The Last Werewolf

by Glen Duncan
5 out of 5 stars
Audiobook

(Notes before I finished)
The narrator is fantastic, story decent, premise a teeny bit disappointing. What's the point of being a werewolf if you don't retain any of the cool powers when you're not furry? Mostly, this book is about the loneliness of near immortality and what it's like to live with the beast within.

Update:
After finishing this book, I have to change my opinion a little. I close to loved it. First, I should mention that you should try and get the audio version read by Robin Sachs. He's really good!
Also, the publisher's synopsis of the book does not do it justice AT ALL.

As I said, I started out feeling a little disappointed. Initially, I didn't like Jake (the main character) much, and almost tossed the book aside, but I didn't have anything else to listen to, so I continued, and I’m so glad I did. Yes, I wanted Jake to have cool super powers when he was in human form (aside from his sense of smell, he was kind of a normal guy). And I was a little turned off by his first kill (go figure!) as well as how unglamorous being a werewolf is. But then he really grew on me, and I had so much sympathy for him that I didn't even mind that he was a monster. I mean, he couldn't help it, right?! So I settled into what the story was really about: his profound loneliness and cynicism with life, and how even a monster like Jake could find meaning again. It's like the Grinch Who Stole Christmas meets Werewolf. Er...kind of. And the suspense is cool, because he's being chased all over the globe by two different groups for different reasons, none of them savory. (Not to give anything away, but one of the groups rhymes with lampires.) So there's a bit of a James Bond quality in that he's got tons of money and a variety of identities and resources at his disposal. And I did enjoy the writing a LOT. Sometimes it was a teeny bit over the top, but it kind of fits with the genre, and, overall, my amateur writer-wanna-be brain was pretty impressed with the astute observations and clever similes and what not. Give it a go -- it's definitely something different, and the narration is spot on. This guy's voice is espresso-rich, and he switches accents seamlessly. Warning: descriptions of the naughty stuff (sex and violence) are pretty graphic. But, you know, it works.