I’m gonna start reviewing the books I read this year. I’ve already read two books this year — the very good Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk and the okay Life in Pieces (a Bernice Summerfield book). But I thought I’d start with the book I’ve just finished, Carnies by Martin Livings.

These reviews won’t contain spoilers. I’m here to give you an overall impression rather than give away plot details.

So, what did I think of Carnies. Simply, it was great. At its core Carnies is a werewolf novel. And in some regards Livings doesn’t depart too radically from werewolf lore. But that was OK, as long as the story clicked, the characters were engaging and the writing was good. And Livings scores well in all those areas.

The idea of werewolves running a Carnival in a long forgotten country town (place unspecified but it’s Australia and perhaps WA going from the authors own background) was interesting. The Carnival setting and the town were very well realised. But the real winners for me in this book were the two main characters, David and Paul Hampden. What happens to them seems predictable at the outset, David the journalist looking for a story and Paul his out of work cameraman brother tagging along (mostly because he has nothing better to do). They become embroiled with the goings on in the Carnival, the werewolves, even the townspeople and you know bad things to happen with them.

And they do.

But not in the ways you’re expecting.

And that’s what makes Carnies such an engaging read. It focuses on character but also delivers in telling an interesting, compelling story that keeps throwing out the odd surprise to knock the reader off his feet. We’re not talking huge, whopping, left field twists. We’re talking subtle clever stuff that makes you realise you’re in the hands of a confident writer.

This, I believe, is Livings’ first novel (though he has written many a short story). But it has the confidence and the flair and the style of someone whose been knocking out a book a year (but not in a hacky, I need the cash sort of way). The writing comes mainly from David and Paul’s point of view and Livings does a good job at differentiating both their narrative voices.

With werewolves you can expect some gore. And it’s there, and at times it’s full on, but as a gore-hound (an old splatter punk jockey from days gone by) I thought it was well handled without being gratuitous.

My only complaint (and it has nothing to do with the writing) is the packaging. The cover is awful and the book feels a bit flimsy in your hand. It all looks a bit amateurish. Which is a shame because the contents are anything but that.

So if you’re looking for an easy to read but engaging horror novel with werewolves, than this is the book for you.

For more info on the book and the author you can check out his website here:

http://www.martinlivings.com/carnies/