I'm really sorry I could not bring myself to finish this book. The core idea is an interesting one. The prose itself is actually quite good. I thought for sure I would just roar right through to the end.

The problem, alas, is that despite the presence of lycans (werewolves) there is no roaring here. There is violence, which often happens off-screen. There is political intrigue. There is war, which happens off-screen until halfway through the book. There is terrorism, which is also mostly off-screen after the prologue and until halfway through the book. If things started happening at the halfway point, why did I give up there? It's because I didn't care anymore.

I sort of cared about the teenage protagonists (there are two) for about the first quarter of the book. It was interesting getting to know them and their predicaments in the topsy-turvy world the author created where werewolves are real, have been around for centuries, and are due to a brain disease similar to mad cow. At least these teens were orders of magnitude more tolerable and interesting than the annoying vampires in [b:Twilight|41865|Twilight (Twilight, #1)|Stephenie Meyer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1361039443s/41865.jpg|3212258].

I think the basic problem is that the story never became the one I thought it would be. There were too many viewpoints and diversions to add complications to the plot and not enough plot. I thought this was a thriller, but it also wanted to be about teenage romance, politics, and social justice. What I bought was a horror novel; what I got was an urban fantasy. What I wanted was more action and plot as exemplified by the opening. What I got was too much description and dialog and beating around the bush.

Kudos to the author for writing something that could be seen as the more literate alternative to Twilight (which I also did not finish, because every page was cringe-inducing). I would recommend this to fans of urban fantasy and teen angst. I had to give up on it and move on. ( )

Years ago I swore I'd stop reading a book if it didn't grab my attention within the first 100 pages. This one didn't and why I kept reading, I've no idea.

Benjamin Percy is a very good writer. (Although he loves his similes as much as a patriot loves his country.) That aside, he really is a good writer. Problem is, he's not sure what "Red Moon" should be. Horror? Thriller? Political? Love story? All of these are mashed up but not well. And none of the main characters are very likable nor consistent in their motive or decision-making.

"Red Moon" lives in a world where lycans (werewolves) exist. They're largely banished to a "republic" near Russia but many still live among the unaffected, so long as they take their medicine that keeps their urges at bay. Some of our characters are infected, some aren't. The story plods along with various plotlines that take forever to mesh. And even then, it's rather poorly done.

There's way too many books to read to have burned time with this one. Maybe one day I'll learn... ( )

Really enjoyed this book. Amazing how much our present political situation in the US was presaged by this book about, or all things, werewolves. Just goes to show that good, truly probing writing can be found in any genre. ( )

This book is so different from any werewolf stories I've read. You could almost substitute a culture or religion (one that has regular and then fanatical terrorist members). Also, much of the ww population sits on land with a highly desired resource. The government is involved and little wars snowball making the US a war-torn third world country. It will definitely leave you thinking long after you finish it. ( )

This is probably closer to 3.5 stars, but I'll round up since Percy's alternate Earth where humans and werewolves have struggled to coexist for centuries is eerily fascinating. He writes too many checks that he can't cash by the end, though. ( )