It has entered my mind to formulate a list of books which have been meaningful to me, both in the pleasure they offer and also in the effect they had. These are books which stand above.
Werewolf Cop
Let it not be said that this list contains only musty old books. Here is a contemporary of our age, the author is still with us—though he himself is musty and old—who, in what he lacks in imagining titles, makes up tenfold in imagining plots. I, with great embarrassment, procured a copy of his book, sheepishly whispering “Werewolf Cop” to the deaf lady behind the counter. I only started reading it, in all truth, because I had been listening to the author’s podcast. He mentioned it as one of his better works, and the pulp title mixed with my growing admiration for the writer, led me to search this novel out.
It is one of three entries which I have only read once. However, its powerful story remains with me.
Andrew Klavan is a great thriller writer, and this book delivers its thrills in a non-stop search for truth. It wonderfully mixes the fantasy-horror aspect of a werewolf story with the tropes of a noir style mystery. However, rising from the pulp and spectacle, a very deep and meaningful story emerges. It’s not just about a werewolf cop, but about sin and death.
This book became meaningful to me, I think, because of its grittiness. It is willing to be rough and ragged, to describe sex and violence, relationships and motives, in blatant and true ways. One of the characters in the story has a habit of saying the truth in a way which upsets people, and it upsets people in part because he uses indelicate language, but also because people don’t want to hear the truth.
This was a fun book to read with a surprising amount of depth to it.
Tale Told 