Rich characterization and sharp writing turn just another werewolf tale into something special.
A teen’s shocked to learn that not only is a werewolf running loose in town, but it may be his best friend, in this debut novel and start of a supernatural series.
Toby Hoffman’s been a heavy-hearted recluse since losing his mom in a car accident when the young man was behind the wheel. Silver Falls, Oregon, may have a bright spot, however, with 16-year-old Rachel Chochopi as Toby’s new neighbor. Rachel’s friendly but despises bullies, convincing Toby’s best friend, Nate Schaffer, at school to defy browbeating Mike Mulligan and not give the jock his homework. Mike and his goons later retaliate against Nate, chasing him in the woods and leaving him trapped in a cavern. Luckily, a worried Toby and Rachel find Nate relatively unscathed in a torn, bloody shirt—but the stains aren’t his blood. There’s also a mutilated body out there, just like the one Toby’s sheriff dad, Walter, investigated earlier. Rachel’s uncle, Bimisi, wants her to return to the Umatilla Indian Reservation, fearing a legendary shaman is hunting the “white intruders.” Toby’s more concerned about Nate, positive his buddy’s new heightened senses—hearing, for example—and strength are indicative of a lycanthropic state. Not surprisingly, parents, including the sheriff, are reluctant to believe a werewolf’s responsible for a string of savage murders, so Toby and Rachel may have to stop the creature themselves. The brisk novel retains a straightforward plot by going the traditional route: a wolf-attack survivor inevitably becomes a lycanthrope, while silver bullets offer the best defense. Drummond aims for young adults, though there are dark moments. A few characters blurt obscenities, and gory parts abound—there’s definitely a lost limb or two. But it’s more exhilarating than horrific thanks to a speedy tempo and humor both subtle (potential wolf Nate loves monster-hunting games) and gleefully unsubtle (Wolfy’s Diner?). Drummond’s prose is likewise crisp and witty, with Nate watching a “pink lemonade dawn,” followed by “one of his sporadic, hypochondria-induced Internet searches.” The ending teases a sequel, but one that could expand Toby’s world, as well as the series, in curious new directions.
Rich characterization and sharp writing turn just another werewolf tale into something special.Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-5007-2447-4
Page Count: 388
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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