Review: delightful & frightening
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 8, 2011
"Never moon a werewolf." - Mike BinderChristy McCauley is back in West Virginia. her homecoming is far from pleasant. her grandmother has just passed away. after the funeral, Chrissy learns that Gram bequeathed to her a cabin in Misty Valley, thirty acres of land, seventy thousand dollars and a life insurance policy worth one hundred thousand dollars.she then decides to leave behind her job as assistant technical writer at Manning Graphics in South Carolina and invites her colleague and best friend Graeme Pierce for a visit.meanwhile, something is out there in the hollows and woods of rural Augusta County. it stalks, it kills and is hungry for more.while reading this book, i fondly recalled memories of my high school teacher who used to regale us with stories of werewolves a few minutes before she dismissed us from class. i also remember The Howling  series by Gary Brandner.McCarty Griffin's take on the werewolf was a delightful and frightening read. i loved how she portrayed life in "hillbilly" country with its interesting characters and their idiosyncrasies.Chrissy's friend Graeme with his city ways was entertaining and memorable. Chrissy's strained relationship with her mother was contrasted with Chrissy's close connection with her father. her  oldest friends Tess and her husband David are shown as a loving and supportive couple. the widow Marla Fullard, her emotional state and what she had to go through were aptly described.these are just some of the players in this book. readers may find a lot of them showing up here and there but each had stories to tell and all of them are linked together as the novel progresses.though i had some niggles - which i cannot mention here as they would lead to spoilers - Monster Story was still a fun, fast-paced read.i never had a dull moment and the last couple of chapters were as gripping as the first few ones.