In a remote Finnish hunting community, darkness and the cold hold the villagers close. As a pack of wolves threaten the village’s future, grief-stricken hunter Jari must unite the population to reclaim their territory.
Haunted by the loss of his wife and his best hunting dog, hunter Jari tries to stem the flow of alcohol and grief that threatens to destroy his life. As the darkness and isolation of winter settles around his small hunting community in remote Finland, it brings with it another threat. The encroachment and growing boldness of a pack of wolves endangers the villagers’ way of life. The presence of the wolves opens old feuds and cracks within the community’s makeup. As Jari tries to lead the villagers through their toughest season, it soon becomes clear that not everyone will survive the winter…
Dark bleatings, my territorial tribe! So, Dan Howarth, if you’re reading this, I need to say something to you:
Eff you. Because firstly, your debut novel (Last Night of Freedom) just had no business whatsoever being THAT good – whose debut is that good?! What kind of audacity even is that? And secondly, I thought, “Oh I know, I’ll backtrack to something earlier” and it was this story I landed on, and guess what? Excellent. Not only did you give us a perfect cold setting, a dilemma that poses ethical, emotional, and practical problems, AND layered characters, all in a tiny town – my favourite bloody setting – giving us that good old boxed in, claustrophobic, “we should leave but damn it, this is our home!” theme, but then you ALSO gave us a fresh concept in a subgenre of horror that many would consider tired. Oh oh oh and also, some subtle but very present introspection on social politics, strong women in what would typically be considered a patriarchal set up, and raw human emotion, featuring grief, which I personally find the hardest emotion to convincingly convey, but oh lookie Howarth nails it.
So really, I mean who do you think you are? My jealousy…good grief, my jealousy, because this is the level of nuance I aspire to but don’t yet have the skill for. You’re over there fitting a whole social structure – nay, TWO social structures, actually – as well as cultures, intrigue, relationships, and a very exhilarating threat into 127 pages, meanwhile over here it took me a year to write a short about a witch that can’t successfully bake muffins.
So anyway, for people reading this who aren’t the author, do I recommend it? Yeah, I mean, f***ing hell, obviously. If you want to check out this book, the debut I enviously mentioned, or Dan Howarth, I’ve popped some links below for you.
PS. Dan – it’s also annoying that you’re so nice because I can’t even dislike you out of my tremendous jealousy.
PS Again: Sincerely, I can’t wait for your next book release.
Bleeeeat!
Happy Goat Horror 
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