Book Review: The Woodsman and the Wolf

 

So, I don’t often read creepy stories, or short stories. After all, I’ve been known to have nightmares just from watching crime shows on television (though I am honestly more creeped out by things that could really happen.) But I’d heard great things about this book from a forum I lurk in sometimes, and I have this whole “fairy tale” theme going on in my own writing right now. Plus, I’ve been working on adding a little more suspense to my own stories, so I thought I’d give this one a try for 99 cents.

And, it’s short. I was able to read it in about 20 (interrupted) minutes one nice, sunny afternoon while I sat on the porch with my Kindle and the kiddos rolled down the hill and climbed in the tree next to me. (This helped with the creep factor — so bear that in mind!)

It was a worthwhile investment. The Woodsman and the Wolf packs quite a descriptive and suspenseful punch in its few pages.  The story begins with the viewpoint character, Will, home alone doing chores and taking care of his younger sister, and quickly turns into a nightmare that will (presumably) haunt “the woodsman” for the rest of his life.

Somehow, even in this short length, I found the characters to well-drawn and the story intriguing, particularly as the author sets it up in the title as a “prequel to Red Riding Hood.” I could perfectly visualize the little girl — definitely my favorite of the four.

There is one minor spot where the viewpoint slips, making me wonder if the author originally wrote the story in first person before changing it to third, but overall it was tightly edited and easy to read. Definitely worth checking out.