Reporter, Reuben Golding, is sent to a mysterious mansion named Nideck Point in order to write an article about its sale. Reuben never expects to be the greeted a beautiful woman who instantly captivates him. Marchent Nideck's great- uncle, Felix, disappeared twenty years ago, after years of searching for him with no results, Marchent decides to part with the sprawling mansion. But while Marchent displays the treasures hidden behind the walls of Nideck Point, Reuben begins to fall in love with the seaside mansion and plans to convince his family to allow him to buy Nideck mansion.

Reuben and Marchent share one night together, but soon after their passionate night, Marchent is brutally attacked by two intruders and Reuben is seriously wounded. Marchent Nideck does not survive the attack, and Reuben's recollection of the night defies logic. While being stabbed by the intruder, Reuben recalls the sound of a growling animal tearing flesh apart. Before Reuben succumbs to a deep sleep, he realizes that Marchent and the two intruders are dead.

When Reuben awakens in the hospital, the staff is astounded that Reuben's wounds are miraculously healed. Not only are Reuben wounds healing of their own accord, but at twenty- three, Reuben is experiencing a strange growth spurt. Reuben's bizarre body changes coincide with the appearance of a mysterious wolf man who becomes a superhero sensation overnight. When a school bus full of children are abducted and held for ransom, the famous wolf man ravages the abductors. The wolf man soon becomes strangely drawn to evil intentions and becomes labeled a savior, as those in need call for his help.

But Reuben Golding's wolf gift comes at a price. In order to understand what he has become, he must discover the secrets of Nideck Point where he came in contact with the strange animal which killed his attackers. When Reuben begins researching the Nideck family, he discovers the family appeared out of nowhere and each ancestor has been named after characters in historical werewolf novels. Reuben's only hope is to find out what really happened to Marchent's mysterious great uncle and why Felix Nideck's most prized possessions, including priceless ancient artifacts, vanished the night Marchent was murdered.

Anne Rice takes the legend of the werewolf where it has never gone before. The Wolf Gift's allure far surpasses Reuben Golding's immortal gift. Readers will be mesmerized by Anne Rice's inclusion of ancient history and Felix Nideck's mysterious disappearance. The author wraps up THE WOLF GIFT with a spectacular revelation about the origins of the werewolf. This is an addictive werewolf tale which only Anne Rice could deliver.

Book Summary

The time is the present.

The place, the rugged coast of northern California. A bluff high above the Pacific. A grand mansion full of beauty and tantalizing history set against a towering redwood forest.

A young reporter on assignment from the San Francisco Observer. . . an older woman, welcoming him into her magnificent, historic family home that he has been sent to write about and that she must sell with some urgency . . . A chance encounter between two unlikely people . . . an idyllic night-shattered by horrific unimaginable violence. . .The young man inexplicably attacked-bitten-by a beast he cannot see in the rural darkness . . . A violent episode that sets in motion a terrifying yet seductive transformation as the young man, caught between ecstasy and horror, between embracing who he is evolving into and fearing who-what-he will become, soon experiences the thrill of the wolf gift.

As he resists the paradoxical pleasure and enthrallment of his wolfen savagery and delights in the power and (surprising) capacity for good, he is caught up in a strange and dangerous rescue and is desperately hunted as "the Man Wolf," by authorities, the media and scientists (evidence of DNA threaten to reveal his dual existence). . . As a new and profound love enfolds him, questions emerge that propel him deeper into his mysterious new world: questions of why and how he has been given this gift; of its true nature and the curious but satisfying pull towards goodness; of the profound realization that there are others like him who may be watching-guardian creatures who have existed throughout time and may possess ancient secrets and alchemical knowledge and throughout it all, the search for salvation for a soul tormented by a new realm of temptations, and the fraught, exhilarating journey, still to come, of being and becoming, fully, both wolf and man.