The newest venture for the legendary Anne Rice, and it looks to be quite promising. Her take on the werewolf legend, I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. I am looking forward to see how it develops and how she moves everything forward. I enjoyed the fact that the werewolves don't completely lose themselves when they take form, and I liked the characters for the most part. I could have done without Laura entirely, I found her to be a bit of a ninny, and Reuben can do much better than her! I would like to have seen him draw Celeste into this new world of his, at least she didn't sob through everything! Perhaps Reuben has some dominance issues :-) I did not enjoy the constant glorifying of the "werewolf feast" as it were. I liked their drive to eradicate evil, but I could have done without the descriptions of tearing beasts limb from limb, the devouring of flesh and dripping blood! If they truly value life and spend so much of their time endlessly debating philosophy, how can they think it so divine to rip apart a mountain lion with her cubs nearby? I am hoping these issues are addressed in the next installment!

On February 14th, the creator of the widely known and beloved Vampire Chronicles released a new novel, surprisingly about werewolves. The Wolf Gift by the incredible Anne Rice was one title I absolutely could not wait to, pardon the wording, sink my teeth into! Here was the Goddess of Gothic novels writing about a species her readers never imagined she'd write, I just really didn't know what to expect from her. The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice tells the story of Reuben, a 23 year old reporter who's been sent to an extremely lavish and luxurious family home in order to write an article for the San Francisco Observer. Unfortunately, while on stay at the family home with the older woman who owns it, an unexpected event occurs; Reuben is bitten by an unidentified beast in the darkness of the woods behind the home and the woman killed. From the bite, Reuben receives the wolf gift, the ability to transform into a ferocious wolfen creature with incredible strength, senses, and agility. Is the world ready for him or will they try to destroy him? On the day of the release, I actually had the opportunity to attend Anne Rice's sold out signing in Toronto at the Bram & Bluma Appel Salon (click here to read my recap). She was on tour for her latest novel The Wolf Gift and she enthusiastically spoke of her newest character Reuben. Before the signing and release day, I actually had the opportunity to read The Wolf Gift about two weeks before it's store on-sale date, and I couldn't help finding myself connecting so much more with the characters as I watched her speak warmly of them. First and foremost, I really enjoyed reading from Reuben's perspective. As I've mentioned in several reviews in the past, as a female reader I often have a difficult time connecting with male point of views, however Reuben was completely the opposite. As a 23 year old as well, I found myself greatly connecting and understanding Reuben. Unfortunately, when it came to Reuben's character, there were a few things that just didn't fit well. For one, his vast knowledge of historical events and artifacts. It's exceptionally unbelievable that a 23 year old reporter, working for a San Francisco paper no less, would know of all these historical pieces, key moments, and how to read and translate old or dead languages. Additionally, Reuben's tendency to "fool around" with women without knowing very much about them failed to rub me on a positive note, it just didn't work very well to his advantage. Additionally, I also found myself loving Anne Rice's approach to lycanthropy. Instead of the typical stories that focuses on werewolfdom being a curse, Anne Rice saw it as a gift, something her character Reuben could use to grow and mature into someone with so much more potential and strength. Perhaps, even someone who could do good instead of evil, as shown through Reuben's actions. I also loved how different The Wolf Gift was from her previous novels. In The Wolf Gift, Anne Rice used today's technology to her advantage, adding more depth to Reuben's struggle with his wolf gift, as well as trying to keep himself safe from the authorities and media who wanted him destroyed. Anne Rice's latest, The Wolf Gift, was a breath of fresh air! The Wolf Gift brings to the genre a unique and exciting take on lycanthropy, an inspiring protagonist, and a bone-chilling thriller that will have readers begging for more Reuben!

All other paranormal writers step aside. This is how you write a werewolf novel. Anne Rice does werewolves right. They're big, beastly, scary and most of all intimidating. It seems like we've forgotten that recently. Anne Rice explores a lot of interesting concepts in her latest novel. Instead of your traditional werewolves – more beast than human – Anne Rice crafts a Man-Wolf. A creature that is both consciously human and beast at the same time. I thought this was an interesting and exciting premise and it opened up the story to some greater concepts. Such as what one would do when in the possession of so much power? How would it affect your decisions? How would you interact with others? I really enjoyed this take on the werewolf and thought it was a lot more detailed and thoughtful than I expected. If the deeper concepts weren't enough, however, this book is also packed with some serious action. Anne Rice takes all those moral questions and applies them to a sort of “masked vigilante” style of character. In many ways The Wolf Gift is like Batman meets the Werewolf. I'm a huge fan of superhero fiction and the ideas and morals embedded in those stories, so I was incredibly drawn to this idea of the Man-Wolf being a defender of the people and exploring what right he had to take on this role. I do have one complaint and that is the women in this book are just horrible. Particularly Rueben's love interest. I found her vapid, annoying and for the most part pretty useless. She didn't really do anything to move the plot along. In addition her actions were so irrational. Especially the way she falls in love with him in a matter of days, knowing next to nothing about him except that he's a werewolf. What finally sealed the deal on my dislike of Laura was the following lines, “He drove Laura south to get her Jeep and the bulk of her possessions which amounted to so few boxes that he was kind of amazed. Half of them were filled with flannel nightgowns.” Half of her possessions are flannel nightgowns? Who is this woman? Who has that many nightgowns? It was just one of those things I couldn't get pass and I could have done without her character all together. I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Wolf Gift, it was the type of werewolf novel I had been waiting for. Complaints about the female characters aside, I found it to be extremely well put together and significantly more deep than I ever thought it could be. A must read for any fan of the paranormal. This and other reviews at Hooked on Books (http://christashookedonbooks.blogspot.com)