Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Ralph just wants a quiet life tending to his employer's vast estate. But life has other plans. Conan, the forester over the fence, still wants the heady sex of their college days. His employer, the rich and influential Hudson, keeps coming up with schemes to kill werewolves to avenge his mother's death. Russell, Mr Hudson's sheltered son, seems equally trapped by this world.

A compulsory college survival trip prompts Hudson Senior to insist Ralph accompanies his son into the forest. At Halloween, the full moon pulls an incited mob with guns and alcohol into the woods. Man and nature conspire, and Ralph must battle his inner demons to prove to Russell nature doesn't define us.

CONTENT ADVISORY: This title has a HFN ending.

 

Book Review

"Man versus Nature" is a pretty old battle, and this story is about one of its many incarnations. Actually, there is the internal component as Ralph battles his inner beast, the werewolf, and an external one, as the group of students he leads into the forest on a survival trip just before Halloween suddenly faces a real emergency. Then there is the more symbolic one of Ralph working his employer's garden estate, the "tamed" version of nature, versus his friend Conan, who is a forester in the "untamed" part of nature beyond the fence. This mix, added to the fact that werewolves are known, and hunted by some, in this alternate version of our reality, makes for an interesting background to the budding romance between Ralph and his employer's son, Russell.

Russell has led a sheltered life, and partly that is his father's fault. The owner of a large pharmaceutical company sees himself as utterly "civilized" and wants nothing to do with nature and "wild things", like werewolves. Russell has a more balanced view, largely thanks to his deceased mother's influence, and he actively seeks out Ralph's company. He may be incompetent in the matters of survival, but he is a willing and fast learner. He also proves to be loyal to Ralph when it counts the most and this moved him from "spoiled little rich kid" to a young man with potential in my eyes.

Ralph is an interesting guy. He lives the "civilized" life of a gardener, and suppresses his wild side by shackling himself in his basement once a month. The wild forest doesn’t exactly scare him, but it's dangerous out there since his employer's men hunt werewolves and anyone just looking like they might be too hairy. Ralph's biggest fear is being too wild for Russell, the young man he has a definite crush on. Ralph tries so hard to remain human, yet his biggest strength is his ability to be both wolf and man.

If you like werewolf stories where the characters battle their nature, if you enjoy reading about rich kids growing up and developing their own set of values, and if you're looking for a read with a touch of mystery and a betrayal that paves the way for young love, then you will probably enjoy this short story.

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by Silvr Publishing for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Short Story, 39 pages/6956 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	26-October-2013
Price
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