Book Review: Johnny Lycan & and the Vegas Berserker
Johnny Lycan & and the Vegas Berserker. Wayne Turmel, Black Rose Writing, 8 December 2022, Paperback and eBook, 291 pages.
Reviewed by Terry Needham.
This is a review of Johnny Lycan & and the Vegas Berserker—the sequel in the series started with Johnny Lycan and the Anubis Disk. Both are urban fantasy/detective thrillers. The author, Wayne Turmel, does a masterful job of storytelling and character development. He paints pictures in the reader’s mind with hidden clues that reveal the nature and personality of our lead character, Johnny Lupul, and “Shaggy”—his werewolf alters ego.
For example, the car he drives is an orange Dodge Charger packing a five-point seven hemi., fueled by testosterone. This implies, like all cars we drive, certain personality and character traits. Add to this, the author also reveals his choice of music too, such as AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, and Kashmir— a Led Zeppelin tribute band. Blended with plenty of snarky humor, the reader is fully engaged and cheering for our hero as he struggles to control his “animal” urges when Shaggy, his werewolf within, strives to take over as the full moon cycle approaches each month.
Other characters are introduced and just as well described and installed in the storyline. But, one sleeper is Bill, his gay-gimpy best friend and business manager, who turns out to be the stuff heroes are made of too. A great twist, just when it was needed.
The reader is also charmed and engaged by Cre, a werewolf curious young witch, who is the baby in the coven of Vegas witches Johnny must deal with. As she shows him a lot more than he bargained for as “a scary Wiccan goddess?” Or, as she says, “. . . just a hedge witch with a chemical engineering degree.” And that is not even half the story of Cre in this great tale.
Malcolm Cromwell, the cranky old man and Johnny’s ultra-rich employer from the first book, who collects creepy, weird, and dangerous antiquities, drives this story too. He now seeks a mysterious and powerful crystal Sky-Egg that was said to be given to Paiute Indians by aliens some time ago. His evil rival, Clive Bowden, is a Las Vegas-residing rich old dude with similar interests in weird antiquities too. And, he is the boss of his pet creature, a huge beast Berserker werebear named Torson, who wants nothing more than to destroy and smash everything he sees, especially a smelly old werewolf—Shaggy.
These characters are only a sample of those who drive this great story. The author weaves a tale with twists and turns that keep the reader spellbound and fully engaged. It is the most fun I have had turning pages in some time. It will leave the reader craving and looking forward to the next installment in this series. And, true to his creative talent, the author leaves the reader with an Area 51 tease of future events in the next installment in the series when Bill asks Johnny: “Did you know that last night there were over fifty reports of UFOs in Las Vegas?”