Genre: Horror
Publisher: Samhain Publishing Ltd
Publication Date: 3rd November 2015
Pages: 415
MY REVIEW:
I received an advance copy of Wolf Land by Jonathan Janz from Netgalley in exchange for an honest
review. This is said review. This book is published by Samhain Publishing Ltd.
So, giving the fact I have other books by Jonathan Janz
and I know how good his writing is, I’m rather embarrassed to say this is only
the second thing I have read by him. The other one was The Nightmare Girl and you can read my review of it here. I absolutely
loved it so felt I just had to nab this one from NetGalley and give it a whirl.
A totally different style of book. Would it give me a totally different result?
Lakeview is a quiet enough town. It’s had its fair share
of woes and its fair share of successes. A group of friends gather for a few
drinks, a week before their 10th High School reunion, anticipating a
night of drinks and laughs. They didn’t expect the werewolf.
With seven people dead and four people severely injured,
the town tries to recover from the disaster and regroup for the reunion.
They didn’t expect the four injured people to start to
change. Change into something they never seemed possible. They also didn’t
expect the original, centuries old evil to crash the party.
So another werewolf story. There seems to be a lot of them about lately. Maybe it’s the season. Maybe I have just noticed more of them because thanks to books like this, I want to read more of them. I’ve never been a real fan of werewolves but when a story is written like this then I just can’t resist.
There are a whole bunch of interesting characters in this
one. Our main ones are wonderfully written and you immediately get the sense
that these people are real and have actually been living in each other’s lives
instead of just being words on a page.
Duane and Savanah would be the main “normal” characters
battling the evil. Duane is overweight, over qualified and over shy. He is an all-round
decent lad but not everyone’s favourite person. Savanah is the object of Duane’s
affections. She doesn’t necessarily want to be, but is happy to be his friend.
She has a young son called Jake who is her world and no one can seem to get
close because of that fact. Savanah’s friend and baby sitter, Barb, is also one
of the good guys and to be honest was one of my favourite characters in the
story even though she is not mentioned as much as others but steals the show
for me when she is on the page. Superbly dry and funny and hard beyond belief.
I loved her.
Glenn, Weezer, Joyce and Melody are the four who were
injured at the first party. Glenn is a ladies man. At least he was before the
change. Now he just doesn’t know what he is. Weezer is a sleaze ball. At least
he was before the change. He seems to have swapped places with Glenn. Joyce is
the town librarian. She is a stereotypical librarian. Quiet, smart and a
bookworm. Not for long though. Melody has, and is still having, a horrific life
of torture and abuse from her father and brothers. This could be her time to
shine and get revenge.
All four of these characters are again superbly written
and you suffer everything they are going through during this tale.
There are obviously others involved. Smaller parts are
played and the story is filled just right with a collection of different
personalities.
The plot is not unlike some of those old horror films you
might have watched when you were younger. Basically the werewolves come to town
and it is a battle for the good to survive against the evil. The difference with
this story is the fact that people know from the outset that they are dealing
with werewolves. There is initial disbelief at what they have witnessed but at
the same time an acceptance of what is happening and a desire to stop the evil
in whatever way they can. The biggest difference for me was the fact that the
werewolves themselves have character. They aren’t just huge ferocious beasts
tearing people apart, although they do that a lot, they have their own
individual traits and attitudes and it was great to be able to recognise this
in them.
The four “injured” characters feature heavily throughout
the story. This is the difference I mentioned earlier that makes this story for
me. You spend a lot of time with them individually as they come to terms with the
changes they are going through and what they need to do to survive. They all
have different triggers that make them “change” and it is fascinating reading
what effects them and how they deal with it. Some of them band together and
some of them just want to go it alone and cause havoc wherever they go and some
of them just can’t seem to understand or deal with what they are until the
chips are down.
As you get to know these people it will click with you
just how bloody damn good the writing in this book is. I had to remind myself
more than once that this is a work of fiction. The emotions and the heartache
and the roller coaster ride that these characters have to deal with is so
convincing that you will believe it is true. It’s almost like Mr Janz has some
insider information as to what happens when you become a werewolf because his
descriptions sounded spot on to me and extremely convincing.
The last part of this story is what I would describe as
the “battle scene”. It all comes together in an almighty battle between the
“normal” people and the werewolves running amok in a theme park. This is just
superb. It’s one hundred miles per hour. It’s full of blood and gore. It’s full
of sections where you will have to remind yourself to breath. It’s full of
parts that will make you gag and will make you want to cry. At times you will
be rooting for both sides and times you will be screaming for certain
characters to be wiped off the face of the planet. Jonathan Janz has a knack of
drawing you into the story so much that you can’t help but get emotionally
involved yourself.
Be warned though – this tale is not for the faint
hearted. Normally in a book involving werewolves there is some blood and guts,
some of it brutal. Wolf Land is not a
variation on a theme of some sort of Twilight
movie or book. Wolf Land, at times,
is brutal. There are some very harrowing scenes. I applaud Mr Janz for having
the guts to go where many would fear to tread, after all, if this were real
then the things he describes would happen. People just don’t like to think of
them happening. The reason I’m applauding is because even though some of the
things that happen made me cringe and want to cry at times, they weren’t just
thrown in for the “shock” factor. They weren’t just there for the gratuitous
spreading of blood and guts all over the pages. They were there because they
would happen and they were described in such a way to make you realise they
happen but not over exaggerated for effect. When you read this book you will be
convinced everything in it could happen. It is that effective.
To summarise: a werewolf story with feeling. Characters
that you could be living next door to because you believe everything they are
going through. Flip the page and the blood sprays all over your face. Fast, fun
and exciting. If you like your horror you will love this. If you like
werewolves, you will think you have died and gone to heaven. Highly
recommended.
General rating:
★★★★★ perfect. Highly recommended.
Horror rating:
★★★★★ it's got everything you need.
If you would like to help support Confessions of a
Reviewer then please consider using the links below to buy Wolf Land or any other books from Jonathan or indeed anything at
all from Amazon. This not only supports me but also lets me know how many
people actually like to buy books after reading my reviews.
Thanks.
Book Synopsis:
An unholy predator on the prowl!
The small town of Lakeview offers little excitement for
Duane, Savannah, and their friends. They’re about to endure their ten-year high
school reunion when their lives are shattered by the arrival of an ancient,
vengeful evil.
The werewolf.
The first attack leaves seven dead and four wounded. And
though the beast remains on the loose and eager to spill more blood, the sleepy
town is about to face an even greater terror. Because the four victims of the
werewolf’s fury are changing. They’re experiencing unholy desires and
unimaginable cravings. They’ll prey on the innocent. They’ll act on their
basest desires. Soon, they’ll plunge the entire town into a nightmare. Lakeview
is about to become Wolf Land.
Jonathan Janz grew up between a dark forest and a graveyard, and in a way, that explains everything. Brian Keene named his debut novel The Sorrows "the best horror novel of 2012." The Library Journal deemed his follow-up, House of Skin, "reminiscent of Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House and Peter Straub's Ghost Story."
In 2013 Samhain Horror published his novel of vampirism and demonic possession The Darkest Lullaby, as well as his serialized horror novel Savage Species. Of Savage Species Publishers Weekly said, "Fans of old-school splatterpunk horror--Janz cites Richard Laymon as an influence, and it shows--will find much to relish." Jonathan's Kindle Worlds novel Bloodshot: Kingdom of Shadows marked his first foray into the superhero/action genre.
Jack Ketchum called his vampire western Dust Devils a "Rousing-good weird western," and his sequel to The Sorrows (Castle of Sorrows) was selected one of 2014's top three novels by Pod of Horror. His newest release is called The Nightmare Girl. He has also written four novellas (Exorcist Road, The Clearing of Travis Coble, Old Order, and Witching Hour Theatre) and several short stories.
His primary interests are his wonderful wife and his three amazing children, and though he realizes that every author's wife and children are wonderful and amazing, in this case the cliché happens to be true.
And for more about Jonathan, visit his site or find him on social media:
Website - Facebook - Twitter - Goodreads - Amazon Page
Website - Facebook - Twitter - Goodreads - Amazon Page
No comments:
Post a Comment