Hunter's Moon
by Tess Grant
Genre: YA Paranormal
Release Date: January 17th 2017
Books We Love Ltd.
Kitty Irish has heard all the rumors swirling around Daniel Phinney. Most of them involve a gun, a flask, and a temper. One chance encounter with the WWII veteran over a grisly find in the woods pulls the cover off the dark secrets of their small town, and Kitty is drawn into an unlikely partnership.
Armed with an antique rifle and a handful of homemade silver bullets, the two form an efficient team. Unfortunately, their game is werewolf hunting, and disaster is only a bite away.
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Excerpt
The tang of old pennies hung in the air. Kitty was smart enough to know she hadn’t stumbled on some stash of long-buried loot. No self-respecting pirate would be caught dead in the middle of the Michigan woods.
That coppery smell was blood.
Maddie had the scent too. The golden retriever pressed forward, nose scuffling through the mulch. Her fluffy tail hung inactive. A wiggly rear end might divert too much energy from her nose.
Somewhere high above, a cloud ghosted over the sun, and the forest light grew dark green and cool. Kitty moved forward slowly. It would be just perfect to step into the middle of something completely nasty. Her shoes still looked mostly decent after a winter indoors. A big smear of muck across the toes would really round out her look.
Maddie suddenly growled, stopping dead. One paw hung suspended in the air and her body tensed.
“Maddie? What’s the problem?”
The retriever lowered her head to the ground, slowly pacing a circle. Kitty leaned over the spot that had thrown the dog off. Maybe it was a coyote. Maddie hated them.
A paw had indented the soft ground right where the aging dog had spooked. Kitty nodded—positive it was a coyote—and crouched down next to it to get a better look. Maddie circled around her, chest rumbling. Kitty knew a little about prints. Her dad had been pointing them out to her since she could walk. Deer and rabbit marks were everywhere, but this didn’t belong to one of the gentle guys. It had the four toes and pads of a predator, and it was big. Laying her hand over top of it, she could spread her fingers and barely cover it. Deep claw marks dug into the leaf mold ahead of the pads. Cats sheathed their claws when they walked; this was some sort of huge canine.
If this was a coyote, it was mutant. What sort of a thing made a print like that?
Kitty moved forward into the deep shadows under the trees. Something dead was in there. Flies buzzed and whirled under the trees. Maddie stayed where she was, guarding the print.
The carcass lay half-hidden under some ferns at the base of a broad oak. It was a deer, or what was left of one anyway. Its soft tan hide lay torn; its white stomach stained brown with dried blood. Great gashes ran the length of it, shoulder to haunches. Kitty’s stomach churned. This was about killing to kill; not one bite was missing. Sickened, she turned to leave, halting at the sight of the head. She had assumed it was at the end of the neck tucked away unseen under the bracken. She was wrong.
Completely detached, it lay under the next tree.
Whatever had done this was no dog.
From Author Tess Grant
My Dream Cast
The question for the day is what would my dream cast look like for the movie version of Hunter’s Moon. I thought this was going to be a piece of cake, but when I actually sat down to write it, it was way tougher than I thought it would be. I feel like I really only need to fill three slots: Phinney, Kitty, and Joe. The rest of the characters are less important—unless we’re talking about Maddie, the dog—but Phinney, Kitty, and Joe need to be just right.
Clint Eastwood, LA Times
Phinney: I’ve got three options on this one. Clint Eastwood, Ed Harris, and Morgan Freeman. Clint was always my first choice when I was writing. He’s tough, but I’ve come to appreciate the softer presences of both Harris and Freeman. Harris is a little young, but I love his face. Freeman fills the shoes of the mentor. So I need a mix of the three—the toughness of Eastwood, the expressiveness of Harris, with the advice of Freeman.
Ed Harris, UPTv.com
Morgan Freeman, Business 2 Community
Bridgit Mendler, Alchetron
Kitty: I wrestled with this one. Five years ago, it was Jennifer Lawrence, but now the girl who played Katniss has moved on… to different movies, different age groups, different interests. So, I’m a bit stuck with this one. I need a girl who can be tough with a heart of gold. I’m still not sure I’ve found the right actress. I don’t know many in the older teen age group. So far I’ve come up with Bridgit Mendler, she of Lemonade Mouth fame, and Georgie Henley, who played Lucy in the Narnia films. Bridget looks a bit old and Georgie a big English. I’ll take suggestions on this one.
Georgie Henley, AllMovie
Joe: This one should be easy, right? Cute, dependable Joe. The perfect school friend who wants to be just a little more to Kitty. Of course he does come with that baggage…the convoluted family history with that strange death out in the Manistee National Forest, the overprotective parents as a result. Still, should be easy, right? I just need the All-American boy. Unfortunately, the best boy I could come up with was British. And he needs longer hair.
Drum roll, please…I give you Tom Holland. Everyone’s favorite Spiderman could totally be everybody’s favorite boy next door, Joe Zubowicz.
Tom Holland by Gage Skidmore
About the Author
After nearly ten years as a forensic anthropologist, Tess Grant semi-retired to a farmette in the backwoods of Michigan. She lives at the edge of the Manistee National Forest with her husband, children, and a number of strange critters, none of whom are werewolves.
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