169. I,Wolf by Matt Boyd

I, Wolf by Matt Boyd
Published June 2012 ABC Books


From the publisher:


 Hunt or be hunted ... Sixteen-year-old Romy suffers from a rare genetic disease that will send him mad -- and ultimately kill him. His last hope is a mysterious clinic in Austria, where a cure is promised. But the treatment is drastic and Romy is changed forever. When he meets Antonia -- beautiful, headstrong and out of his league -- Romy starts coming to terms with his new life. But after a spate of grisly night-time attacks, Romy is forced to confront an awful truth ... What has he become?

Romy (Romulus) is a 16 year old Australian boy who suffers from a genetic disorder that will literally drive him crazy and eventually kill him when he reaches adulthood.

His father finds a cure in Austria, an experimental cure that is more than a little unconventional. With the whole family in tow, they make their way to Austria, so that Romy can be cured. There are other teenagers at the clinic, suffering from various conditions, all there to be cured.

The 'cure' is to turn them into werewolves. It does indeed cure all that ails them, but the downside is turning into a wolf and craving flesh every full moon.  

The majority of the story takes place after Romy and his new friends become werewolves. 
They learn to control their primal urges, and learn about the history of the werewolf from Julian a Patrician, a natural born werewolf, as opposed to a created one. 

When I think about it, there are a lot of similarities between the werewolves in this book and the vampires in Twilight. Curing the sick, by turning them into werewolves, living in relative harmony with humans by having an 'agreement' with the locals to hunt animals in moderation. That's where the similarities end, because this is a real boys book. There are a lot of graphic descriptions about the killing, limbs being torn off bodies and jugulars being ripped out of animals. 

The one thing that really made me smile is the small wording on the back of the book, to the left of the barcode...'FOR READING ONLY.  DO NOT INSERT INTO GAMING CONSOLE'.

Who will like this book: Boys age 14+
Read it if you like: Peeps by Scott Westerfeld