Keith C. Blackmore’s Breeds 2 – Book Spotlight

Welcome back, Readers! I hope the middle of the year hasn’t caught you unawares! (It certainly caught me by surprise.)

This month we’re revisiting the world of Breeds. Keith C. Blackmore’s world of werewolves broadens in this new tome, taking us from Newfoundland to the city of Halifax on the mainland. We’re not into Spooky Season yet… but it’s getting there. Let’s call this an appetizer before the main course! Check out my Spotlight on Breeds 1 right Here!

So, grab a fistful of silver bullets, grab yourself a plate of roast beef and let’s dive into the next adventure
for Kirk and Morris.

Book Stats

Author: Keith C. Blackmore.
Formats: Kindle, Paperback, and Audiobook.
Price: $7.49 for Kindle, $11.59 for Paperback, $25.99 for the Audiobook, or one Credit on Audible.
Length: 336 pages or 9 hours 6 minutes via Audible.
Narrator: Sean Runette.
Number of books in the series: 3 at the time of writing.

Basic Premise

Last we left Doug Kirk and Moses Morris, they’d just been put through the ringer on the island of Newfoundland. An old werewolf by the name of Borland had been committing crimes against both nature and God by, somehow, turning the island dogs into weres. From the yappiest Chihuahua to the most fierce Rottweiler, dogs were gaining new lives as ferocious man-things at the full moon. Morris and Kirk had been sent to kill Borland but not only had to deal with him, but these abominations as well.

And deal with them they did, though, not without injury. And for an injured werewolf, there is one key cure besides time… meat. The only meat available to our heroes was that of these strange weres. Which they did indeed consume.

There’s one problem with this, though; under the rules of werewolf society, it is basically illegal to consume the flesh of another werewolf. Kirk and Morris are unsure whether that same protection extended to these strange mish-mash mongrel weres; but if the assassin sent to take care of Morris is any indication? It’s close enough.

There’s one minor hiccup, however. This assassin is a 1000 year old werewolf with strength beyond that of most. And his head gets blasted right off his body by a trigger-happy homesteader. This does not kill a werewolf. It does, though, leave the head to heal in a pristine state,without much of the mental matter left in-tact. So, what you have is a blank slate of a creature. Will it become someone good? Will it revert to its evil ways? He’s adopted by a kindly homeless lady so we’ll have to find out, won’t we? Can she make him a stand-up member of society?

Some folks not content to wait and see, though, are the various werewolf wardens of the upper Americas. 8 of them show up in Halifax to help Morris and Kirk take down this rogue element before it can expose werewolf society to us cattle. Meanwhile, Morris and Kirk are stronger, fitter and heal faster than anything has a right to. A new development since their dietary dalliances on Newfoundland. Plus, they’ve been plagued with a particular hunger… a hunger not even the flesh of humankind can sate…

It all comes to a boiling point in Breeds 2!

My Take

The first Breeds book was awesome. I loved it. From the premise (But what if all the DOGS became werewolves!? Cujo meets The Howling? I’m in.) to the writing, it all came together to be so much fun. And that’s what I want in a werewolf book. I want some fun. Yes, it’s horror and werewolf stories are specifically known for gore and savagery. But at the end of the day, these are stories about hominids becoming canids and there’s got to be some levity in there, no?

Don’t get me wrong – these aren’t comedy, they aren’t goofy. There’s no parody, here. When I say fun, I mean that they’re fast paced, filled with action, filled with great and memorable characters and they have incredible fight scenes. Book 1 was an instant favorite for me.

Breeds 2 is very much more of the same and that’s a good thing. The world broadens out and we have some returning characters who we get to know a little better. It’s a very ‘Middle Entry’ kind of story, though – stakes are raised, new elements are introduced and things get a lot darker without eveything getting resolved. It does the job of a middle entry very well and I can’t wait to check out the third installment!

Sean Runette is your narrator for the Audible version and I think he’s pretty much my favorite audio book narrator at this point. The man could read me a shopping list and I figure I’d walk away having enjoyed myself. Very much like Breeds 1 and The Devil’s Desk, he does an excellent job with the characters, the pacing and keeping things lively and engaging.

All in all, I recommend this series for anyone looking for a fast paced creature-feature type horror story.