THE LAST WEREWOLF By Glen Duncan

The Last Werewolf By Glen Duncan
Categories: Fiction, horror

I was almost indifferent to the first half of this novel. It was beautifully written, but our antihero Jake lacks the zest of life. Having been around for two hundred years, he’s seen it all. Now the task force secretly rooting out all werewolves from the world have given Jake his final warning, “You’re the last.” He will be hunted down the next full moon when he changes, probably beheaded, if the task force has their way. But Jake is depressed already, the only companion he has is the faithful Harley. Saving Harley while in werewolf form when he was a young man about to be murdered was the only heroic thing Jake admits to. ‘Fuckkilleat’ is the werewolf mantra.  In human form, Jake has no extraordinary abilities or traits. When it comes down to it, the whole thing read to me like a James Bond thriller (spies, captures, ransoms, escape, surveillance, double-agents) where our James Bond could care less about how it all turned out. Instead of hatching plans to survive, Jake is “pleasantly revisited by that seductive phrase, Come what may…Come what may… Come what may.” He refers to life as the “Boring drunk at the office party, keeps seeking you out, killing you with pointless yarns and laughing bad-breathed in your face at its own unfunny jokes.”

All this changes in the second act. It was a pleasant surprise and vastly transformed the whole landscape of this novel. Once things headed in an upward trajectory I was compelled to see how it played out for Jake.  I preferred the purpose driven werewolf. Jake might not be a good person, but he’s resigned himself to the ways of living life with the hand he’s been dealt. Turning into a werewolf and consuming a person every month might do that to a person. This book is not typical werewolf folklore; the heart of the story is driven by Jake’s capacity (or inability) to forgive himself. Anyone with a love for language and second chances will enjoy The Last Werewolf.