The Wolfen (1978), the debut novel by Whitley Strieber, tells the story of two police detectives in New York City who, while investigating the violent deaths of two policemen in a junk yard, discover that a pack of intelligent and savage wolf-like creatures are stalking the city. These predators are not werewolves, as they are a separate race of intelligent beings descended from wolves that live secretly alongside mankind. The Native American tribes of the northeast, having known of their existence for centuries, refer to the Wolfen as the true First Nation ("they might be gods").
Grubbs Grady has so far escaped the family curse, but when he begins to experience alarming symptoms at the onset of the full moon, he is scared that the jaws of fate are opening and about to swallow him whole. He has cheated death, defeated demons, moved on with his life. But Grubbs is torn between the world of magic and his wolfen genes. Can he fight the beast inside or will he fall victim to his tainted blood?
