An STD? Who knew?

After reading a string of urban fantasies, I needed a good dose of blood and guts, and Ray Garton's Ravenous provided just that. That it was a werewolf tale only served to make it that much more rewarding, especially after reading so much "domesticated" wolf tales. However, when starting Ravenous, you will need to discard everything you thought you knew about these creatures of the night, as Garton puts his own spin on lycanthropy, so if you are looking for a traditional take on werewolves, pass this one by, but you are going to miss out on a good read.

The town of Big Rock is about to be rocked by something more sinister than the series of violent rapes they are currently experiencing. Emily Crane is the latest victim. The only difference is, she fought back -- and won, successfully putting her attacker in the morgue. But nobody expected the body to get up and walk out.

Sheriff Arlin Hurley is in hot pursuit of the naked dead guy, but loses him in the hospital, but one of his deputies picks up the chase. When Hurley finally stumbles across his deputy, his been torn to pieces. Now, in addition to a rapist, they also have a killer on their hands. From there, the body count and the rape count continues to rise.

After receiving a call about a domestic disturbance, Sheriff Hurley arrives on the scene of another brutal murder, but also find the body of a creature lying on the lawn. The creature, it turns out, is Emily Crane. And she was killed by a mysterious stranger, Daniel Fargo, a self-proclaimed werewolf hunter, who informs Sheriff Hurley that he has a problem in his town unlike anything he could ever imagine. Unless he does something to nip things in the bud, he is going to have an infestation of werewolves in his town, a problem that can go from bad to worse overnight, as, according to Fargo, werewolves have two hungers -- sex and red meat. And that is how they spread the disease. If the unfortunate victim isn't eaten during the course of the sexual escapade, they will become infected with the virus and in turn will have to have to be killed before they can spread the virus. As expected, Hurley has a hard time accepting this. Does he wake up to the fact before things get out of hand, or will his town fall to the creatures of the night?

Garton's raw brutality is not for the weak, but if you can withstand the gut punch, I can't recommend Ravenous enough. It grabs you on the first page and keeps you on the edge of your seat to the last page.