Violence Rating: 3/5 - Full Moon Frenzy. (Though I had hoped for more gory and brutal attacks, anticipating a 5/5 rating, this did not diminish my enjoyment.)
Just wow, this is a book of 364 pages and I couldn't put it down the whole time. I read it in one sitting. I absolutely LOVED it. I own the other two books in the series, but after reading their blurbs, I'm not eager to dive into them. Why? Perhaps because the story seems to stray away from what it initially was and definitely because I don't care about Lulu and her 'mafia boss' campaign. Maybe the third book is better, but I digress, let's talk about this masterpiece.
I’m going to be honest, I’m the type of person and reader who values characters and natural, authentic dialogue. I don’t care as much about endless paragraphs of descriptions that go on and on just to fill in pages, I care about action that makes sense and characters that are relatable, realistic and a dialogue that doesn’t make you gag or cringe. That being said, this book excels in what I’m looking for.
The action is fast-paced, with just the perfect amount of timeout, only to catch your breath and jump right back into madness. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions, going through all stages of awe, shock, anger, sadness, joy. The plot delivered one twist after another, consistently leaving me stunned just when I believed I had it all figured out. This book keeps you guessing and I must admit, Mr. Drabble found the perfect formula to hook his readers.
It’s safe to say that the dialogue stole the spotlight in this book. It’s very easy, very real and utterly immersive, it keeps you there by forcing you to witness their insanity, their struggles, to listen to the madness as a silenced and powerless judge.
The story starts with a prison transport bus delivering fresh new meat. Guards, a veteran, a lawyer, a driver, criminals, are all trapped in a steel vehicle. Changes are made at the very last minute with a new addition to the roster (Knox) and a new route to take, so what can go wrong?
Well, Knox's people are in a speeding van, heading towards the prison bus right on schedule. That is after they hit an animal on the road, which turned out to be just a naked man. Nothing they didn’t easily dispose of to resume their mission. They slam into the transport bus and all hell breaks loose. What seemed to be a naked lunatic that was buried in the woods, proved to be a werewolf coming back for vengeance and he wasn’t alone.
We have a full range of characters: the good, the bad, the morally grey, the absolute scum, the hero, the devoted, the backstabber, the tearjerker, you name it. Forced into a situation that brings out their most primal instincts, they are compelled to reveal their true colors as a group of unlikely allies.
However, what seems to be a random attack or accidental encounter in the moors, soon is revealed to be something bigger than that and our protagonists find themselves dragged into a conflict far older than those lands. The moors belong to the pack of werewolves who deal with their own management drama and everything just got complicated by a handful of people scurrying in their territory.
By far, the protagonist (Clay, the veteran), and his fiancee (Saffy), are the best duo I’ve read so far in this sort of novel. They are an adorable couple, their relationship is, as messed up as their life seems, quite healthy and lovely. And I couldn't help but appreciate the author's ability to write a woman as sweet and badass as Saffy. Let’s be honest, a lot of authors write women full blown sassy and bossy, with a hard to swallow personality, but Saffy is the perfect balance between maturity and snarkiness. And her passion and affection for Clay is unquestionable, she knows how to talk to him, how to soothe him, and how to bring him up considering he's suffering from PTSD. Clay’s military background and obviously his tormenting guilt compels him to play the hero on several accounts, quickly assuming the role of the group’s leader.
Tiana's portrayal of Livingston, their Alpha, as a cruel tyrant who isolated the pack and controlled their exposure to media and the outside world, was intended to evoke empathy for her character. Allegedly, he kept only men in his council and only men were leaders while women’s role was for breeding. Now, do we actually know if all this was true? No, we don't, as readers we are forced to believe Tiana's words and accusations, which obviously is a biased opinion and we soon learn to what extent she would go only to assume the Alpha role and take over the pack. Not farther into the story you realize Tiana's not so different, if not, worse than Livingston.
The ending, albeit predictable, only deepened my admiration for Saffy.