Sergeant Peter Knowles has seen it all: in Afghanistan he witnessed death on a level that no-one should walk away from. Returning to Britain, he jumps at the chance to lead a small team in Devon. The task sounds more like a holiday; exactly what Knowles and his men need.
The mission: watch Jack Stadler.
Jack has always led a quiet life, but now he is suffering blackouts and has violent fantasies.
When the first dismembered body is found, Knowles begins to realise he has made a terrible mistake…
Dark bleatings, my beloved tribe! This week I’m talking about a werewolf novel. This is very exciting for me because I hardly ever get to talk about werewolf stories! So let’s jump right in (much like David Watkins does with his story construction)!
In true Watkins fashion, this book infuses horror with some much welcome action. I think the merging of these elements is one of the author’s greatest strengths. I enjoyed it in The Exeter Incident, in St Neith, and I enjoyed it here too.
We begin with Jack, who falls into a big hole but is somehow miraculously uninjured. He should feel lucky, but he knows that something’s not right…
Then we jump to some military folk tasked with – for reasons totally unknown to them – keeping a close watch on our good friend Jack. Outside of these viewpoints, we also get to live inside the head of Jack’s newly post-natal wife, Katie. One of my favourite literary devices is telling the story through multiple viewpoints, but only if it’s done right. I’ve read a few books that use this technique but it falls a bit flat if the characters aren’t strong enough for their voices to shine through. Multiple viewpoints only works for me if you can’t hear the author at all times, if that makes sense. This is another of Watkins’ strengths – very often I knew who was speaking when I turned the page before hitting their name.
Story-wise, it’s a whole load of fun. We’ve got ancient evil, Jack’s struggles, military shenanigans, and lots and LOTS of carnage. It’s a melting pot of ideas and concepts that you might think is too much, initially, but if you just trust Watkins to unravel it all in due time, you’ll have a a great time with it.
I’d recommend this to fans of werewolves, ritualistic horror, and fast-paced action! If you’d like to pick up a copy or check out the author, the links you need are below:
Happy Goat Horror 
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