Book Review: Naked Brunch by Sparkle Hayter
I can't find where I set this book down, so I can't tell you the publisher or ISBN. But you all know how to use amazon.com, I presume.
I have read some of this author's early mystery fiction, and there has always been a breezy, good-natured, amusing tone to her work.. With a name like Sparkle, she probably can't help it. So I was expecting Naked Brunch fo be something along those lines, especially with that title.
What I found instead was a very sombre-toned werewolf novel. Annie, more or less the chief protaganist, finds herself turning into a werewolf every full moon. Lycanthropy is not supernatural in Hayter's world, it is a recessive gene and both parents must carry it for the child to get all hairy on the full moon. This is a very complicated plot, and its overall theme of love betrayed is very sad. Annie struggles to understand the changes she is going through, and is helped by some folks named Marco and Carla, who run a sort of werewolf shelter that confines its patients so that they will not go out and kill. It outlines the horrible tragedy of being a vegetarian werewolf and waking up with meat stuck between your teeth (okay, yes, that was kind of funny, but Terry Pratchett did it first). There's a lone wolf named Jim who wants Annie and tries to get her away from Marco. The tension between Jim and Marco is palpable, and concerns another female werewolf who died.
What I found interesting was the premise that werewolves can smell souls. The more corrupt and rotten the smell of your soul is, the more you smell like dinner. So I guess that makes it okay that you get your throat ripped open... dubious morality again. But it was a fascinating idea.
I won't reveal the ending to you, and it ends on a note that says "sequel" to me. Overall, this is not a funny book. It is well-written but left me feeling very sad, not just for Annie but for the state of mankind.
Recommended if you like werewolves.
I have read some of this author's early mystery fiction, and there has always been a breezy, good-natured, amusing tone to her work.. With a name like Sparkle, she probably can't help it. So I was expecting Naked Brunch fo be something along those lines, especially with that title.
What I found instead was a very sombre-toned werewolf novel. Annie, more or less the chief protaganist, finds herself turning into a werewolf every full moon. Lycanthropy is not supernatural in Hayter's world, it is a recessive gene and both parents must carry it for the child to get all hairy on the full moon. This is a very complicated plot, and its overall theme of love betrayed is very sad. Annie struggles to understand the changes she is going through, and is helped by some folks named Marco and Carla, who run a sort of werewolf shelter that confines its patients so that they will not go out and kill. It outlines the horrible tragedy of being a vegetarian werewolf and waking up with meat stuck between your teeth (okay, yes, that was kind of funny, but Terry Pratchett did it first). There's a lone wolf named Jim who wants Annie and tries to get her away from Marco. The tension between Jim and Marco is palpable, and concerns another female werewolf who died.
What I found interesting was the premise that werewolves can smell souls. The more corrupt and rotten the smell of your soul is, the more you smell like dinner. So I guess that makes it okay that you get your throat ripped open... dubious morality again. But it was a fascinating idea.
I won't reveal the ending to you, and it ends on a note that says "sequel" to me. Overall, this is not a funny book. It is well-written but left me feeling very sad, not just for Annie but for the state of mankind.
Recommended if you like werewolves.