The Wolf's Hour - Robert R. McCammon

From the British Grafton hardcover dust jacket:

"And then the clouds were coming after him, about to engulf him. He ran, but he couldn't run fast enough. Faster. Faster. The storm roaring on his heels. Faster. His heart, pounding. A banshee scream in his ears. Faster....

And a change exploded in him. Dark hairs burst from his hands and arms. He felt his spine contort, bowing his shoulders. His hands---no longer hands---touched the earth. He ran faster, his body whipsawing, and he began to rip from his clothes...."

It is 1944. A message from Paris warns Allied Intelligence of something big in the works---something which might have serious implications for D-Day. The only way to get more information from the agent in Paris---now closely watched by the Gestapo---is to send in a personal courier.

Russian émigré Michael Gallatin is picked for the job. In retirement as a secret agent since a grisly episode in North Africa, Gallatin is parachuted into occupied France, on a mission which will take him to the festering heart of the Third Reich on the scent of doomsday.

As a master spy, Gallatin has proved he can take on formidable foes---and kill them. As a passionate lover, he attracts beautiful women. But there is one extra factor which makes Michael Gallatin a unique special agent---he is a werewolf, able to change form almost at will, able to assume the body of a wolf and its capacity to kill with savage, snarling fury.

In the madness of war, Gallatin hunts his prey---ready to out-think his opponents with his finely-tuned brain. Or tear their throats out with his finely-honed teeth....

The Wolf's Hour is a novel by Robert McCammon---master of horror fiction---which breaks the mold of the werewolf novel. It is a remarkable tale of pulse-pounding excitement and a fascinating, complex, and compelling portrayal of the werewolf as noble warrior and conflict-torn being.