| Title | : | Animals |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0553299247 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780553299243 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 449 |
| Publication | : | First published October 1, 1993 |
Changing shape at will. Lusting for blood and meat. They are gods in the wild. Gods in disguise. And they feed on the spark inside each of us.
Syd was just another lonely working-class guy singing the steel-town blues. Then he met Nora. She's sensual. Erotic. Amoral. A creature of the night. And she's luring Syd across the line that few can cross—and fewer survive: the line that separates man from beast.
Animals Reviews
-
I believe this was the last novel Skipp and Spector co-authored, unfortunately, as it is one of their best. I am not enraptured with the werewolf genre, but Animals really hit that sweet spot! Our main protagonist, Syd, is your average working class guy, middle 30s, living in a small town in PA close to Pittsburgh. The factory where he worked closed, he recently divorced his wife, and now ekes out a living doing whatever, like so many others in Western PA after industry moved South. Skipp and Spector present the reality of the area in its dispiriting totality for sure; I guess their both being from the area really helped here!
About the only joy left in Syd's life is good blues and a local roadhouse that hosts some hot blues bands. Syd and the bartender go way back, and one day at the roadhouse a smoking hot gal walks in; lets say she has some serious animal magnetism! For whatever reason, she walks up to Syd and his life is changed forever. After a few days of hot sex and a reevaluation of his sorry life, he agrees to split town with her (Nora) and hit the road. All he has to do is sew up some loose ends in his life. He knows Nora is worried about something; more specifically, a nasty relationship she fled and a 'boyfriend' that more than a little miffed with Nora's walking out. When Vic (her beau) walks into the bar on their last night in town, lets say Syd's life is changed fundamentally once again!
Perhaps the thing I like most of Skipp and Spector's work is how well they present a gritty reality and people just trying to get by. Brian Keene is somewhat similar, but Skipp and Spector made it an art form. Then, just when you get a handle on the characters and their lives, something comes along to break it wide open. And Skipp and Spector also do an awesome job of writing a splatterpunk break! I also like how their work never became formulaic as each of their collaborations took on different horror tropes and blew them wide open, giving them a unique twist. They do the same here for the werewolf genre, but I will not go into details. If you like their work, you should really like this; I think it is one of their best. It could (also as usual) use some better editing and its pace was a bit erratic, but overall, awesome. 4.5 snarling stars!!!
-
Review available on my blog:
https://fireflyfiend.wordpress.com/20... -
This is probably the fourth or fifth time I've read this book, and its just as good every time. Of all the werewolf books I've read, and I read every one I can find, this is undoubtedly the best one still. Syd, the main character of the book, is a man I can completely relate to. On top of a failed marriage, crappy job, etc., he also feels as though there's always been something missing in his life. Enter Nora, sex goddess who appears from nowhere, and rocks Syd's whole world. Of course, she comes with her own set of problems; psycho ex-boyfriend (check), alcohol problem (check), dark and mysterious past (check),... Oh! Don't forget she's a werewolf too!
If you want to read one of the best werewolf books ever, definitely give this one a read. It WON'T disappoint you! -
Animals was the final collaborative novel by Skipp and Spector. It's a very good werewolf novel, with quite a serving of gore and violence and erotic content... sometimes all mixed together. It's a good example of why they're credited with founding the extreme horror/splatterpunk subgenre. It's a more character-driven book than some of their earlier ones, and while it may sag a bit in the middle, it goes out with a bang that readers with a low tolerance for graphic descriptions might want to avoid. On the other hand, it's something of a touching romance... but, you know- for werewolves.
-
If not the best werewolf novel of all time, easily in the top 3. Also, one of the out and out best horror novels I've ever read. I need to go back and re-read, as I was so enthralled by it that I just tore through it the first time. Skipp and Spector are amazing authors and this is one of their best works. A must-read for horror fans.
-
I've seen some very good reviews of this one and some not so good. I'm definitely one of the good ones. I've read just about everything from this pair of writers and have always liked them. Their work is gory and not always quite PC but it has power and drama.
This one is a werewolf novel. It's not a typical example, though, because it spends quite a bit of time with the werewolves in their human forms, and is really more about their relationships than about throwing a scare into the reader. If I'd known that ahead of time I might have been biased against it. I'm glad I didn't because the writers gave me what I wanted even if I wasn't quite sure I wanted it before I started. We also get something else that I like, and that is I began to feel empathy and sympathy even for the villains before the story was through.
I read this in ebook form from Crossroads Press. -
Man, this is hard to review, because here's the thing -
The first 40% is a 2/10.
The next 30% is a 5/10.
The final 30% is a 10/10.
I'd read that a lot of people were DNF on this and I can see why. It would be very easy to just give up and drop out during the long and painful slog of the first half, which is mainly devoted to our lead's crushing economic and life misfortunes (just divorced from an unfaithful wife, laid off from a solid job) and his meeting with Nora, the uber-psycho-crazy werewolf woman of the book. This results in chapters of needy depression-sex and turmoil and misery, as Nora isn't just a vivacious wild woman who flips all his switches - She's also the definition of the crazy girlfriend who's up at 4am sobbing in the kitchen and smashing all your dishes before going out to punch holes in your tires because she had a bad dream about you.
Basically, it's a turgid and depressing slog of watching basic decent-guy Syd see just how far he can further ruin his life by getting involved with Nora. Further complication is added by the fact that Nora is being pursued by her psycho ex-boyfriend Vic, a dangerously insane alcoholic werewolf himself.
Events unexpectedly take a turn for the better just over the halfway point and I was glad I hung on, because everything that takes place after Vic comes to town lifts the story WAY up higher, from "Why am I still reading this?" to "Damn, I gotta know what happens NEXT!" It all winds its way towards an epic final act that's fantastic and loaded with suspense and action.
Recommended if you...
...Love werewolf stories
...Have a lot of patience -
The craziest-bat-shit-wild werewolf story I've ever read.
-
A bloated werewolf book with poor pacing and deeply unlikeable characters.
Sometimes authors are very bad at writing members of the opposite sex. That’s certainly the case with ANIMALS. The female characters in this book are poorly developed, and seem like a mixture of shallow fantasies and sexist clichés. Worst of all is Nora, a particularly egregious iteration of the femme fatale archetype. One could write a short dissertation on how poorly realized she is, but life’s too short. Suffice to say that this character made me feel embarrassed on the authors’ behalf.
Sadly, the male characters aren’t much better. The protagonist, Sid, has the dubious honor of being one of the most tedious protagonists I’ve ever encountered, right up there with Werther and Victor Frankenstein. He’s depressed, myopic, and unbearably boring. His endless whiny ruminations make one wish he’d just hurry up and get brutally murdered (spoiler: he doesn’t).
There’s a reason why writers are told not to create dull, depressed main characters: no one wants to read about them. We’re constantly told by the narrator, and by Sid himself, that Sid has a ‘wild side’ – but there’s no real evidence of this. He’s just a buttoned-down schmuck. A chump. A loser. He’s the wrong kind of anti-hero.
The pacing is a disaster, though not right away. In fact, for the first half of the book the pacing is pretty good. Things are established effectively, and pretty soon the tension starts to rise, the stakes increase, the speed of the narrative picks up. By the halfway point the story is rocketing along at high speed. But then that speed drops off at the start of part two, and the story starts to crawl along at an excruciatingly slow pace that seems totally inappropriate given all the previous buildup. The tension doesn’t drain out of the narrative – it transforms into almost unbearable frustration as the characters meander about idiotically, and the story is trapped in a pointless and ill-conceived holding pattern until the final, long-overdue climax, which inevitably feels like way too little, way too late.
I mentioned earlier that this book is bloated. Like many 90s novels, it feels as if the authors were given a target word count, and had to keep padding the book until they reached it. ANIMALS is filled with pointless, tedious detail. The prose, though in many ways skillful, lush, and evocative, is nonetheless excessively embroidered. The authors are never content to simply describe something once; everything needs to be detailed ad nauseum. Often we get two or three similes when one – or even none – would have sufficed. What’s more, there is altogether way too much POV ruminating. The characters seem to experience deep, soul-searching moments of reflection at every conceivable moment, even when in the middle of life-or-death situations! Which of course is patently ridiculous to anyone who’s ever had an adrenaline rush. It’s called the “fight or flight” response, not the “stand there and think about your life” response. Overall, the ratio of action to waffle is intolerably skewed in the waffle direction.
Conceptually, the book does nothing interesting with the werewolf myth, and feels almost generic in its lack of innovation. Plot-wise, the ending is painfully predictable.
Having said all this, not everything about the book is awful. As mentioned above, the prose is skillful, and there are some very cool descriptive passages. The authors are very good at crafting suspenseful scenes, especially in the first half of the book, before the pacing falls off a cliff. Unfortunately none of this is enough to make up for unlikeable characters, poor pacing in the second half, and large swathes of tedious waffle that ultimately make ANIMALS a chore to finish. -
I found this paperback at a thirft store. Its a book about werewolves and it can be a bit much sometimes, but I've read worse where I had to stop. Syd is a young man trying to get his life back in order once his marriage falls apart, he than meets Nora. Nora is able to "change" and Syd believes shes the one for him, but Nora also lives by a thread...almost ready to become unhindged, but you dont know this until you read most of the story. Vic is the man who turned Nora and Vic is also crazy...Nora and Vic are a couple who really are made for each other in their craziness. Syd has always felt not quite right in his life or skin, as though there is something running deeper inside him, hence the title of the book "ANIMALS." In other words, some of us make better shifters because of that instinct and wether we're able to handle letting it loose once we're changed. Nora believes that Syd may be the one to get her away from Vic once he learns to accept that he can be a strong shifter, but Syd fights it most of the time...afraid of what he may release, his real nature (the beast, the emotions and the enjoyment of the kill). The character dynamics and how they relate to each other make this book an interesting one. Its dated, but I believe well written for its time, I found myself pulled into the storyline and couldnt wait to find out what happens to all the characters in the book. It has its weaknesses, but not enough to stop me from finishing it.
-
My first excursion into the splatterpunk world of Skipp and Spector. I'd heard this wasn't necessarily the place to start in their back catalog, but there's a lot to like in here. Plenty of rib-cracking, skull-bashing action and the authors don't hesitate to paint the walls red, but I was pleasantly surprised at just how much the characters come to life. This werewolf book comes at the genre in a unique way, spending way more time on the impact of being a shapeshifter on everyday life than any piece of werewolf media that comes to mind. It was a pleasure to spend 450 pages with these gentlemen, and I look forward to doing it again soon.
-
Hyper violent, at times, but mostly it's about carnal desires.
Literary porn that moves at a somewhat steady pace for the first hundred pages and then becomes rather tiresome to read.
Not really the worst werewolf novel out there, but a far cry from being a good read. Still, if blood 'n' gore 'n' noxious amounts of dirty sex are your thing - totally go for this.
For whatever else can be said for this piece, I do have to give the writers this:
They add an amazing soundtrack to their writing! -
Two are better than one, the Bible says. This book proves it. One of the murder scenes is the nastiest one I've ever read. Very few books equal this one in brilliance of description, as well as everything else--dialogue, raw emotion. If I could've given it six stars, I would've. I'm sticking with this writing team until I run out of their books. I should've known from reading The Cleanup those many years ago that stepping away was a mistake. Do not miss this duo!
-
This is easily one of the best werewolf stories ever. I love this book. It is not for the faint of heart, and definitely for consenting adults. But it's depth and dedication to itself makes it so awesome, and a prime example of why Hollywood pales so much in comparison to the power of good storysmiths. Skipp and Spector have written a masterpiece here and every werewolf fan should read it.
-
Werewolves ... Yes!
Don't miss this read. I thoroughly enjoyed it! A bit extreme ... just the way I like it! A good long read by a dynamic duo loved by many. Not a typical read ... nor exactly typical for these authors ... but certainly well worth the price of admission. -
ACTUAL RATING 3 and a half stars
Though it has some badass werewolf action, Animals is incredible over-stuffed with characters and plotlines, similar to the Bridge, to the determint of the novel's speed and enjoyment. -
Pretty graphic, but decent on the chill-meter.
-
I just finished the year out reading this book that I just randomly picked up a local thrift shop, and boy, am I glad that I did. ANIMALS, was a great read and perhaps the most enjoyable novels that I have read in 2012. This is the second book that I read by John Skipp and Craig Specto,and I enjoyed every page of this deeply passionate and bizarre tale. The characters are elaborately developed and every detail of this story is written in a clear concise manner without being boring. The tension builds, and builds to an exciting horrific climax. This was a page turner, and I very rarely find a book that I can hardly put down, like this one. This will stay in my book shelf because I see myself reading it again sometime in the future.
-
Animals by John Skipp and Craig Spector, is a thrill ride involving a strange woman who arrives in a man's life in a time of need, and literally brings out the animal in him. This is a great werewolf novel to read, bare in mind this novel is highly sexual through out the book. I enjoyed this book, but the only thing that kinda bothered me is how one does become a werewolf in this novel. You will have to read for yourself to see what I mean, to me it didn't make any sense, but what it did show me is the authors took their time in researching lycanthrophy lore. But failed in my opinion to exactly make sense in explaining the change to a werewolf itself, to me which is crucial to any werewolf story.
-
While this is clearly horror, there are emotional threads pulling you through it that border on romance. I liked the characterization--far more thorough than is typical for the genre and built from the inside out. The werewolfiness was original and very straightforward without the typical Lon Chaney trappings we're used to seeing in the genre. Just enough detail to let readers fill in their own blanks. If you need full moons and silver this is not the book for you.
-
4.6 stars
Skipp and Spector at their most mature, funny, and literary. These guys are so scathing in their descriptions. Poetic too. My favorite werewolf novel ever!
Compulsory addition to any werewolf horror collection. -
The first I've read from Skipp and Spector, wonderfully written, incredible story line, an incredible book all around. Now I've got about 7 more of theirs I need to start reading!
-
A good read. It went through a lot of time I wasn't expecting. The characters were good. None of them were perfect, but I think a few were cartoonish in certain aspects. I kind of wish we would have more of an ending and less filler. The gore was nice. So, I got what I wanted from my werewolf horror book.
-
This book is less "animals" and more character study. Each person in this book is broken, inspired and actually interesting. I think this is the best Skipp/Spector book, but it's not my personal favorite. This is definitely the most well thought out and the best written.
-
This is the second book I’ve read by the fantastic writing team of John Skipp & Craig Spector. I really love their writing style. Brutal at times, great characters, and really well written. Easily one of the best werewolf novels I’ve ever read.
-
In terms of horror, this book lacked. But in terms of growth as writers, character development and setting, this book is their best!!!
