The Wolf Gift Review

Not my favorite Anne Rice book, in fact truth be told I really didn't like it at all.  Maybe it's not fair, but I hold Rice to a higher standard than I do most of my other favorite authors, and this just wasn't up to snuff. As much as it pains me to say this story has such great potential for a new series from Rice but it comes across as very good first draft when compared to her previous catalog.

It lacked all the character development that makes Rice worth reading. She has a way of making you fall in love with her characters; regardless of their good or evil souls and that just didn’t happen this time.  Reuben comes across as flat and fumbling through life when he meets the mysterious and beautiful Marchent.  However once she is murdered in a bungled robbery (that never seems to make sense even though unfortunately is the genesis for the rest of the book) he goes back to being a rather flat and predictable character. There were characters that hardly deserved to be part of the story (Celeste/Mort, and even Laura) and others that I wish I’d gotten to know better (Reuben, Jim, Grace, Felix, Marchent and even Galton). 

The last several chapters felt like a rush job.  Reuben’s relationship with Laura ended up taking a back seat (and for the most part erased) to the introduction of five new characters that we never really got to know before the book ended.  Where Rice is usually so brilliant with discussing religion, philosophy and faith without it feeling like you’re sitting in an introduction to religion class she completely misses the mark this time.  Margon’s revelation of the origins of the “gift” offered no surprises or any explanations that the reader (and especially Laura) hadn’t already figured out. 

I had a hard time believing in Reuben as a main character.  I can’t count the number of times I had to go back and see how old he was supposed to be (23) because even before the “gift” he seemed to be at least 10 years older.  (What 23 year old has the means and understanding of computers and the 24 hr news cycles but isn’t connected to all social media?)  For me Jim and Grace (as well as their relationship with Reuben) were the most interesting characters (does Grace know? how does Jim handle not being able to say anything?) and yet those relationships are never explored. 

…and there were the “little” things that just bugged the hell out of me.  This story takes place in present times however Reuben works for a newspaper?  The ‘pack’ has an airstrip just above Fort Bragg even though the entire tail takes place in California?  Laura’s entrance and exit from the story.  If you blinked you may have missed Marchent’s family’s role in the history…. and I won’t even go into how the book ends.

All in all this will not be one of Rice’s books that I will be rereading.