The Last Werewolf
Glen Duncan
July 2011
304 pages
********************
I am shamelessly lifting the synopsis from the publisher’s site (thank you Knopf, please don’t sue):
Meet Jake. A bit on the elderly side (he turns 201 in March), but otherwise in the pink of health. The nonstop sex and exercise he’s still getting probably contribute to that, as does his diet: unusual amounts of flesh and blood (at least some from friends and relatives). Jake, of course, is a werewolf, and with the death of his colleague he has now become the only one of his kind. This depresses Jake to the point that he’s been contemplating suicide. Yet there are powerful forces who for very different reasons want—and have the power—to keep Jake alive.
Here is a powerful new version of the werewolf legend—mesmerizing and undeniably sexy, and with moments of violence so elegantly wrought they dazzle rather than repel. But perhaps its most remarkable achievement is to make the reader feel sympathy for a man who can only be described as a monster—and in doing so, remind us what it means to be human.
I love this synopsis, because 1) it’s funny 2) it’s got parentheses and you all know I love me some parentheses and 3) surprise! it’s amazingly accurate. This book is sexy and it’s also elegantly wrought. It’s also a bit gruesome, but hello…werewolf? Kinda hard to avoid that one.
A few favorite passages:
Reader, I ate him. p. 133. This one kills me. Every. Time.
This has been one of the great vampiric contentions, that they constitute a civilisation: They have art, culture, division of labour, political and legal systems. There’s no lycanthropic parallel. The yeehaw explanation is we’re too busy chasing meat’n'pussy, but the truth is the language of the wer is anathema to the wulf. After a few transformations your human self starts to lose interest in books. Reading begins to five you a blood-brown headache, People describe you as laconic. Getting the sentences out feels like a giant impure labour. I’ve heard tell of howlers going decades barely uttering a word.
“Yeah,” I said to Jacqueline, as I lit another Camel, “we’re not great ones for belles-lettres.”
“Yourself excepted.”
Well, yes. Obviously I, anomalously, still can’t fucking shut up. p. 144
Novelists, notoriously, are always working, eyes and ears open for anything they might be able to use. Ditto werewolves. Not for quirky characters or snippets of dialogue but for murder locations, places that lend themselves to the secret kill. I’d had this stretch of coast – the hundred miles between Monterey and Morro Bay – in the file for years. p. 249. Ah. Good to know my hometown is an ideal spot for werewolf murder.
The writing is practically the perfect combination of snark and beauty (despite with the above-mentioned gruesome). I loved Jake’s warped humor and his moments of introspection. And while the plot itself was at times convoluted and hard to follow, the writing more than made up for it.
Even out of context, those quotes are funny, so I’m betting they’re hilarious when you actually encounter them as a reader. This novel is one that I’ve picked up a couple of times on the “New Books” shelf in the library, and now I’m really regretting that I’ve left it there each time. But next time…
Buried In Print´s last [type] ..More in Anger: Delicate and Brutal
Hmm. The premise sounds intriguing, though the “gruesome” bit bothers me. I’m more than a bit squeamish, and it doesn’t take much for me to stumble headfirst into nightmares! But I like the idea of turning a stereotype — the werewolf — into something new.
Meg´s last [type] ..The pretend orchardist
I loved this! But the sequel (I have a review coming up) – yuck.
rhapsodyinbooks´s last [type] ..Review of “The Last Gunfight” by Jeff Guinn
I listened to this one on audio, and the narrator was perfect. It was such a detailed read, and also, there were some very graphic sexytimes, which I thought were overdone a bit. But I did end up really liking it, so there you go. It’s not for everyone, but it was unforgettable.
zibilee´s last [type] ..The Red Tent by Anita Diamant — 336 pgs
I just don’t know about the werewolves. . .
bermudaonion(Kathy)´s last [type] ..Author event and giveaway: Erika Marks
I was a tad lukewarm on this. I listened to the audio (Robin Sachs – yeah baby) and it was the narrator that got me through it. Perhaps it was my mood, because now the quotes seem funny to me, but at the time it was just obnoxious. Wasn’t the least bit interested in reading the sequel.
Sandy´s last [type] ..Code Name Verity – Elizabeth Wein
Snarky and beautiful writing is just my cup of tea.
Trisha´s last [type] ..Return of the Tag Chicken
Oh ya! I’m doing a Halloween book exchange and picked this one up because I liked the cover. Glad to see your endorsement! Maybe I’ll have to pick up a copy for myself, too.
Trish´s last [type] ..The Look in the Grocery Store
This sounds like a perfect choice for next year’s RIP challenge. I hope I remember about it!
Jenners´s last [type] ..RIP Review: Let Me In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
jenners, let’s put on our calendar and we can do a readalong?! Next Oct, 2013.
Care´s last [type] ..Paul is Undead
It sounds like Frankenstein, but with sex.
heidenkind´s last [type] ..The Perfect Reading Space
Okay, I’m just not much of a paranormal gal, but ummmm…I really want this one now! It shocks me to even say that, but alas, it is so. Hell, if only for “Reader, I ate him” alone.
Debi´s last [type] ..good stuff…
I don’t know about this one. It sounds like I’d like it, but I’m not sure about gruesome and graphic sexytimes. Those usually don’t work for me.
And I love parentheses too (I really do).
Kristi´s last [type] ..We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Reader, I ate him. p. 133.
HeeHeeHee.
stacybuckeye´s last [type] ..The IT-along is finally over
I need to finish this damn thing.
Andi (Estella’s Revenge)´s last [type] ..Read-a-Thon Wrap Up and Recovery!
I loved this book. The sequel was just as good.
Not sure why I haven’t read or listened to these yet … you’ve made me reconsider.
Beth F´s last [type] ..Stacked-Up Book Thoughts 3
Werewolves are not usually my thing, but the snarky thing gets me every time. Thanks for the recommendation.
Jennygirl´s last [type] ..Announcing the Bleak House Read-a-Long