Wolf Worm by T Kingfisher is evidence that an unspectacular story can be enjoyable if it’s well told.
As with all my reviews, I’ll be objective about the writing technicalities, and specify where I feel something is valid but not to my taste. My final rating will be an average of my objective score and my personal opinion.
There are no spoilers in this review.
So what is it?
short_synopsis
A mystery horror in which an illustrator is employed to create paintings of insects by a reclusive scientist who conducts experiments with the creepy-crawlies.
plot
The plot is the weakest facet of this book. It isn’t bad, and there were no gaping holes in it, but it’s quite straightforward without many twists or turns. It’s a mystery that lacks surprise.
Tension builds slowly. In the early chapters, rumours and gossip lay a groundwork of unease, but it isn’t until about a third of the way through that the main puzzle reveals itself and the creepiness ramps up. The pace stays slow throughout.
In the final third we get some reveals. I can’t say I predicted any of them, but that’s mostly because there were at least a couple of options that would have been believable with the information we had at the time.
The ending felt a little too perfect, a little too Hollywood.
people
We experience the story told in first person by a former-teacher and illustrator, Miss Sonia Wilson. She’s interesting and pleasant enough as our conduit; she gets appropriately creeped out and scared, and then pushes past it when necessary by applying her naturalist knowledge.
There isn’t much interaction with her employer, Dr Halder, and as a result, he feels like a caricature of a dedicated scientist. The housekeeper and her husband, Mrs and Mr Kent, are the people she converses with most often, and they too feel like cardboard cutouts.
Every character serves their part of the story well, but that’s all they do. There’s nothing more to them; no hobbies or interests outside their work. A couple of quirks, maybe an unusual habit or two, would have gone a long way to making them feel more real and more interesting.
place
The story is set almost exclusively in and around one large house in North Carolina, USA, in 1899. Being set this long ago limits the tools etc available to the characters, and is therefore prime for horror.
Everything from the food to the clothing to the furnishings to the relatively formal (but also slightly modernised) language to the religious beliefs to the racism and sexism, everything feeds in to the time and place of the story and gives a definite sense of where we are.
prose
Whilst I didn’t think the story itself was anything special, the way it was told was.
As I was reading the early chapters, the first word that came to mind was “wry”. The text is sufficiently detailed to get across the gross nature of the insects they’re studying without being overly graphic. This does make it a little slow, but it suited the story and the time and place.
There are some delightful writing touches. For example, when the main character describes someone or something, she lists the colours she’d use to paint them.
conclusion
I found this book creepy more than scary. From the early stages, I thought this was going to be really good, but it was let down by a lack of surprise in the plot.
Other than the lead, the characters won’t stick long in the memory, but the writing will.
I’d recommend this for readers who enjoy the skin crawling side of nature, or want to be creeped out by some of the disgusting things insects do. If you’re looking for a mystery to untangle, best look elsewhere.
I deliberated for a while whether to give this 3 or 4 out of 5. I may change my mind when I’m far enough away to use hindsight, but for now, I think it’s good but not excellent.
My score: 3 out of 5
A list of the book reviews posted to my blog is here.
Arrowmaker Books 