Vyrmin by Gene Lazuta
Bloodshot Books (October 2016)
360 pages; $13.99 paperback; $2.99 e-book
Reviewed by Frank Michaels Errington
Before I get to the review, just a quick comment about the publisher, Bloodshot Books. I really admire the effort being made to find books that either had a limited print run or have gone out of print over the years and giving them new life in the digital age by releasing them in paperback and e-book formats. Earlier this year, they gave this treatment to The Awakening by Brett McBride, a wonderful coming of age story and one of the best books I’ve read in 2016.
All that being said, Vyrmin missed the mark for me. Originally released nearly twenty years ago, Vyrmin is a somewhat fresh take on the werewolf trope. Steeped in legend, the story spends much of it’s 360 pages going nowhere.
The book starts with a chilling children’s rhyme circa 1800…
There’s wolves in the woods,
my girl, my girl,
There’s wolves in the woods,
my dear.But come the full moon,
see the blue moon,
And there’s wolves in the house,
and the mirror.
The back story about Mr. Norris’ five-year-old son who has something in his brain that makes him see things…makes things happen, is compelling. The father has taken his boy to numerous doctors, but no one seems to be able to help. Finally they find a doctor who reveals the truth to the lad, but not to the father.
So far, so good.
However, when we get to modern times in Harpersville, Ohio, the story seems to get bogged down, becomes repetitive, and just doesn’t seem to go anywhere until the very end.
When I commit to reading a book, I always see it through to the last page, but I will admit, this time, there were moments I wanted to put it down and not pick it up again.
Don’t get me wrong there are some bright spots to keep me reading…
“Everybody’s got some o’ the evil; and everybody’s got some o’ the good. Only the saints are all one way; and only the Vyrmin are all the other.”
