CASTLE OF THE WOLF

Author: Sandra Schwab ISBN: 0505527200 5/2007 HISTORICAL/PARANORMAL Publisher: DORCHESTER

INTO THE DARKNESS Celia Fussell's father was dead, and she was reduced to the status of a poor relation in the house of her brother—the new baron—and his shrewish wife. A life of misery loomed ahead. But, no. There was hope. Deep in the Black Forest, in the Great Duchy of Baden, was Celia's inheritance. Among fir trees so dark they almost looked black, the Castle of Wolfenbach rose, a skeletal ruin adorned by gargoyles where even locals feared to tread. It was a fortress of solitude, of secrets, of old wounds and older mysteries. But it was hers. And only one thing stood in her way: its former master, the hermit, the enigma ...the man she was obliged to marry.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Set in Germany after they aligned themselves against Napoleon, CASTLE OF THE WOLF is not a book I will recommend to those of you looking for a historical with a lot of paranormal elements to it. At best, this one is limited to a paragraph or two that alleges paranormal activity, so I am not certain why it's billed as that sub genre. In truth, it is not a book I recommend at all, as I find it rather silly.

The plot is odd, the characters murky and not interesting, and the dialogue... well, that takes the cake. Most of what the heroine utters are nonsense words such as drat, bugbear, bird-witted dodo, and so on. But my hands down favorite dialogue bit comes from the hero—who mostly snarls and growls due to his likeness of a wolf, I guess—when he utters the phrase "holy cow" twice. I find that funny simply because of the time frame of the story. A phrase like that is so out of place in this gothic tale, that it should be in bold-faced italics.

Despite the attraction of a story set in Baden-Baden, CASTLE OF THE WOLF has nothing else for me.

Shannon Johnson