Title: The Wolf Man
Author: Jon R. Gonzalez
Publisher: PageTurner Press and Media, LLC
ISBN: 978-1-63871-085-1
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 369
Reviewed by: Arthur Thares
Hollywood Book Reviews
It is always interesting when a creative mind takes a long-standing idea and gives it a fresh new twist. The idea of The Wolf Man has been rebooted so many times that it takes something special to make it stand out in the crowd. The Wolf Man by Jon R. Gonzalez offers a more contemporary yet somehow timeless take on the subject matter. Though this book is based on the original Wolfman story, it is far from a carbon copy.
Mr. Gonzalez took some creative liberties which take the story in a new direction. Larry is an imaginative kid whose imagination can sometimes blur the lines between reality and daydreaming, which can be hard to follow in the book. When the story starts, he is a naïve youngster who is thankful to be hanging out with a group he perceives as the cool kids, but things start to change after a fateful trip abroad. When he returns, he is not the Larry he once was, and his friends suspect there is something off about him. As people around town begin to disappear, his friends think he may be the cause, and Larry doesn’t think they are wrong.
One of the tools that Mr. Gonzalez uses that works surprisingly well in this book is a shift between first-person accounts. The book is mainly written from Larry’s perspective, but it occasionally jumps to other characters to give the readers a clearer picture of the whole story. Although there are not scenes of epic suspense or action, it is still difficult to put this book down. There is something that is lying right under the surface that calls you to turn page after page. It could be that the characters are so relatable and even the “villain” of the book is someone you want to see have a happy ending.
Don’t let the book’s name fool you; this is a fun new take on a classic. The writing is clever and calculated, and the character-building is phenomenal. The only knock on this whole book is the occasional side-tracking of the main character’s imagination, but that is not enough to give this book anything but praise. Jon R. Gonzalez has a brilliant mind and is clearly passionate about the art of the written word.