As always, many thanks to Orenda Books for including me on the blog tour for Michael J. Malone's "The Howling".
"The Howling", Malone's third book in the Annie Jackson series, follows "The Murmurs" (2023) and "The Torments", (which I reviewed in 2024.) Malone incorporates enough backstory for those new to the series so that each book can be read as a stand-alone. For me, knowing the events of the previous books enriched the experience of reading "The Howling", so I recommend reading all three in order if you can.
In "The Howling", Malone picks up where "The Murmurs" left off, continuing to weave Scottish history and supernatural elements into an eerie mystery tale. The central theme of "The Howling" is that centuries-old dark deeds still resound in the present through familial connections. He's added new characters and multiple time shifts, but keeps us firmly situated in the story.
The main protagonist is Annie Jackson, who has inherited a dreadful curse that has haunted her throughout her life. She can foresee that a person is about to die, but is unable to prevent it. The curse batters her with constant murmurs, screams and visions that have driven her to live in isolation on the coast of a remote loch in Scotland. The stones of her cottage seem to have a special quality that quiets the voices and keeps strangers away, which allows her to live a relatively peaceful life.
Annie's contact with the outside world is limited to her twin brother Lewis and a small circle of friends. She wants nothing more than to be left alone, but Annie is the target of a black magic cult obsessed with wealth and power. Once led by the fearsome Sylvia Lowry-Law, the cult tried to exploit Annie's abilities in the previous books by attempting to sacrifice her in a demonic ritual. Sylvia Lowry-Law was captured and is now confined to the Ashmoor mental hospital. Unbeknownst to Annie, this cult, known as "The Order", still exists and is led by a man whose ruthlessness and cruelty surpasses Sylvia's.
The first chapter is set in the early 18th century. A young boy named Andra lives with his mother and two sisters in abject poverty. After rescuing an orphaned wolf pup, Andra forms a powerful bond with him, including experiencing "wolf-like" dreams and exhibiting lupine behaviors. Andra knows that if anyone learns his secret, he and his family are in danger of being accused of witchcraft and suffering the consequences. Malone returns to Andra throughout the book and through his story, we learn the origin of Annie's curse.
In the more recent past (around 40 years ago), Malone introduces Drew, a young boy who is panicked by crowds and loud noises. His family is moving to a new town but he has an uncontrollable panic attack at the airport. They abandon him and Drew is taken to a mental hospital. He shares a psychic bond with Andra and frequently retreats from the punishing world of the hospital into his imagined "wolf world" where he finds comfort. He is a tragic character with deep-rooted connections to both Annie and Sylvia. Drew is one of the most sympathetic and complex characters in the book.
In the present, Annie is visited by her brother Lewis and his girlfriend Clare, the police officer Lewis met in "The Torments". When Lewis shares the good news that Clare is pregnant, Annie has mixed feelings; she's happy for them, but also frightened. Since the family curse is passed down through women, if Clare has a daughter, she could inherit it. Annie vows to discover the roots of the curse in the hope that she can prevent it from being passed to the next generation.
Clare reveals the main reason for the visit: Sylvia Lowry-Law, the former cult leader, wants Annie to visit her in Ashmoor. Sylvia promises that if Annie meets her, she will tell her how to end the curse. Although Annie loathes the idea of being in the same room with Sylvia, the lure of getting rid of the curse is too strong to resist, and she agrees to see her. After a disturbing and cryptic meeting, Annie agrees to perform a task for Sylvia, and in return, Sylvia will provide Annie with what she's wanted all her life: freedom from the curse for her and her descendants.
The first step is for Annie to meet with Bernard Peters. Bernard's grandfather was Sylvia's solicitor and when he died, Bernard took over the practice. Ignorant of Sylvia's true nature (before her crimes came to light), he gave her access to her family records, stored in the law office's archives. The information in these records is chilling and revelatory:
Bernard is horrified to find out that Sylvia used the information to find Annie and attempt to sacrifice her in a ritual sanctioned by The Order. He's shocked when Sylvia tells him “Your grandfather was involved with a secret group that had their fingers in some very interesting pies." The law offices that Bernard inherited houses The Order's deepest secrets and she warns him to keep these records secret. He hates to believe that grandfather was capable of working with such malevolent clients, but commits to looking for the files. She warns him to stay vigilant; The Order has eyes and ears everywhere, and will do anything to get their hands on them.
When Bernard leaves Ashmoor, he runs into his stepfather, Matthew Pierce, a cold and cruel man from whom Bernard is estranged. Strangely, he pretends not to recognize Bernard, so Bernard confronts him in the parking lot when he leaves. As he's talking to Matthew, a hospital alarm goes off. As Bernard suspects, the alarm concerns Sylvia, and wonders whether there is a connection between Matthew and his client. He's eager to find out if what Sylvia told him was true, so he quickly returns to the office. When he finally locates the records of The Order. he is appalled and suspects that his life is in great danger.
Lewis does an online search for Bernard before he and Annie go to his office. They are dismayed when they read that he has disappeared, a suspected suicide. Despite this, they're determined to find the files and begin a search of their own. Their actions will place themselves in the crosshairs of The Order. With Annie, Lewis and Clare all under threat, will they be able to find the files, satisfy Sylvia's demands, and lift the curse that has plagued their family for hundreds of years?
As the story progresses, Malone reveals the extraordinary bonds between the characters. Three hundred years ago, Andra was punished for being a monster but his link with Drew is powerful. The real monsters live in the present in the characters of Sylvia, Matthew and other cult members. Their amorality and lust for power are formidable. The closer Annie and her brother come to unraveling the secrets of The Order, the more perilous their search becomes. In this struggle between good and evil, there are no guarantees that right will prevail.
The pleasures of reading Malone's work are manifold. His characters are fully embodied; complex, torn by conflicting emotions, and driven by powerful forces they cannot understand. The supernatural elements elevate "The Howling" from a conventional murder mystery to a gothic tale haunted by revenge, obsession and closely held secrets. It's a tantalizing combination, and I hope Malone has more in store for us in the series.
Michael Malone is a prize-winning poet and author who was born and brought up in the heart of Burns’ country. He has published over 200 poems in literary magazines throughout the UK, including New Writing Scotland, Poetry Scotland and Markings. Blood Tears, his bestselling debut novel won the Pitlochry Prize from the Scottish Association of Writers. His dark psychological thriller, A Suitable Lie, was a number-one bestseller, and is currently in production for the screen, and five powerful standalone thrillers followed suit. The Murmurs and The Torments, first in the Annie Jackson Mysteries series, were published to critical acclaim in 2023.
Please buy/order "The Howling" from your local independent bookstore, or go to bookshop.org and order there. They now offer ebooks as well.
For audiobooks, go to libro.fm.
