Bloodtype Online

    In 2006 I picked up a novel entitled Survivor by J.F. Gonzalez. Truth be told I had not heard of Gonzalez before this moment, save from reading a review of Survivor in a famous horror magazine. That novel, in the space of 373 incredible pages, managed to stun me in its pure ferocity and total unabridged horror; I had never read anything quite like it, I was repulsed yet I couldn't stop reading it. It now ranks as one of my personal favourite novels, and I recommend it to anyone with a strong stomach and a love for hard horror. After reading it I made a promise to myself that I would check out more books by this talented author. 

    Well, two years later, give or take a month or two, and I got ahold of a copy of his latest novel Shapeshifter (thanks James), and eagerly got stuck into it. Actually, when I say latest novel I should really elaborate on that statement. Leisure published it in 2008, but it was originally released in 2000 as an ebook, then subsequently published by Wildside Press in 2003. So, although a new release in terms of mass market potential, it is in actual fact an older piece of work. Having read it through and let it digest for a few days I did get that sense from reading it, not that it detracted from my enjoyment of the story though. 

    Shapeshifter is about a young man, named Mark Wiseman, who over the years has come to terms with the fact that he is a werewolf, he has learned to assert an element of control over his changes, which allows him to live a relatively normal life. This is thrown into turmoil though when Bernard Roberts, the CEO of the company he works for, happens to see a partial transformation one night on the security monitors. Roberts, rather than make this knowledge public, decides to use this footage to blackmail Wiseman into helping him out with his current dilemma within his company. There are plans to merge with another larger company, a merger which will leave him without a job as well as uncovering a few facts about Roberts that he would like to remain secret. He plans to use Wiseman to eradicate a few obstacles that could leave the merger in ruin. 

    This really was a quite enjoyable thriller, one that kept me turning the pages eager to find out what would happen; would Wiseman succumb to the blackmail? If so how would he get out of it? This is definitely a book that flies along full throttle, and whilst certain elemnets were predictable it did keep me hooked and I didn't see the end coming at all. 

    However, with this cracking pace there were elements that I found were sacrificed as a result. Some areas seem to skip along a little too quickly in places, relationships develop too quickly and certain revelations are uncovered a little too easily. It seemed to me as though Shapeshifter could have been fleshed out a little more in order to allow the story to develop a tad more naturally; it's a short(ish) novel at just over 300 pages, I just would have liked a little more depth and expansion on certain parts. 

    That being said, I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it as I did. The action was exciting, the mythos of the werewolf was explored nicely especially in regards to the transformations and the lunar cycle, and the characterizations were well done; Roberts being an unlikely but well written villian. Wiseman's character could have toughened up a little, but did actually work well in opposition to his lycan persona. 

    At the end of the day Shapeshifter makes a perfect companion to the recent Wolf's Trap by W.D. Gagliani, both have given me the desire to try and check out more novels with werewolves being the focal point. As a novel by J.F. Gonzalez though I would recommend reading this before checking out the tour-de-force that is Survivor, as in my opinion that is a more rewarding read, even if it is disturbing as Hell. I myself will be grabbing myself a copy of The Beloved, as Gonzalez is proving to be one heck of a good writer that it would seem to me is getting better at his trade. 

Rating - **1/2  

- Jude Felton