Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher

 

My thoughts

WOW!! This book knocked my socks off. I didn't read the synopsis but thought it had to be good. It's T. Kingfisher... I was right of course. 

This review is very hard to write . What can you say about a story that has you cringing about bugs. About an artist who paints these bugs. A man who studies them so intently.... This book will give you so many feelings, including laughter. Yes laughter. It's a horror, thriller, mysterious story that will have you gasping. But it does contain laughter. 

Does it contain a monster. Yes. But not where you think. Does it have a hero. Yes. A couple actually. This book was a fun and very quick read. It has everything you need for a good thriller, horror, story. 

When Sonia Wilson arrives in response to a job she accepted, she has no idea what lays in store for her. Dr Halder studies bugs. He knows everything about bugs. Or he thinks he does anyway. He's the most unpleasant person Sonia as met. His housekeeper/cook are friendly and make her feel welcome. Sonia is to draw and paint the bugs that Dr Halder is writing a book about. She's an illustrator and he expects the pictures to be perfection. He is not a nice man. He doesn't smile. He doesn't seem to like anyone. He just is...

When things take a turn for to the dark side Sonia finds herself a great odds. Does she continue with this job or run. Sonia stayed. 

This was a book about bugs, painting, cruelty, possibly murder. A story about things you truly only read about in books. This author wrote this in such a way that once you start you won't be able to stop. You'll keep turning the pages until the very end. 

It's different from any I've read but still right along with how you would except this author to write. A story that could end all stories. It's good. It's so good. Evil though. Good and evil? Possibly.

The narrator did a wonderful job with this. She brought the cringes to life. The gasps. The howls. The feelings of bugs crawling on your skin. She did a fantastic job. Mary Robinette Kowal, narrator.

Thank you Tor Publishing Group and Macmillan Audio for the ARCs. 

Five stars 

About

Something darker than the devil stalks the North Carolina woods in Wolf Worm, a new gothic masterpiece from New York Times bestselling author T. Kingfisher

“I saw the devil in these woods.”

Sonia Wilson is a talented scientific illustrator—but she is only able to follow her dream because of her father’s reputation as a renowned scientist. Such is the lot in life for a woman in science in 1899. And after his death, she is left without work, prospects, or hope.

So when the reclusive Dr. Halder offers her a position illustrating his vast collection of insects, Sonia jumps at the chance to move to his North Carolina manor house and put her talents to use.

Once there though, she encounters dark happenings in the Carolina woods, and even darker questions come to light, like what happened to her predecessor? Why are animals acting so strangely, and what is behind the peculiar local whispers about “blood thiefs?”

With the aid of the housekeeper and a local healer, Sonia discovers that Halder’s entomological studies have taken him down a twisted road. His ground-breaking discoveries come with a cost—one that Halder is paying with human flesh.

If Sonia can’t find a way to stop the monstrosity, she may be next under the knife.