The Last Werewolf [Kindle Edition]

As the title suggests, Jakob Marlowe is the last surviving werewolf in the world. Headed by Grainer, a steely unemotional character with a persona vendetta gainst Jake, WOCOP ( World Organisation for the Control of Occult Phenomena) has been exterminating werewolves with brutal efficiency, and Jake is their final catch. The chances of escape seem slim.

He is faced with a choice: Keep fighting for survival against the odds, or meet his executioner in defeat at the next full moon. The question is, does he want to keep living all alone in the world? What would be the point?

So begins the book which instantly sucked me in - From the first description of newly fallen snow I knew I was on to a good thing.

First of all, it is pure, rampant fantasy - there are werewolves, vampires, secret organisations, basement vaults, ancient documents, sub-plots and sub-sub-plots. It is outrageously, blatantly, unapologetically fantastical, and it is done in such a matter-of-fact and natural way that I bought it hook, line and sinker.

But that's not all - in addition to the rollocking fantasy, this book is a joyous celebration of English articulacy. Duncan is a master with words and sentences, every page providing a new angle or a totally original observation. He is delightfully playful with words, which are often used as much for their sound as their meaning. It is acutely observant and introspective, detailed, sensitive and very often brilliant.

And it is this skill which allows Duncan to add another, very dark, level to his story. The understanding of what it is to be as werewolf is complete: Man as an animal, and what happens when the biological, natural process of predation conflicts with being human. Hunger is described as a living, thinking thing, an adversary to be fought but never defeated. There is a refreshingly detached view on mortality and humanity I have never seen before.

This sharply intelligent book is at times funny, heartbreaking, deliciously perverted, grotesque and always, always brilliant.

Glen Duncan is a staggeringly good writer. And The Last Werewolf is a brilliant re-invention of the gothic novel, as well as an explicitly exciting and erudite exploration of the powerful animal forces and human morals that drive us.
What is the nature of good and evil? What would you do?

It is beautiful, sexy, comic, dirty and viciously insightful. It is also a perfect vehicle for Mr Duncans wealth of talents. The writer's dazzling use of language and his frighteningly lurid insight into man's psyche and the wild sexual animal within, allows the story to inhabit every word, every syllable. Just as a great film director frames and edits every shot to contribute to the sense of the whole and allows each image and each scene to carry the overall message of the film, so too does Mr Duncan. With his wonderfully perceptive and delicately brutal use of language there is not only insight but a rich sense of feeling inked into every page.
I absolutley love this writer.

Having said that, even as I loved the book, there remained a niggle. And nobody likes a niggle. As other reviewers have mentioned, although I found myself almost entirely absorbed, there were also moments when I became aware of a certain labouring in the plot that would drag me out of the tale. The story starts on such a high level that it is a noticeable shame that, as it progesses, Mr Duncan is seemingly unable to maintain that quality.
For this I would have dropped half a star from the 5 if I could.

My feeling is what makes this niggle niggle is the sense that Mr Duncan is so close to getting it exactly right that you notice when it is just off. Like a concert pianist who plays almost perfectly only to hit a couple of bum notes at the end.

Still a book absolutley worth reading, still a book that would be a shame to miss. I do not know of any other current British writer of this calibre. And after "I Lucifer" then "The Last Werewolf" would probably be my next favourite Glen Duncan book. I absolutely ate it up.
In fact, if you love good writing, I urge you to read "I Lucifer" too, only I would recommend giving yourself a gap between the 2 books, because that would be two filthily rich meals. One every full moon will do.

Excellent read, the use of language is a joy. The twists and turns along with the different perspective make Glen Duncan an author of considerable depth. Its the first book of Glen Duncans I have read and will definitely working my way through the rest.