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johnlynchbooks's review
4.0
I had a good time with this one. It’s very much a cross if a werewolf creature feature and a splatterpunk. I think it worked very well. It’s a short, easy read with enough carnage to keep you satisfied. My one complaint is that there were ALOT of characters in this important to the story, and although they were will done, it seemed liked they needed more room to breathe.
I’m excited to check out the sequel so I can be ready for the 3rd book to come out. I really enjoy Jackson R. Thomas books, I recommend fans of violent, gory books check him out.
I’m excited to check out the sequel so I can be ready for the 3rd book to come out. I really enjoy Jackson R. Thomas books, I recommend fans of violent, gory books check him out.
mzzmia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
ciarajean's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent werewolf story
I would definitely read this author again. I picked this book up last night and even had to take it with me to the gym to finish today. Couldn't put it down.
I would definitely read this author again. I picked this book up last night and even had to take it with me to the gym to finish today. Couldn't put it down.
screamdogreads's review against another edition
3.5
The Beast of Brenton Woods is a super fun, outlandish, gore filled werewolf novel, and oh my gosh the bodies pile up in this one. If you're looking for some gritty, fun horror to keep you entertained this Fall, give this novel a try. It certainly doesn't disappoint when it comes to brutality, that's for sure.
plumreads__s's review against another edition
3.0
A big thank you to Alien Agenda Pub for providing me with an Audiobook of this, for review consideration!
I'm on the lookout for more and more Werewolf or create-feature novels this year, so when I saw there was an opportunity to review this one I snapped it up!
This book is super-fast paced, and as it is quite short (176-pages or 4hr47 on Audio), does a good job of plunging the reader straight into the gory action.
There are quite a lot of characters to keep up with, some more memorable than others, which meant a couple of times I had to hit the *rewind 30 seconds* button, but that only happened a couple of times and it wasn’t a big deal because the characters had their own voices. The characters are realistic and mostly likeable, except for those you just love to hate.
I listened to the narration of this by Joe Hempel, who does a great job, I didn’t realise just how many books he has narrated and now I need more! I listened to this on speed 1.5x.
3.5 stars!
I'm on the lookout for more and more Werewolf or create-feature novels this year, so when I saw there was an opportunity to review this one I snapped it up!
This book is super-fast paced, and as it is quite short (176-pages or 4hr47 on Audio), does a good job of plunging the reader straight into the gory action.
There are quite a lot of characters to keep up with, some more memorable than others, which meant a couple of times I had to hit the *rewind 30 seconds* button, but that only happened a couple of times and it wasn’t a big deal because the characters had their own voices. The characters are realistic and mostly likeable, except for those you just love to hate.
I listened to the narration of this by Joe Hempel, who does a great job, I didn’t realise just how many books he has narrated and now I need more! I listened to this on speed 1.5x.
3.5 stars!
janinepipe's review against another edition
5.0
This was the second of Thomas's books that I have read, the first being Paradise, Maine. He has an easy to read writing style that enables you to fly through the story and leave you begging for more. And luckily, there is a sequel, Rise, which I have just bought too.
This book had tough competition. Glenn Rolfe is my all time favourite writer, and as Alien Agenda is his publishing house, I knew he would only feature a werewolf story along the same quality as the epic Blood and Rain.
And it was excellent. The wolf is nasty, really, really nasty. He was unlike any other lycan I have come across. The body count wasn't quite as horrific as Janz's Wolf Land, but Thomas certainly didn't mind killing off various characters.
Something similar to Paradise, Maine, alongside a horrendous antagonist, was a strong female lead. I really liked Kathy the deputy and Wendy.
I am really pleased that this was just the first in a series as there was a lot of things planted in the storyline I am looking forward to developing.
Great work and yet another book not to be endorsed by the Maine tourist board haha.
This book had tough competition. Glenn Rolfe is my all time favourite writer, and as Alien Agenda is his publishing house, I knew he would only feature a werewolf story along the same quality as the epic Blood and Rain.
And it was excellent. The wolf is nasty, really, really nasty. He was unlike any other lycan I have come across. The body count wasn't quite as horrific as Janz's Wolf Land, but Thomas certainly didn't mind killing off various characters.
Something similar to Paradise, Maine, alongside a horrendous antagonist, was a strong female lead. I really liked Kathy the deputy and Wendy.
I am really pleased that this was just the first in a series as there was a lot of things planted in the storyline I am looking forward to developing.
Great work and yet another book not to be endorsed by the Maine tourist board haha.
motherhorror's review against another edition
3.0
Review originally in the Holiday issue of Scream Magazine, 2018
There aren’t nearly enough werewolf novels out there. I mean, that probably depends on where you’re looking because I’ve Tweeted this very statement before and I was told that there are more than enough werewolf novels on Amazon in the “self published” arena but who has time to push aside the weeds to find the treasures?
That’s why I’m only too happy to review The Beast of Brenton Woods for Scream fans. Werewolf stories are full of so much potential. As horror fans, we know that if there’s a werewolf, there’s bound to be some carnage and on that front, The Beast of Brenton Woods delivers.
In fact, readers are thrown into a pretty hectic scene right away and then another and another. It took some time to get used to the frenetic pacing. This was definitely not a slow burn. Intermingled with Beastial encounters, the author chooses to introduce a large cast and it was difficult to keep everyone straight. I wasn’t sure if all the characters were going to stick around for the duration of the novel and I should try to remember them or if they were just going to become fodder for the beast and I could just keep reading--I chose the first option and tried to keep track of the names. This means that as the narration jumped from scene to scene-I’d have to sometimes go back through the parts I read to remember who was who. That was a little frustrating, especially since this is novella length and I wanted to binge read straight through. It required a little more effort on my part. Of the more memorable characters, is a protagonist named, Ben Cutter. I liked Ben right away since he and my son are both thirteen years of age. The author did a good job portraying him as such. Ben felt authentic.
I love when an author has a good handle on writing realistic dialog--it really helps the story move at a quick, desirable pace and also helps with solid character building so the reader can invest; this could be Jackson’s wheelhouse as this was prevalent throughout the book. All the teenagers had their own voice, especially Ben and I appreciated that--sometimes writers forget that not all teenagers talk the same.
I enjoyed that this was a werewolf story with some well-developed backstory and its own folklore-the legend of the White Wolf. But this also presented its first of a few problems; namely I wanted more. Once you grow to like the cast and navigate the three groups of people we’re following, the story begins its blood-soaked-gore-fest sprint to the end. It was over too quickly.
As soon as the body count begins to rise, the authorities are called in to investigate and too late in the game, we meet Deputy Kathy Wilcox. I was so glad to get an adult female lead but unfortunately, she was a little underdeveloped for my taste and I was left wondering if the author had spent a little more time with the novel, if she would have had a more deserving role? We did get Wendy, however and she was quite complimentary alongside Ben Cutter.
I’m actually hoping there will be a sequel because the author did leave the door open for the opportunity. So even though this book had a couple of issues for me, it was still a page
turner--each chapter leaving me wanting to keep reading. The White Wolf left plenty of gore and carnage in its wake. The Beast of Brenton Woods not disappoint on that score.
There aren’t nearly enough werewolf novels out there. I mean, that probably depends on where you’re looking because I’ve Tweeted this very statement before and I was told that there are more than enough werewolf novels on Amazon in the “self published” arena but who has time to push aside the weeds to find the treasures?
That’s why I’m only too happy to review The Beast of Brenton Woods for Scream fans. Werewolf stories are full of so much potential. As horror fans, we know that if there’s a werewolf, there’s bound to be some carnage and on that front, The Beast of Brenton Woods delivers.
In fact, readers are thrown into a pretty hectic scene right away and then another and another. It took some time to get used to the frenetic pacing. This was definitely not a slow burn. Intermingled with Beastial encounters, the author chooses to introduce a large cast and it was difficult to keep everyone straight. I wasn’t sure if all the characters were going to stick around for the duration of the novel and I should try to remember them or if they were just going to become fodder for the beast and I could just keep reading--I chose the first option and tried to keep track of the names. This means that as the narration jumped from scene to scene-I’d have to sometimes go back through the parts I read to remember who was who. That was a little frustrating, especially since this is novella length and I wanted to binge read straight through. It required a little more effort on my part. Of the more memorable characters, is a protagonist named, Ben Cutter. I liked Ben right away since he and my son are both thirteen years of age. The author did a good job portraying him as such. Ben felt authentic.
I love when an author has a good handle on writing realistic dialog--it really helps the story move at a quick, desirable pace and also helps with solid character building so the reader can invest; this could be Jackson’s wheelhouse as this was prevalent throughout the book. All the teenagers had their own voice, especially Ben and I appreciated that--sometimes writers forget that not all teenagers talk the same.
I enjoyed that this was a werewolf story with some well-developed backstory and its own folklore-the legend of the White Wolf. But this also presented its first of a few problems; namely I wanted more. Once you grow to like the cast and navigate the three groups of people we’re following, the story begins its blood-soaked-gore-fest sprint to the end. It was over too quickly.
As soon as the body count begins to rise, the authorities are called in to investigate and too late in the game, we meet Deputy Kathy Wilcox. I was so glad to get an adult female lead but unfortunately, she was a little underdeveloped for my taste and I was left wondering if the author had spent a little more time with the novel, if she would have had a more deserving role? We did get Wendy, however and she was quite complimentary alongside Ben Cutter.
I’m actually hoping there will be a sequel because the author did leave the door open for the opportunity. So even though this book had a couple of issues for me, it was still a page
turner--each chapter leaving me wanting to keep reading. The White Wolf left plenty of gore and carnage in its wake. The Beast of Brenton Woods not disappoint on that score.
exorcismofemilyreed's review against another edition
3.0
"He would unleash hell. He let the image of blood, tears, and pain coax him on."
I buddy read The Beast of Brenton Woods the other day with Lilyn from Sci-fi and Scary. This book had some fun ideas, and if you need a quick & gory creature feature, this one is for you.
I keep picking up werewolf books hoping for something different. I still have yet to find one that I really feel stands out from other werewolf stories. That doesn't mean that this book is bad at all; I just wanted a little something different from hearing people be shocked that werewolves exist 500 times & then there werewolf kills everyone. It felt really repetitive in this story. I know there's not much else to werewolf stories, but I can dream.
There were a lot of characters, which is fine when they keep getting picked off, but more kept popping up. It was difficult to keep track of who was who. The story went in a nonsensical direction toward the end, and I believe the door was left open for a sequel.
I think my enjoyment of the book was about at a 2⭐, but the story itself is fine & it just wasn't for me, so it gets 3⭐.
Thank you to Alien Agenda Publishing for sending me this one.
I buddy read The Beast of Brenton Woods the other day with Lilyn from Sci-fi and Scary. This book had some fun ideas, and if you need a quick & gory creature feature, this one is for you.
I keep picking up werewolf books hoping for something different. I still have yet to find one that I really feel stands out from other werewolf stories. That doesn't mean that this book is bad at all; I just wanted a little something different from hearing people be shocked that werewolves exist 500 times & then there werewolf kills everyone. It felt really repetitive in this story. I know there's not much else to werewolf stories, but I can dream.
There were a lot of characters, which is fine when they keep getting picked off, but more kept popping up. It was difficult to keep track of who was who. The story went in a nonsensical direction toward the end, and I believe the door was left open for a sequel.
I think my enjoyment of the book was about at a 2⭐, but the story itself is fine & it just wasn't for me, so it gets 3⭐.
Thank you to Alien Agenda Publishing for sending me this one.
lauriereadslohf's review against another edition
4.0
There is a werewolf on the loose and he’s got murder, food and procreating on the brain!
If you want a fast paced, action-packed, blood-soaked read and are sick and tired of watered down monsters you should give this one a go. I think you will be very satisfied. There are a few people who accidentally get in his path but, for the most part, his victims are no big loss to society.
This story is more than just people eating fun though and that’s why I liked it. There’s some good characterization, realistic dialogue and interesting plot threads here too. There’s a young boy who feels a weird connection to this monster and thinks his momma is keeping secrets and there’s a teenager who has a heart of gold and risks everything to save his feckless sister. It’s good to have a couple of good guys to root for in this cruel, cruel world.
This reminded me slightly of a Richard Laymon story, what with the pervy men and stupid people, but it wasn’t nearly as in your face with it all and there wasn’t all the rump and boob talk that Laymon loved so much. I enjoyed it without ever wanting to murder one of the characters myself.
My only minor issue was the plethora of characters. There were a lot of them in this novella and sometimes I struggled trying to remember who was who but maybe that’s due to my crappy memory and the fact that I couldn’t finish it in a sitting or two.
At any rate, it’s a solid four star read and recommended for you beast lovers!
If you want a fast paced, action-packed, blood-soaked read and are sick and tired of watered down monsters you should give this one a go. I think you will be very satisfied. There are a few people who accidentally get in his path but, for the most part, his victims are no big loss to society.
This story is more than just people eating fun though and that’s why I liked it. There’s some good characterization, realistic dialogue and interesting plot threads here too. There’s a young boy who feels a weird connection to this monster and thinks his momma is keeping secrets and there’s a teenager who has a heart of gold and risks everything to save his feckless sister. It’s good to have a couple of good guys to root for in this cruel, cruel world.
This reminded me slightly of a Richard Laymon story, what with the pervy men and stupid people, but it wasn’t nearly as in your face with it all and there wasn’t all the rump and boob talk that Laymon loved so much. I enjoyed it without ever wanting to murder one of the characters myself.
My only minor issue was the plethora of characters. There were a lot of them in this novella and sometimes I struggled trying to remember who was who but maybe that’s due to my crappy memory and the fact that I couldn’t finish it in a sitting or two.
At any rate, it’s a solid four star read and recommended for you beast lovers!