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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
werewolves and murder mystery..., 29 Jan 2007
Imagine living in a world where 99.6% of the population turn into werewolves once a month, and the remaining few "barebacks" are unable to turn because they've been subtly brain-damaged at birth. This is the world that our protaganist, Lola, inhabits.
"Barebacks" are inferior, poorly paid, and drafted at 18 years old into the Department for Ongoing Regulation of Lycanthropic Activity - DORLA - to risk their lives on a monthly basis making sure the "lyco" elite keep to their curfew and don't hurt themselves. It's a pretty thankless life and for Lola it's about to get worse... a co-worker has just been murdered- shot in the head with a silver bullet - and she might just be next.
This is an well written and atmospheric read. Whitfield has a lyrical grasp of language and plenty of original metaphor. The plot is solid and an interesting twist on the "usual" werewolf-as-the-outsider. I will be keeping an eye out for more of her work.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gripping alternative reality, with universal concerns, 17 Aug 2006
'Bareback' is a thriller, above all; it's also a detective mystery, a deep character study, and a fully-realised alternative reality. The heroine is a scarred veteran - at 28 - of a small group of despised civil servants, conscripted into the system because they are non-werewolves. These few are charged with keeping the world functioning during moon nights, when all the normal citizens turn into wolves and start destroying things. It becomes an eerily reversed examination of discrimination, as the characters we consider to be human are universally regarded by the others, and more interestingly by themselves, as lacking something, disabled and weak. And there's also a fine awareness of the powers of bureaucracy and 'public opinion', as the hapless werewolf hunters are routinely injured and killed by the wolves, but cannot themselves risk inflicting damage without offending the ruling majority - and yet even that polarity is disturbed by Whitfield, as it becomes apparent that the non-werewolves take their revenge in numerous ways, acting as a secret police force whose power is supreme, and corruptible, in the underground prison cells.
The premise is interesting enough, then; what drives the book along, however, is a brilliant combination of detective thriller with a genuinely literary level of character development and depth. The plot rattles along with gripping speed; and our involvement in the mind of the heroine is huge. Whitfield's dialogue is utterly convincing in its qualities of miscommunication, and her heroine's flaws and weaknesses are as apparent as her strengths.
Above all, whatever your genre preferences or prejudices, 'Bareback' is worth a try: it's an extremely entertaining novel, which demands to be read at a sitting, and stays in the mind for a long time afterwards.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Bareback by Kit Whitfield (reviewed by Kelvin M. Knight), 8 Feb 2009
The cover of Bareback is perplexing: what does an enormous full moon, blotting out everything, have to do with the title? As if hearing this question, Kit Whitfield uses a rare storytelling technique, first person present tense, to swiftly immerse us into an extraordinary society that is divided between children who are born headfirst and those who are born breach.
Through the eyes of Lola Galley, we are shown the hardships of life if you are unlucky enough to be born feet first: you are taken away from your family; dumped in a communal creche; educated in segregated schools. At eighteen, you are conscripted into DORLA. There are no other job prospects for a bareback. As a DORLA agent, you are overworked, underpaid and the HSE does not exist. True, you are given a protective suit and a gun, but the silver bullets are a last resort; if used inappropriately, you face a deluge of lawsuits.
Every full moon is the same: locate, detain, then represent curfew breakers who have not locked themselves indoors, in cages, to fur up peacefully then rick harmlessly back into human form at sunrise. This is not a macho novel, but a novel of bravery in adversity, seen from a unique perspective. Even though misery is heaped upon Lola's shoulders from an early age, she manages to remain optimistic and break the mould, fall in love with one of the lycos: Paul Kelsey. When he turns out to be a wolf in sheep's clothing, Lola uses incredible emotional strength to bring her tattered life together, at the same time as unravelling the mystery of who mauled her best friend, then killed her two young partners.
The simple plot has a distinctive beginning and a satisfying ending, but loses itself in the middle, much like Lola. However, upon reflection, this is part of the main character's arc, part of Lola's growth, and the masterful way plot and character intermingle is testament to this new author's skill. Still, it is baffling why the novel is categorised as fiction; there are shades of the fantastical, the supernatural (yet not horrific) with science fiction beating at its heart. Saying this, Bareback is a most satisfying read.
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