Rocky Mountain News Review
by Mark Graham

Canyons by P.D. Cacek (Tor, 302, $23.95).

P.D. (Trish) Cacek is among the most honored of the new generation of Denver authors, with a Bram Stoker Award from the Horror Writers Association for the Superior Achievement/Short Story in 1996 for "Metalica,") and a World Fantasy Award for best short story in 1998 for "Dust Motes." As might be expected, Canyons, her first hardback novel is a "superior achievement."

Cat Moselle, a recent journalism school graduate, clutches a copy of Denver's Quest News in her hand. The supermarket tabloid contains an article with her first byline. The paper publishes stories about UFOs, Elvis sightings and bigfoot and alien pregnancies. As Cat sits on the bus cherishing her accomplishment, a drug-crazed man pulls out a gun and starts to rob the bus. Just as he is about to shoot Cat, a werewolf saves her. While this sounds like something straight out of Quest News, the bloody pawprint on the newsprint attests that the werewolf is real.

With a reporter's instinct Cat begins to investigate the story and soon discovers that there are two families of werewolves in the city. One clan is reasonably civilized and has hidden its roots and become important in Denver society. The other is totally vicious and more animal than human. And the young journalist is caught in the middle.

For Denver readers, the setting becomes a character in the novel, as familiar climes aid in mental pictures. The scary parts are even scarier when they take place in neighborhoods where you have walked. Some of the graphic sex and violence in the second half of the book may be a bit shocking, but you don't expect a werewolf, even a civilized one, to be nice all of the time.

Cacek is a local writer on the rise. If Canyons is any indication, she should make room for more awards on her mantle.

Mark Graham teaches English at Ralston Valley High School. His column appears monthly in the Rocky Mountain News BOOKS section.