Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5

“You’ll have power, oh yes you will. But when the moon whispers to you, she will command you, and when she does, you must obey.“

When I say this book is perfect for spooky season, I mean it. A dark, atmospheric, coming-of-age horror with werewolves, deep family secrets and a whole lot of gore. If that sounds your thing, get this on book your October TBRs, immediately! It’s been a while since I’ve read this author’s work and I so enjoy his writing. Super happy to be sharing my review of Season of the Wolf!

About the book

Autumn 1998

Orphaned teenager Lucy Hiller leaves her home in New Jersey, USA, for West Yorkshire, England, to live with her estranged grandfather, where a monstrous discovery in the cellar reveals a family secret.

When Lucy can’t take any more of the strange noises coming from beneath the house, her new friend Peter Kessler agrees to investigate. In the dark of the cellar, something bites him. If the trials and changes of teenage life weren’t already tough enough for Peter, they’re about to get worse…

A man is savagely killed while walking his dog on the moors. A farmer’s prized flock of sheep is viciously slaughtered. A teenage boy lies in the hospital fighting for his life. Investigative journalist Lizzy Clayton thinks there is more to these events than wild animal attacks. The police tell her to drop the story, but as Lizzy digs deeper, more bodies begin to pile up. Is there a connection between the murders, the thing in Grandpa’s cellar, and Lucy’s family history?

The beginning

I read some of this author’s work a few years ago and I’d forgotten just how much I enjoyed his writing! I effortlessly fell into step with this one. After her father’s sudden death, Lucy moves from New Jersey to live with her grandfather, Bill, in a Yorkshire village. As a Yorkshire gal myself, I loved this. I loved the Yorkshire dialect and felt so at home in this book’s pages, and I enjoyed the Yorkshire-American balance of vocabulary. It was really brilliantly done! But Lucy really doesn’t want this change of scenery. She wants to be back home, not here in this strange village, staying in the unfamiliar home of her grandfather, with his weird sayings that she doesn’t quite understand. It all felt so alien to her. I really wanted to like Lucy, but straight away she made me eye roll with her endless use of the word, ‘whatever’ and her lack of interest in pretty much everything. But, she’s at that rebellious age, plus she’s just lost her father, and the author really has captured that well in her character. Her grandfather had given her one pretty specific house rule; to not go in the cellar. And I needed to know why!

“As they drew closer, he realised they were not orbs. They were eyes – flaming red eyes hurtling through the darkness. Still, he could not move for the fear trembling through him, seizing him, commanding his body to stay put.”

Aside from Lucy and her grandfather, we also meet Lizzy, a reporter for the local paper. She may write for a small paper, but she’s damn good at sniffing out a news story. She’s written an article about the grizzly death of a local man. His death was originally treated as a road traffic accident, but after further investigation, it seemed the man had died before the vehicle hit him. His body was in a horrific state. And I mean, horrific. Could an animal have done this? I was very intrigued by this case and was really excited to follow its progress! This, as well as what seems to be something alive in the basement of Lucy’s grandfather’s house, just multiplied that feeling of curiosity. What on EARTH was the noise? What was he keeping down there? I didn’t believe for one minute that it was his faulty central heating system. Was Lucy safe living in that house? Could her grandfather be trusted? Thankfully, the more I read about Lucy, the more I warmed to her, and I began to enjoy the development of her character, as well as the people she meets in her new school. And she would certainly need some friends soon…

The middle

I really loved Lizzy and her approach to her work. I loved how she plays detective when a flock of sheep are killed nearby, mutilated. This scene was so horrific and described brilliantly; I could really see the blood and gore, smell it. I felt the nausea rise as we realise the extent of the damage to this flock. This damage wasn’t done by a person. Or a fox, or a dog. This was something much bigger… When this ‘animal’ strikes again for the third time, this time injuring Lucy’s school bully (a completely unhinged kid who, it seemed, deserved it) it was clear things were getting out of hand. Did these attacks have anything to do with whatever was locked in Lucy’s grandfather’s cellar? We get a chilling first glimpse of this ‘thing’ which I felt really brought out the author’s talent for writing the dark and disturbing, the supernatural and the downright terrifying. It really is fantastic. And when Lucy’s friend Peter has a traumatic experience in Bill’s cellar, things really start to get interesting. I loved the direction we were heading in, and I could sense more danger lurking… was anyone in this village safe?

“The moors are brightly lit, despite the night, a myriad of colours, many beyond the human spectrum. But his eyes are no longer human.”

There was a great midpoint twist here that I didn’t see coming! The author really has a way of surprising you and having you eager to read on. It’s clear by this point that we’re dealing with a werewolf (if you couldn’t already guess from the book cover) and Peter and Lucy’s bully were showing worrying signs after being attacked. I could see this whole village being in lockdown soon, the whole idea of a bunch of werewolves roaming around and attacking people was absolutely terrifying. I couldn’t help but think about how we’d cope in a world with these creatures. It’d be pandemonium, wouldn’t it?! It makes me feel panicky just thinking about it! I loved the development of this plot so much; the pacing was getting faster and more urgent and I completely flew through the pages. As Lucy and Bill talk about the cellar, about that thing that he kept down there, it’s clear there are more deep secrets than we first thought. Family secrets buried, and for good reason. I was fascinated by their conversations, about the truth he’d kept to himself since she’d arrived in Baildon, their family history. It was time she learned everything.

The end

With more deaths and more panic, I enjoyed the chaos, but there was a lot of it. It felt like a nightmare playing out in my mind and I was completely sucked in. More people are attacked, bitten, killed. As gruesome as things were right now, I couldn’t look away! I learnt a surprising amount about werewolves and how they act, how they hunt which I found really interesting. As well as seeing characters actively trying to flush out these creatures from wherever they’re hiding, to try and bring them down, the author also flips the perspective, so we see how newly turned werewolves learn to hunt, how they manage this new normal. I really liked the contrast! Weirdly, at times, I felt attached to some werewolves and there were some really moving scenes which was unexpected but welcomed. There were so many gory descriptions and I found a few scenes towards the ending a bit repetitive at times, but I was still keen to see where things went from here. Would the werewolves take over, or would Lucy be able to save her friend and put a stop to the further impending danger?

“All he was now was a pureblood lycanthrope. A killer.”

I enjoyed some unexpected twists and the equally as unexpected dark feel throughout the book’s ending chapters. The multiple perspectives we follow worked really well as tensions rise throughout that final showdown. It was intense, uncertain and in a way, quite bittersweet. This scene was probably the most memorable in the entire book. It’s an absolute bloodbath. We lost characters I didn’t expect which was quite sad, and I even became attached to some werewolves (what?! When you read it, you’ll get it) The origin of some of these creatures was super interesting and also pretty deep, and the family secrets angle worked so well right up to the end. The book ends on a pretty interesting note. There is something inside me that thinks we aren’t quite done with this story yet… will there be another? I’d definitely be up for following this story even further! If you like your horror gruesome, if you like a supernatural angle, if you like deep family secrets to lose yourself in, this is probably a book you’ll want to try. Perfect for spooky season!

Overall thoughts

Season of the Wolf is a haunting tale from the start. We meet Lucy who not only has to deal with her father’s death and move to an unfamiliar Yorkshire town, but who also learns far more than she bargained for about her family history… From bullies to werewolves, her experience in Yorkshire wasn’t a walk in the park, and we dive deep into a dark and deadly werewolf plot. We also meet Lizzy, a journalist with a mission; when there is a serious of gruesome deaths, she makes it her mission to uncover the truth. It’s a suspenseful ride with pretty damn gory descriptions, but I find this author really good at immersing you in them and bringing a chill to your spine. I liked most of these characters, but there are a lot of them to get your head around, and only the main ones really stuck with me. But the werewolves… if you want to be scared of the dark and not want to sleep again, I’ve found your perfect book. If you’re looking to support a new author this spooky season, look no further!

You can grab your copy of Season of the Wolf right now on Amazon. Make sure you’re following the author on Instagram and X for more updates. You can read my Q&A with this author here!

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