The Abused Werewolf Rescue Group by Catherine Jinx

October is Scaring Up a Good Time!
In honor of Halloween, I've been reading spooky books! Horror, vampires, werewolves, ghost stories...get ready to be scared! I have some tamer titles for those who aren't fans of the macabre, but (let's face it) I'm a little off. I like dark and creepy, so I'm all about this theme :)

Toby is just a normal kid. He doesn't know how he ended up in that dingo pen. Seriously! Regardless of what his mom thinks, he's not on drugs. Waking up in the hospital with no recollection of the previous night is bad enough. When a mysterious envelope appears on his pillow containing a letter with vague offers of help, things just get weirder. His mom is freaking out. The doctor thinks he could have epilepsy! Great, just what he needs.

Ignoring the letter, Toby is surprised when Father Ramon and Reuben turn up at his front door. As delicately as they try to put it, what they are insinuating is just too far-fetched to believe. Reuben seems to know things though, like how Toby's hair grows *really* fast, and that he's got an amazing sense of smell. When they start suggesting that this is going to be a reoccuring problem, that's when Toby starts freaking out. They want to lock him in a bank vault! Why would he start threatening his family or friends all the sudden? Then he hears it..."werewolf." Yeah, right. What a bunch of nutters.

Fergus and Amin talk him into playing a prank on Reuben, something they can use against him later. When Reuben shows up, his seriousness is alarming. The evidence they find is starting to make him wonder: could there be something to his claims? When the police show up to question him, he doesn't know how things could get any worse...until it turns out they aren't the police.

Two guys drug him, and he wakes up in a cell. Managing to escape, he discovers another boy is trapped. They find their way outside, only to come to the disheartening conclusion that they are in the middle of nowhere. The new kid, Sergio, is very unstable. It seems the two blokes upstairs kidnapped him months ago, and have been forcing him to fight whenever he changes...into a werewolf. Rescue arrives in the form of an equally unstable, equally abused werewolf: Danny. He assures the boys that Reuben sent him, and that help is on its way. Of course, it's never that easy. The "rescue" turns into a comedy of errors, and even Toby's mom is dragged into it. Will they make it out alive?

Fans of The Reformed Vampire Support Group will recognize several familiar faces, and a similar style: disaster follows disaster until you can't help but laugh. This follow-up is not as good as the original, but still offers a refreshing look at the paranormal genre.
"'I bet you'd be famous all over the world!' he exclaimed. 'I bet they'd fly you to America and everything! They might even make a movie about you!'
'That's right,' said Nina flatly. 'Toby would be famous. Wherever he decided to go, people would know who he was. All the scientists who'd want to treat him like a lab rat, and all the crazies who'd want to get rid of an unnatural freak, and all the evil billionaires who'd pay big money to have a stuffed werewolf - all those people would know who Toby was,'" (Jinks pg. 136, 2011).
*Library Link*

If you liked this, check out:
The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks
White Cat by Holly Black (Curse Workers, Book 1)
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (Mortal Instruments, Book 1)

Jinks, Catherine. (2011). The Abused Werewolf Rescue Group. Boston: Harcourt.

No comments:

Post a Comment