Conner

Author:Miranda Stork Genre: Fiction / Horror Brief: A werewolf novel that will have you gripped till the end, not following the usual patterns of most modern horrors around werewolves. Erin is a normal, hard-working psychologist, who has just gained an interesting new patient, Conner. Amid his many problems, he believes himself to be a thing of legend-a werewolf. She is quickly flung into a world between our own and one of the past, seemingly drawn by the mysterious Conner. As she tries to convince him he is not what he thinks, she remembers pieces of herself that tell her otherwise. Both of them will go on a journey that will pull them together and force them to confront their diffcult pasts, all while questioning their own sanity. Erin believes she understands everything that is happening around her, but she is soon to find out that Conner is not all that he seems, as the racing darkness grows closer… No. of Pages: 328 Price: £9.90 / eBook £5.00 ISBN: 978-1-4092-7269-4 Publisher: Lulu Author’s Website: Miranda Stork

Review:
Whilst the story is told from a young woman’s perspective, it certainly didn’t put me off. I think that this book will successfully cross the genders in it’s appeal.

The allure of the werewolf, which I think is in us all, helps identify with some of the main characters. Despite his bestial behaviour I was rooting for Conner from almost the first introduction.

The story leads you a merry dance from the present, to the past, and back again, each peice smoothly interweaving with the other. Every chapter reveals a tantilising piece of the jigsaw, dropping clues of what is to happen in the future, along with what has happened in the past. A past that Erin slowly pieces together on her journey, which culminates in a shocking truth.

What I Most Liked:
I enjoyed the slow building of tension within the story. There was just the right amount of information released as the story progressed, to keep you turning the pages in a quest to discover the conclusion. I also enjoyed the way Miranda tackled the moral aspects of the current problem with world climate change. She points the finger of blame for the state of the climate and the planet, at the people of Earth, yet it is the darker characters of the story that have the best interest of the planet at heart.

What I least Liked
This is another book that would benefit from professional editing. Whilst the mistakes are few, when they happen it stops the flow of the story. Saying that, there are only a few errors, and they do not detract from what is an excellent story. Update: The book has now been proof-read to remove these typos.

Conclusion:
This is not the usual werewolf story, and I think it is successful in introducing an unual twist. I think this would be very well recieved by the older teen readers, but it is a book that adult readers would also enjoy.

I would buy this book, and I will certainly be keeping an eye out for the sequel. I can see Miranda going from strength to strength in her writing.

Author’s Information:
Miranda Stork lives in a pretty flat in Gateshead, England, with her two mischievous cats, Bauble and Tinsel. She has been writing since she was could hold a pen, and she has several poems published in several children’s poetry books. She has several English qualifications, in both language and literature, but considers her best training to be the thousands of books she collected and read as a child. This is her first full-length novel, but not the last!