I love to request free books to review. In fact I subscribe to three book review sites: Book Crash, Book Rooster and The Bookplex, but sometimes authors contact me for a review. Such was the case of William Woodall’s middle grade fiction book The Last Werewolf Hunter: The Complete Series.

Here is the description that made me want to write this book review:

Zach Trewick always thought he’d become a writer someday, or maybe play baseball for the Texas Rangers.  What he never imagined in his craziest dreams was that he’d find himself dodging bullets and crashing cars off mountainsides, let alone that he’d ever be expected to break the ancient werewolf curse which hangs over his family.

Even worse, his parents are determined to fight him tooth and nail to keep the Curse intact, his friends are not much help, and he’s not quite sure his girlfriend isn’t secretly trying to kill him. 

And that’s just for starters.

But Zach is the last of the werewolf hunters, the long-foretold Curse-Breaker who can wipe out the wolves forever, and he’s not the type to give up just because of a few minor setbacks. . .

No matter what the cost, Zach must somehow find the courage and the faith in God to make an end.

The Good…

As I read these stories, I was struck by how much they felt like a paranormal version of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. The voice had that down-to-earth, southern charm that instantly makes the reader feel like she’s listening to a friend tell a tall tale on the back porch or perhaps lying next to the young man on the cover, listening to his life story.

The conflicts in each of the stories were rather simple and easily resolved by the characters, though they do grow increasingly challenging in each book. This was something I thought was perfect for the age range the books are written for.

Along with a compelling story is a strong message of a young person finding and growing into an understanding of his relationship with God. Due to the character voice, the Christian message comes off as a sharing of ideas rather than a sermon and adds to the charm of the entire series.

The Not-so-good…

The only thing I could really find fault with is the overuse of cliches. However, given the main character’s background it’s a natural extension of his personality and therefore acceptable.

The Overall…

In my opinion the combination of down-to-earth story-telling in a classic style and near effortless conflict resolution made The Last Werewolf Hunter: The Complete Series by William Woodall a perfect middle grade read.