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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9781596061910
ISBN number: 159606191X
Label: Far Territories
Manufacturer: Far Territories
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 248
Printing Date: November 14, 2008
Publishing house: Far Territories
Sale Popularity Level: 1228280
Studio: Far Territories
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I ducked into a niche between a cabin and the pilot house and hiked my skirt up enough to reach down into my garter holster. I've heard it said that God made all men, but Samuel Colt made all men equal. We'd see what Mr. Colt could do for a woman. Jack Gabert went to India to serve his Queen. He returned to London a violently changed man, infected with an unnatural sickness that altered his body and warped his mind. Eileen Callaghan left an Irish convent with a revolver and a secret. She knows everything and nothing about Jack's curse, but she cannot rest until he's caught. His soul cannot be saved. It can only be returned to God. In the years following the American Civil War, the nun and unnatural creature stalk one another across the United States. Their dangerous game of cat and mouse leads them along great rivers, across dusty plains, and into the no man's land of the unmarked western territories. Here are three tales of the hunt. Reader, take this volume and follow these tormented souls. Learn what you can from their struggle's against each other, against God, and against themselves.
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Rated by buyers 
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An Irish nun pursues an English werewolf through the American south--but in order to kill a monster, she may have to become a monster herself. The story is told in three sections, each with a distinct narrative style--a choice which holds reader attention but fragments the book. Dreadful Skin is not a unique addition to the werewolf genre, but it does feature realistically brutal violence and an unique, haunting Southern gothic setting. The thematic elements of justification and prey could be better fleshed out, but they add welcome depth to the novel. On the whole, Dreadful Skin is not exceptional, but it is compelling and swiftly readable--a Southern flare on a werewolf novel--and I recommend it.
I have read three other novel by Priest (the Eden Moore trilogy), and found them competent but not memorable; this novel was the very first of hers to truly capture me. Priest knows how to write a strong, detailed story--but often the plot is so tight and so complete that there's not much else, be it characters or themes, to take away from the book. Dreadful Skin is different: the premise and plot are fairly straight forward, and other aspects have the chance to come forward and shine. With numerous narrators and narrative styles, more time is given to story--life stories, back story, and storytelling itself. Running behind the nun's endeavor to kill a monster are a number of themes--the nature and roles of hunter and prey, the justification of becoming a monster to kill a monster--which add welcome depth to the story. Both aspects could stand to be better fleshed out, but their presences alone make Dreadful Skin a more thoughtful and meaningful book.
The other aspects of the novel are more varied, but on the whole: they are good, but never great. The numerous narratives provide more story and hold reader interest, but they fragment the novel and the reader never has the opportunity to lose himself in the story. The brutal violence that Priest writes so well makes these werewolves frightening--yet they are barely described and seem based almost entirely on clichés. The Southern gothic setting is a hallmark of Priest's novels, and it is both haunting and realistic here, setting the book apart from most of the werewolf genre. The themes discussed above are a welcome inclusion, but they could stand to be better fleshed out--especially at the book's abrupt conclusion, where they dangle, promising but unfinished, when the story cuts off. Finally, perhaps more a matter of personal taste, I didn't enjoy Geyer's illustrations.
This is by far my favorite novel by Priest. The characters are unique, the setting is wonderful, and the plot is strong--but there is more than plot alone: storytelling, character motivation, and themes all serve to make this novel interesting and meaningful. The book has its slew of faults, and they hold it back: it is often good, but it never quite rises to become great. Nonetheless, Dreadful Skin captures and holds the reader with a lyrical narrative and the brutal realities of a werewolf attack. It is an interesting and swift read, and I enjoyed it. I recommend it.
Rated by buyers 
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Wow, very cool. A renegade werewolf nun with a revolver in her knickers, hunting down other werewolves - you gotta give it points for premise alone. Despite the fact that the story was told in three stories (or novellas, or whatever), they were connected enough to understand the story as a whole without any real problems. Sister Eileen (the renegade werewolf nun) is hunting down other werewolves - especially one werewolf in particular. This story is told via three vignettes that are connected by this central theme. Though the pieces are told with differing points of view and in different styles, I did not find the overarching story to be particularly disjointed.
Rated by buyers -
Dreadful Skin was without a doubt my favorite novel this year. Cherie Priest is a fabulist storyteller with a gift for southern gothic. She paints a vivid picture of post Civil War west. Her characters are compelling. Most notably Eileen Callaghan, Irish nun turned Lycanthrope hunter truly came alive for me; she is witty, determine and surprisingly human throughout. Dreadful Skin manages to ask some big questions regarding good & evil, faith and free will, all the while telling a frightfully captivating story and never once tripping my fairly low gross-out threshold.
Rated by buyers -
There are three linked stories in this collection, all featuring the same werewolf hunting nun. Yes, that is right. A werewolf hunting nun. Someone that is not quite human herself, and on the trail of a monster, throughout the three stories.
The very first couple are told from the point of view of a few of the characters in it, the third somewhat different for the very first major part, being recounted in letters and journals.
On the whole, rather good.
Sister Eileen Callaghan : The Wreck of the Mary Byrd - Cherie Priest
Sister Eileen Callaghan : Halfway To Holiness - Cherie Priest
Sister Eileen Callaghan : Our Lady of the Wasteland - Cherie Priest
"I ducked into a niche between a cabin and the pilot house and hiked my skirt up enough to reach down into my garter holster. I've heard it said that God made all men, but Samuel Colt made all men equal.
We'd see what Mr. Colt could do for a woman."
While Mr. Colt's equality of weaponry is one thing, I doubt it applies to werewolves, and one of which is what this nun is hunting, and has tracked him to a riverboat. Or at least she hopes she has, and it isn't the other way around.
4 out of 5
Sister Eileen, still looking for Jack, has her own case of the furries to deal with, and comes a werewolf at a revivalist camp.
3.5 out of 5
When Jack and the revivalist's son from the second story team up for a reign of terror and snacking, Eileen realises she needs help, and makes a stand with some allies in a town church.
3.5 out of 5
4.5 out of 5
Rated by buyers -
Dreadful Skin is a delightful work of literary creepiness about an Irish nun who hunts her nemesis, a werewolf, across time and history. The story takes the form of three novellas which build on each other - from a doomed riverboat to an unholy revival camp meeting to a standoff in an isolated church. Compelling characters perish in sufficient numbers to keep readers worried about their favorites until the end of each story. Enough survive to leave a reader satisfied. This is also a visually attractive book with lovely illustrations. As in previous work, Ms. Priest has a talent for evocative description, good dialogue, and great last lines.
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