangerous world where Werewolves not only exist, but exist alongside humans – undetectable until just before the human becomes the victim.
Werewolves do exist and they exist alongside our society, they have their own rules and hierarchy, they hide in plain sight and have done for millennia.
This is a Werewolf tale with real BITE - Twilight for grown-ups!
Sometimes, the female of the species is Deadlier... than the male.

Genres: Fantasy, Werewolves, Fiction, Paranormal, Science Fiction

382 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 25, 2010

About the author

I was born in Wirksworth, Derbyshire at the beginning of December 1964. As the first-born of three children, and the fifth living generation in a local mining family, I hit the news early, appearing in the Derbyshire Times for my mother’s efforts. Living all my life on the Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire border I met my husband – a local lad - when I was 16 and we still live in the same area with our two children. After school – which frankly, I found that I was disappointed in because of the lack of encouragement I received - work consisted of factories until I started my own clothing manufacturing business in the eighties.

In recent times a more stable lifestyle has allowed me to follow jobs better in line with my character. I spent a number of years working as a Bouncer Door Supervisor at public houses and night clubs, trying out different ways of getting away with being violent keeping fit – such as kick boxing and gym work - I like to do things girls don’t normally do and always do everything to the best of my ability. I am competitive and I love a challenge.

Since school: I have always been interested in reading and enjoyed writing but due to work and partying an active social life, I didn’t find the time to put pen to paper for any of my stories. In the last few years I have been writing down ideas for this and other books and after a nine-month spell working at a school decided to take a year off work to finally produce this first book. It’s taken a lot longer than the one year that we had anticipated but it has been SO worth it!

Reviews

[Christoph Fischer · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Deadlier...Than the Male" by D. Michelle Gent is an impressive paranormal story about werewolves. The heroine is an interesting and fascinating character with two personas, Red and Hazel. The detailed and imaginative description of the werewolf society, some outstanding 'historical' scenes and a clever narrative rise the book above many of its peers in the genre.
Werewolf stories always tend to have more impact in a gothic and European setting for me. Just the mentioning of Sherwood Forest, France and Victorian England can give me goosebumps.
The beginning is very powerful and establishes a strong sense of suspense. Red/ Hazel, the men in her life and her past make for a great story that isn't just your run of the mill paranormal read. Original, cleverly plotted and with great character development this is a book that will stay long with me, I'm sure.
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for a review.

[Stuart Laing · Rating 5 out of 5]

I confess to not being the biggest fan of paranormal stories in general and stories featuring werewolves in particular normally leave me cold. It was therefore with a certain sense of trepidation that I approached this book but almost from the first page I found myself being drawn into the tale.

The book focuses on the story of Hazel/Red, a young woman from the mid 15th Century England, and follows her adventures between the time of the War of the Roses and her life in modern-day England.

Hazel, after being attacked by a werewolf and turned into one of their kind, rises through the ranks to become Sentinel Exemplar, tasked with dealing with rogue werewolves who break the rules of Wolf society. However, for me, it is hard to describe the characters in the book as being the `Good` guys and the `Bad` guys as the lines between right and wrong are so blurred. Red is just as happy to kill innocent victims without any hesitation or conscience as the werewolves she is tasked with hunting down. That is the problem I have with these type of stories. Werewolves kill without thought in a brutally casual and callous manner and that makes it hard for me to truly invest, as a reader, in feeling any empathy with the characters. Miss Gent has done well therefore to have me root for Red despite her bloody life and past as the story flits back and forth through the centuries and around Europe.

Personally, what raises this book above the standard bite and slash werewolf novel is the attention to detail given to the back story of the characters and sticking to the true nature of the werewolf in folk tales. These werewolves are bloody in tooth and claw and are not likely to be seen posing around a High School gym comparing hand-creams and hair care products. These wolves are the creatures of old nightmares, and the book is all the better for it, as Miss Gent delivers a fresh take on an old story. The society of wolves is laid out as a multi-layered tapestry of various classes and orders from the head of all Wolves, the Lycaeon, down to the hated Throwbacks which Red hunts down. Having the leader of Wolfkind called the Lycaeon is itself a nod to the Greek myth of Zeus transforming the king of Arcadia into a wolf for serving up a child as a meal to the god.

The true history buff may point out anachronisms such as the main character sitting down to a bowl of potato soup or drinking chocolate in the 15th Century, but in all honesty small errors such as that do not detract from the story at all. What is more important is how the story feels as a whole, and from the opening scene of a rogue werewolf stalking a lone woman through the dark streets of a town in the English Midlands through to the climatic finale, the story rattles along at a cracking pace with pithy and earthy dialogue. Add to the mixture a rogue werewolf who has started peddling drugs to other wolves and his intention of overthrowing the Lycaeon with the aid of his army of followers and the scene is set for a thrilling and enjoyable read.

[Linda Root · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michelle Gent is an incredible story teller. The few editing glitches did not detract from the story, and they are not considered in my review. If I had a criticism of the book, it would be that I sensed, perhaps inaccurately, a disproportionate length to the Hazel sequences when compared to the segments when the heroine Wolf is in her Red persona. As interesting as her evolution over the span of centuries proves to be, for me the length times spent in her Hazel persona eclipsed the present day story line when she appears as Red, segments which I found the more compelling because they are sexier and scarier when the readers confronts them in a contemporary setting. While this is not my genre of choice, it is one kick-ass read.

[Trevor Gent · Rating 5 out of 5]

I watched this book develop over several years with the story line run past me every evening.
I felt I knew the book from end to end and didn't actually pick it up till on holiday 3 months after publication.
I couldn't put it down and found even though I thought I had an idea of the story it was presented with such detail and thought, I didn't really know it after all.
This is not just a story of the long life of a werewolf but gives background and reason behind the legends we all thought we knew.
Thoroughly captivating and very graphic in some places, with several sections where you think to yourself 'I didn't expect that to happen'.
I am the husband of the author and yes I am biased but I have tried to be truthful here and I know anyone that reads this will not be disappointed and come chasing me.

[Trevor Gent · Rating 5 out of 5]

I watched this book develop over several years with the story line run past me every evening.
I felt I knew the book from end to end and didn't actually pick it up till on holiday 3 months after publication.
I couldn't put it down and found even though I thought I had an idea of the story it was presented with such detail and thought, I didn't really know it after all.
This is not just a story of the long life of a werewolf but gives background and reason behind the legends we all thought we knew.
Thoroughly captivating and very graphic in some places, with several sections where you think to yourself 'I didn't expect that to happen'.
I am the husband of the author and yes I am biased but I have tried to be truthful here and I know anyone that reads this will not be disappointed and come chasing me.

[Trevor Gent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unlike Deadlier...than the male I didn't have much background to this book. I knew it was about werewolves and Jack the Ripper. The story, unlike many Jack the Ripper books, gives you a background and reasons behind his attacks. It is graphic in both the violence and the depiction of the Victorian era and gives an insight to the deprivation that the lower classes were subject to.
Again I admit to being the author's husband and my bias towards her books.
I can tell you she spent a great deal of time researching Jack the Ripper and studying autopsies and police reports and court transcripts of inquests. The story is fiction based on real history.

[Toni Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

fantastic book, was very hard to put down. Great twists and very detailed. Got really engrossed in it. Unusual storyline and very imaginative, the characters were very realistic. Would recommend this book as very well written and a good read :)

D. Michelle Gent

[Sam Le · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captures you from the start. Gent's second novel in the werewolf series further develops the characters you grew to love or hate from the first book. She just gets better and better. Highly recommended

[Joyce Wetherbee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gent offers us a variation on the traditional werewolf genre that I found quite intriguing. There are those born Wolf (yes, she capitalizes the word), and those "made." There is a hierarchy among those born having to do with the amount of power, strength and abilities, and those who are "throwbacks," a danger to Wolfkind and always killed when found. They live and work beside us, a society within society at large, keeping their secrets and laws.

The main protagonist is Hazel, aka Red, a Sentinel whose job is to bring to justice or execute when necessary, Wolves whose activities risk exposing them to the world at large. Gent's Wolves unapologetically enjoy what they are when they hunt. Their prey of choice are Humes (humans to the rest of us).

At first appearance, the book reads like a story within a story because of it's dual timelines. This is one of those books that has you following Red in the current time stream while giving you Hazel's story, which begins some 500 years prior. Her history, written by a Scribe, is uncannily accurate for all that she was not consulted on its contents. As Red pursues answers to questions relevant to her most recent case, she hands a companion a book that tells her history. The book takes us through Hazel's making at a Wolf, to her claiming the name Red.

While not always the case, this is one of those times where going back and forth between present and past are used with great effect. I became more absorbed in the story the further I read. Red's history is necessary to the overall success of the book and was incorporated with skill and a deftness that enhanced the overall reading experience. The two timelines are brought together in a powerful conclusion at the end. The story offers greed, betrayal, power grabs, drugs, and a bit of romance.

This story was very well written. The historical aspects of life several hundred years ago felt well researched and came to life in my mind as I read. The characters were complex and very well developed. Gent even went so far as to explain why her Wolves went for certain parts when eating their prey, a twist I've not come across in any other novel of this genre. Kudos for a new twist. Now that I've been introduced to this author, I'm looking forward to reading more of her work.

I was gifted a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[J.C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m going to start off right away by saying that I loved this book, and can’t wait to read the others in the series. To borrow a phrase I saw bandied around the other night, it’s ‘unputdownable’.

Deadlier … is about werewolves; werewolf families in a werewolf society. I like this excerpt from the back cover: “You think you know your neighbours, your town and your surroundings; but everyone has a secret, some are darker than others. Hide in plain sight. Keep everyone in the dark; give nothing away. Leave no witnesses. There are the rules governing a society that exists within our own.” And when I first opened the book, I was delighted to find a poem written by Rudyard Kipling, The Female of the Species. A chilling and appropriate introduction that had my spine tingling before I even got to the first chapter.

Michelle’s book is highly entertaining; her characters well-rounded and believable. Red, the main character, is strong physically, intellectually and emotionally—and yet, has a vulnerability that is extremely appealing. All her characters, no matter how they are placed in importance, have been given similar treatment, respecting their own strengths and foibles. The book has been well-researched, and the plotlines are excellently laid out.

There is strong language throughout Deadlier …, and graphic violence; thus, this is not a book I would recommend for the younger set. This is a more sophisticated write, that would definitely be enjoyed by more mature teens to adults, however, and I give it a full five stars in all categories. A must-read book for all who read this genre, Michelle’s, Deadlier … than the male, does not disappoint, and is absolutely ‘unputdownable’.

[Mad about · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where oh where to begin...hated it.

Who am I friggin kidding?? How anyone could ever dislike this book is beyond me for the the reasons that I most definitely will list.
1. Sexy Heroine.
2. She's a werewolf.
3. She has a porsche
4. It's basically 2 books in one!

Now about the story...

Red a.k.a Hazel is the Sentinel Exemplar, the big cheese in Wolf culture who was prophesied from the beginning to be the possible saviour or destructor of them all. In her 17th year she is whelped by an ancient wolf in order to become the bride of Luke, a fellow wolf.
She is torn from the human world and must adapt or die. Each full moon see's her humanity slowly slip away with her consumption of human flesh.
The story is continued through the retelling of Red's history and present day which flow well and doesn't confuse atall. Your heart reaches for Red at many points throughout and you feel oddly glad when she gets her bloody revenge.

Ticks so many boxes for me with that it contains a little bit of everything that entices me to a story. Very well researched as details are so fine that you just know alot of work has gone into the making of this story.
It does contain strong language and very graphic action so is not for the faint hearted in that sense.

[Wendy Steele · Rating 3 out of 5]

The suspense builds from the first page of this book with a scary opening. A rogue werewolf is executed by a Sentinel in the Midlands of the UK and the network of werewolf hierarchy and history unfolds.

I have to be honest...I couldn't finish this book. Instead of this being a fast paced, exciting romp, the repetitive, fact filled dialogue slowed everything down. Hazel/Red, the main character is happily chomping on human innards one minute, killing without a second thought and the next, she wants to leave the werewolf community. Her life history is presented to another character as a book, supposedly recounting her life by a third person but instead, it's the same repetitive clunky dialogue and fact telling.

In the half that I managed there were some great ideas, the idea that werewolves had an influence in great battles of the past intrigued me, but it was the story telling, the style of this book that didn't suit me. Without being able to identify with or empathise with the characters, I lost interest.

Sorry, just not my cup of Rooibos!

[Toni Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely brilliant storyline. Love how it merges fact and fiction together - great mix of both my favourite genres- could be a plausable ending for this case history! great follow-on from her first novel and the characters grow effortlessly. Another 'can't put down' as it made me want to read it faster than physically possible. Great escapism into the dark world that is within imagination.

[Dawn Hudson]

A fantastic read that grips you from the start and leaves you wanting more at the end. Beautifully thought out characters and plotlines that make you want to be a part of Hazel's world. Suitable for everyone from teens upwards.

[Spike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn goood read :)

Normally read Zombie novels, but a mate reccomended this, and it was a fine read all the way through :)

[Fiona Gahan]

Freakin good read...pacy...sexy..thrilling and basically *a could not put down type of book* will read all of Shells books because the writing is right up my ally as a reader!

[Fiona Gahan]

great padding out of the main character in this one..love the way the past and present is woven into one :D

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good read!

[Donna Sanders]

Brilliant read, couldn't put it down, would recommend to everyone.

[Donna Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another brilliant read, go buy yourself one quick!!!

[books · Rating 5 out of 5]

1st book in the series

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

EXCELLENT

[June · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can really lose yourself in this book,It's like being there a good read.

[books]

2nd book in the series after deadlier than the male

[Anaïs · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not bad. I had fun reading the adventures of Red, she is very different from the usual heroes in fantastic/fantasy books. However, I could not put more than 3 stars mainly because the story is lacking editorial work: some parts are very long and not very useful for the story, the two stories don't complete each other very well... Globally the editor's work is not done here, it's like reading a good draft, but not a final book. Because of that, you spot D. M. Gent as a new writer instead of being immersed in the story.
Apart from this, it's a story with violence and sex. Maybe some scenes are crude, and maybe Hazel/Red is too predictable and too badass, as if nothing bad could happen to her. In these conditions it's hard to really have empathy for her, but it's a very entertaining novel despite these small flaws.
I'm not sure I will read the following books, to be honest. Finishing this one, I feel like I had enough.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an extremely interesting and unique look into a wolf's life. This is the first book I have read by this author, and was not sure what to expect. However I knew after the first chapter I would be a fan for life. The author gives amazing details and is able to place the reader into the story. The plot goes back and forth in time, which makes you think! If you are a fan of wolves this is one is for you. Hazel is turned and is told she is part of the prophecy. However it bends to her will, the outcome is uncertain. Great read! WaAR

[Brian Bigelow · Rating 3 out of 5]

The dialog was somewhat repetitive and therefore somewhat tedious for my taste. As a result the story was putting me to sleep at times. There, however, was one chapter that really grabbed me. While they were upon their travels there was a wolf boy in the circus they had came across. Those interactions were quite brilliant actually.