Solid Creepy Creature Feature Thrills. If you’re a Creature Feature kind of person, or perhaps an XFiles or Buffy the Vampire Slayer or similar type show fan, you’re going to love this book. Yes, it is deep in the Dane Maddock Universe, but Wood is generally careful these days of not adding in *too* much to any given story that you need to know about beforehand, and here it basically amounts to one or two characters from other books directly showing up + a few references to the immediately prior book where Maddock himself updates his relationship status. Spoilers for those books, but mild. If you’re really particular, always start at Book 1 of a given series anyway, or perhaps in the case of this sprawling universe, start from Original Publication Date and read through the series that way.
But for old and new fans alike, this particular entry really is classic Maddock and Bonebrake. Two long time buddies getting wrapped up in yet another Indiana Jones type investigation, this time more on the cryptid/ creature side with some historical/ archeological connections rather than the more pure historical side ala the prior book, March 2026’s Kingdom Of Pirates (the one that sets up the references here to Maddock’s relationship status). The creature at hand is one of the creepiest and most terrifying of the series to date, and in fact there are certain scenes that those of the more faint of heart may want to skim through a bit. For everyone else though, they’re the exact type of gory, gritty creature feature adventure/ survival tale that at least some readers will be *right there* for, and those readers in particular are truly going to love this book.
The fact that this book leaves enough dangling – while telling a complete tale in its own right, to be clear – that it is almost blatantly obvious that either the next book Woods releases or perhaps one of the next books Woods releases will be a direct sequel to this one is really just icing on the cake, as these threads are left perfectly dangling such as to entice readers to be ready for the sequel without feeling like any real form of cliffhanger and certainly not one story cut in half. This is absolutely a complete tale within itself – indeed, one of the elements that helps it feel this way is *also* one that blatantly sets up the “a sequel is coming soon” feeling – and that sequel is sure to have even more epic and direct action than this one did, which means it will truly be one hell of a ride.
After all, this book was extremely fun in all that it did. Topping this? It’s going to be like fighting over which Orlando coaster is better – Velocicoaster or Guardians Of The Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.
I for one can’t wait to get my hands on it.
Very much recommended.
This review of The Ozark Howler by David Wood was originally written on April 14, 2026.