The Wolfen
Artwork for the hardcover first edition
|
|
| Author | Whitley Strieber |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Melvyn Grant (for 1992 UK Reissue) |
| Country | United States of America |
| Language | English (U.S.) |
| Genre | Horror |
| Publisher | William Morrow & Co |
|
Publication date
|
1978 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback and Hardcover) |
| Pages | 252 |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 3842774 |
The Wolfen (1978) is the debut novel of Whitley Strieber. It tells the story of two police detectives in New York City who are involved in the investigation of suspicious deaths across the city, which are revealed to be the work of a race of intelligent beings descended from wolves, called the Wolfen. The novel is told from the point of view of the human characters as well from the Wolfen themselves.
A film adaptation directed by Michael Wadleigh and starring Albert Finney was released in 1981.
The violent junk yard deaths of Hugo DiFalco and Dennis Houlihan, two policemen from the NYPD Auto Squad, triggers an investigation led by detectives Becky Neff and George Wilson. The evidence show nothing conclusive, except that the victims were quickly and brutally attacked by some kind of animal, in light of the gnawing marks on the bodies' bones and paw prints left on the mud near to the attack. Despite the fact that the two murdered policemen were healthy, they seemed to be unable to defend themselves or fire their service firearms. In addition, at the time of their death the bodies showed signs of disembowelment and of being consumed. One of the puzzling pieces of evidence is that the hand of one of the policemen, still holding his gun, was severed from his arm, having not had a chance to fire the weapon.
To the detectives' dismay, the Chief of Police, lacking a plausible explanation for the attack, has written into the official report states that the policemen were attacked by a pack of stray dogs after becoming intoxicated with carbon monoxide, in order to avoid raising public concern, in light of upcoming elections. The detectives pay a visit to the Medical Examiner, Dr. Evans, who informs them that there were no knife marks, that the victims were eaten, and that unidentified canine fur, bites and claw marks were found on the bodies.
...
Wikipedia