by Graeme Reynolds
368 Pages
Published by Horrific Tales Publishing, (November 15, 2011)
Genre: Horror, Werewolf, Paranormal
Reviewed by Paul (The Audiobook Reviewer)
When John Simpson hears of a bizarre animal attack in his old home town of High Moor, it stirs memories of a long forgotten horror.
John knows the truth. A werewolf stalks the town once more, and on the night of the next full moon, the killing will begin again. He should know. He survived a werewolf attack in 1986, during the worst year of his life.
It’s 1986 and the town is gripped in terror after the mutilated corpse of a young boy is found in the woods. When Sergeant Steven Wilkinson begins an investigation, with the help of a specialist hunter, he soon realises that this is no ordinary animal attack. Werewolves are real, and the trail of bodies is just beginning, with young John and his friends smack in the middle of it.
Twenty years later, John returns to High Moor. The latest attack involved one of his childhood enemies, but there’s more going on than meets the eye. The consequences of his past actions, the reappearance of an old flame and a dying man who will either save or damn him are the least of his problems. The night of the full moon is approaching and time is running out. But how can he hope to stop a werewolf, when every full moon he transforms into a bloodthirsty monster himself?
John knows the truth. A werewolf stalks the town once more, and on the night of the next full moon, the killing will begin again. He should know. He survived a werewolf attack in 1986, during the worst year of his life.
It’s 1986 and the town is gripped in terror after the mutilated corpse of a young boy is found in the woods. When Sergeant Steven Wilkinson begins an investigation, with the help of a specialist hunter, he soon realises that this is no ordinary animal attack. Werewolves are real, and the trail of bodies is just beginning, with young John and his friends smack in the middle of it.
Twenty years later, John returns to High Moor. The latest attack involved one of his childhood enemies, but there’s more going on than meets the eye. The consequences of his past actions, the reappearance of an old flame and a dying man who will either save or damn him are the least of his problems. The night of the full moon is approaching and time is running out. But how can he hope to stop a werewolf, when every full moon he transforms into a bloodthirsty monster himself?
When Chris Barnes told me about his new production I was a bit skeptical, werewolves are very similar to vampires to me and either the story is going to be really horrible or really fantastic. As I have said in some earlier reviews, the whole Twilight thing kind of ruined them for me. I have the expectations built up in my head of what a proper werewolf or vampire story should sound, feel and look like and it is pretty difficult for people to meet them. With werewolves I want the following; heart pounding action (of course), a gruesome story line, interesting characters, a reason for the story to go on, ect. So again I find myself taking a chance with High Moor but I am hopeful.
High Moor is nothing near a twighlighted, glittery, cuddly, lovey dovey werewolf novel. In fact it is a complete opposite, this was an extreme, holy crap don't turn the lights off, werewolf horror story, and I loved it! Starts off strong and backs away just a little bit for some very interesting back story of how one of the main protagonists becomes a werewolf. Then Graeme Reynolds unleashes hell upon the small town of High Moor. This is the first audiobook in a while were I actually felt something for, or connected with most of the characters, that's what happens when an author builds them up layer by layer until some are complex "real" people. While not nearly as gory as you might think from my opening sentence, don't get me wrong there was blood and gore, I mean werewolfs, but it was only used to enhance the action. I know there are sequels to the print version, I so hope that audio version are made of them as I think anyone that listens to this first one will be hooked.
This is my second time listening to a performance by Chris Barnes, my first being The Cold Beneath. Sadly I couldn't remember what I thought of the previous narration, and within the first 10 seconds of High Moor I remembered. To be honest because of his thick accent I couldn't understand a word he was saying because I was expecting something much further than what I got. Gladly within those first 10-20 seconds I had already adjusted and he became very clear. Barnes style very very fast paced, some could argue too fast, with hardly a breath between the last word of a chapter and the announcement of the next, but for this story he nailed it. Keeping the pacing fast kept the tension level pretty high and I think this helped the story never let up. That mixed with great characterizations, my personal favorite was the American, nailed it! I have become a fan of Barnes and will be looking for more.
Paul was sucked in to the world of audio books not necessarily by choice but by necessity . One day at work he needed something to stimulate his brain will toiling away in front of my 3 computer screens. He tried music but that gave him a headache after a while. Then he had an epiphany, “I should listen to audio books”, he thought. And there the journey began.
Paul is not a professional writer or reviewer or book critique. He is a self proclaimed simple man from the Midwest of America that likes to speak his mind and often has trouble writing about what is on his mind. Find more reviews at http://audiobookreviewer.com
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Review originally published at http://audiobookreviewer.com