Beware the Werewolf

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I'm reading a new book now that I picked up at the Princeton Library for $2. It's called, The Last Werewolf, and is about exactly that. The book is written in first-person present tense, I guess to add to the excitement, and the plot centers around exactly what you the title implies. Jake (JAKE! soap opera name) is the last lupine on the planet. There used to be more werewolves running around, but they were systematically annihilated over time. Jake's life is in danger, because he is being hunted down by a government organization while also being protected by a different government organization. In addition, vampires exist, and I just found out last night that the vampires want to keep Jake alive, because they've discovered that the only way to endure sunlight is to have survived a werewolves bite. Of course!

The writing isn't bad--it's a little over the top, but in such a way that you can imagine everyone in the author's writing group going mad over it, because many, many people like hyperbolic, over-described constructions that don't totally suck. So, you can get a lot of mileage out of a sentence like, "The moon rose, a distant cold orb in a dark night sky that smelled of wood chips." I just made that up, but it's not an exaggeration.  Here's some quotes I stole from the LA Times review of the book:

snow-flavoured

a Fall further, into the bliss of devouring it

My shoulders shifted, not without difficulty learned the strange game of osteomorphosis, bore the hurried tectonics, the sensation of turning to ice and the shocking thaw that left a new grammar of movement.… My lupine twin was impatient.

My main complaint so far is that it reads a little bit like the writer is thinking about how this book would make an amazing movie. It's got vampires alongside werewolves, conspiracy theories, extreme violence, loveless sex, death, and a sardonic narrator whose just on the other side of handsome (to be played by whomever is the current younger version of Robert Downey, Jr.). No car chases or explosions so far, but I am only halfway through. 

Hey, the Sunday NY Times reviewed it and that reviewer liked it lots, so you know it's not just a silly little novel. You can read that review here.

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