Autumn 1983. Michael Jackson’s Thriller dominates the charts. Tom Cruise slides across the floor in his underpants. Mr. T pities the fool. And on the campus of Boston’s Holbrook University, Nathan Harrington is pretty sure he’s turning into a werewolf.
Nathan had a plan. Graduate with honors, marry a trophy wife, run for office. Then he met Gretchen Stump – AKA “The Dog Girl” – the hirsute transfer student from East Nowhere, Maine. Gretchen and Nathan are from different worlds. Perhaps even different species. They make no sense together. And yet, they can’t stay away from each other.
But Gretchen has a secret. And under the orange glow of the full harvest moon, Nathan learns the truth. Gretchen isn’t like other humans. She’s cursed. And she may have just passed that curse on to him.
Now his hair and nails grow faster than he can trim them. His sense of smell is astonishing. Exposure to the moon makes his skin itch. He blacks out at night, waking up in strange places. And there’s been a murder on campus. A violent mauling. And that’s just the beginning of the trouble at Holbrook University. For Nathan, things are about to get really hairy.
On the whole, this was a massively entertaining and enjoyable story. The centerpiece of this is a wholly likable cast that we're supposed to follow, carrying through the book quite nicely in regards to how we get to know them. With the initial introductions setting up who they are rather quickly, with him being new to the college and trying to figure out how to get on with his life, and meeting up with the strange girl that no one wants anything to do with, yet the two end up together to set the story in motion, it comes off quite well. When the change happens, and the werewolf curse is passed on, it makes for a strong starting point to the latter half, where the series of strange animal attacks makes for a fun time due to the slow-going build-up, with quite a bit of time devoted to establishing this relationship and the connection they share. It does take a while to get going, but the whole thing is worth it by the time it gets to the final half, when the setup work comes full circle.
That makes it all the more fun when it gets to that half, and the book can go for broke with the fun interactions coming about through the revelations about the impact of the werewolf reveal and how it all starts affecting him. This is a great setup involving the slow setup of him going through the changes associated with werewolfism and being unable to make the revelation that he's been responsible for the series of graphic murders occurring around the campus, which are given some fun details that make everything that much more impactful. This all manages to be brutal, bloody, and quite fun compared to the sluggish first half, which makes for the lone flaw here because the first half focuses on the developing relationship that comes with a slew of obstacles that they have to maneuver around. This is all a bit too long and could potentially stall the film for some who want to get to the more overt werewolf action since some of the interactions feel somewhat convoluted to explain, but it's not too big of a deal and manages to be quite likable overall.
4.5/5
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