The place, the rugged coast of northern California. A bluff high above the Pacific. A grand mansion full of beauty and tantalizing history set against a towering redwood forest.
A young reporter on assignment from the San Francisco Observer. . . an older woman, welcoming him into her magnificent, historic family home that he has been sent to write about and that she must sell with some urgency . . . A chance encounter between two unlikely people . . . an idyllic night—shattered by horrific unimaginable violence. . .The young man inexplicably attacked—bitten—by a beast he cannot see in the rural darkness . . . A violent episode that sets in motion a terrifying yet seductive transformation as the young man, caught between ecstasy and horror, between embracing who he is evolving into and fearing who—what—he will become, soon experiences the thrill of the wolf gift.
As he resists the paradoxical pleasure and enthrallment of his wolfen savagery and delights in the power and (surprising) capacity for good, he is caught up in a strange and dangerous rescue and is desperately hunted as “the Man Wolf,” by authorities, the media and scientists (evidence of DNA threaten to reveal his dual existence). . . As a new and profound love enfolds him, questions emerge that propel him deeper into his mysterious new world: questions of why and how he has been given this gift; of its true nature and the curious but satisfying pull towards goodness; of the profound realization that there are others like him who may be watching—guardian creatures who have existed throughout time and may possess ancient secrets and alchemical knowledge and throughout it all, the search for salvation for a soul tormented by a new realm of temptations, and the fraught, exhilarating journey, still to come, of being and becoming, fully, both wolf and man.
My Thoughts: I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I haven't read an Anne Rice book in many years and I had almost forgotten how much I love her writing and the great stories she tells. The Wolf Gift is a fantastic story and is not just your average paranormal werewolf book. It is so much deeper than that. The characters have so much depth to them and through the characters and 'the wolf gift', Rice poses questions about good vs. evil. One of the main points she makes is that when evil is done for good reason, it is still evil regardless of the end result. It made me think about the concepts of revenge and 'an eye for an eye' a little bit more and question some of the beliefs I have about these things.
Reuben Golding is a great main character and even though he is a lost rich kid looking for his place in the world, he is still relatable. I was worried at first that I wouldn't like him but my fears were quickly pushed aside. The only thing I didn't love about this book is how abruptly it ended. There was a huge reveal in the last 100 pages and then it kind of felt a mad dash to the finish. There was so much more I wanted to know about Reuben and Laura and all the others that kind of got cut off when it ended. It made me wonder if Rice has plans to make this into a series or trilogy; if she did, I would definitely read the next book. I highly recommend this book! 4 stars.
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