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A review by losapala
In Wolves' Clothing by Greg Levin
5.0
In the past few years I’ve noticed something that seems to happen every time I start a new novel. I begin reading the book as a “reader,” but then quickly fall into reading it more as a “writer,” which means I get distracted from the story because I’m studying the structure of the plot, the character development, the language the author used. This helps me hone my own skills as a writer, but it takes away a lot of the enjoyment of reading a good book for its own sake. So I was quite surprised when I started In Wolves’ Clothing and, almost involuntarily, got pulled into the story so hard and fast that I couldn’t stop reading it as a reader, even if I tried. This is the mark of an absolutely brilliant author, in my opinion. The story was so expertly crafted that my writer’s mind couldn’t help but switch itself off because I was so engrossed in what was happening.
And yes, the story does move that fast. I have rarely met with a novel that was able to keep up this kind of intense level of momentum, without resorting to cheap tricks and cliffhangers. But Levin uses none of those. Every intriguing surprise he promises fully delivers. Every twist and turn of the story leads to something unexpected and perfectly aligned with the mounting tension and suspense. On top of that, I just plain liked the protagonist—a struggling oxy-addicted badass dude named Zero who works as a special ops-type guy traveling around the world saving child victims of sex trafficking. I just plain liked the story too. It sounds weird to say that a novel that revolves around the sex trafficking of children and serious addiction issues can be hilarious and delightful, but in this book’s case, there’s kind of no other way to describe it. In Wolves’ Clothing IS hilarious and delightful, even though it’s also heart-wrenching at times. Levin does a spectacular job of using humor in all the right places to give the reader the breathing room needed to tackle a subject like this.
Honestly, reading this book was like watching a master guitar player take the stage and just SHRED. Every little bit of writing craft that went into this was clean, tight, and (as my writer’s brain had to point out) seemingly impossible to pull off. But Levin pulls it off and he pulls it off brilliantly. I highly recommend In Wolves’ Clothing to those who love transgressive fiction, dark crime fiction (especially Chuck Palahniuk fans), suspense/thriller and well-written edgy literary fiction.
And yes, the story does move that fast. I have rarely met with a novel that was able to keep up this kind of intense level of momentum, without resorting to cheap tricks and cliffhangers. But Levin uses none of those. Every intriguing surprise he promises fully delivers. Every twist and turn of the story leads to something unexpected and perfectly aligned with the mounting tension and suspense. On top of that, I just plain liked the protagonist—a struggling oxy-addicted badass dude named Zero who works as a special ops-type guy traveling around the world saving child victims of sex trafficking. I just plain liked the story too. It sounds weird to say that a novel that revolves around the sex trafficking of children and serious addiction issues can be hilarious and delightful, but in this book’s case, there’s kind of no other way to describe it. In Wolves’ Clothing IS hilarious and delightful, even though it’s also heart-wrenching at times. Levin does a spectacular job of using humor in all the right places to give the reader the breathing room needed to tackle a subject like this.
Honestly, reading this book was like watching a master guitar player take the stage and just SHRED. Every little bit of writing craft that went into this was clean, tight, and (as my writer’s brain had to point out) seemingly impossible to pull off. But Levin pulls it off and he pulls it off brilliantly. I highly recommend In Wolves’ Clothing to those who love transgressive fiction, dark crime fiction (especially Chuck Palahniuk fans), suspense/thriller and well-written edgy literary fiction.