Sharp Teeth

Sharp Teeth
Toby Barlow

This one I found while wandering around the bookstore, no real goal in mind. The cover definitely grabbed me, and reading the back of the book, I thought, "Oh cool, a story about a dog-catcher who falls in love with a werewolf, sounds neat."

I take it home and sit down with it, and oh man, it's not written in prose. I found though, that the free verse it's written in serves this book very well. The story flows along smoothly while we still get a great impression of the mood . It's dark, but not in the sense that it's creepy and foreboding, but more that it's raw and shines a light on the dark things that people would rather stay hidden.

The story itself is gritty. The characters are for the most part, caught up in bad situations. The multiple threads of story don't seem to have a link at first, but the author does an excellent job of tying them all together. Not all pasted together last minute, but actually weaving together these threads into a plot that keeps you reading, trying to get to that next big reveal that ties it all together.

The ending, gathers up most of these loose ends neatly, while leaving a few free to tease. I need to know what happens next; I know something is going to happen. Even some of the characters are left in suspense, waiting for the other shoe to drop.


All told, this book was awesome, new stories, new ideas, and a new way of presenting them. Not at all stale and recycled like so much out there.

-Very Tasty.

As a side note, the book has some really cool features in the back, like a playlist, dramatis personae, even a quiz you can take to test if your dog is a werewolf. Also, this book has the absolute coolest website ever. With a public service announcement, quizzes and a pretty neat layout.

www.sharpteeththebook.com