Book Review: Lupine Road by Cal Matthews

Blurb:

A wolf on the run

Cyrus Del Basque has been running his whole life. Born to a pack of fugitive werewolves, he travels the country with his family, trying to stay one step ahead of the hunters who pursue them. With only each other to rely on, his family roams from town to town, never stopping long enough for Cyrus to make friends, let alone have a relationship. 

But living under constant threat has taken its toll, and when Cyrus’s grandfather falls ill, his desperate family takes refuge in the most unlikely of places—a drive-in movie theater outside of tiny Modesty Creek, Montana. 

A man looking forward

Nathan Anderson is comfortable in his world. Proud owner of the Throwback Theater, Nate’s life revolves around movies, books, and World of Warcraft raids with his long-distance best friend. He’s spent the last few years healing from a car accident that left him in a wheelchair, and though he has lingering mental and physical scars, Nate is happy and content in the life he has built.

But Modesty Creek is small, and the dating options slim. So when the strange family blows into town, Nate is immediately drawn to the quiet, intense oldest son. And when sparks fly, Nate—ever the romantic—can’t help but start imagining the future they might have together. 

Two world colliding 

But Cyrus knows he can’t risk putting Nate and his family in danger. How could he even begin to explain? He knows that, at best, they can only have a few days together. But even as Nate and Cyrus are drawn closer together, Cyrus knows that at any moment, hunters could arrive to tear them all apart… and burn down the world that Nate has created.

Todd's rating:

Wow, I kinda loved this story.

I fully expected to read this story and it be all teeth and claws and snarling and fur. And it kinda was. But it mostly... wasn't.

The story actually reminded me less of a paranormal suspense and more of a fleeing fugitive plot line, as there was a minimum of shifting and talking about being wolves, but a premium of pages devoted to family, staying safe, and staying together.

And then, yeah, fuck that. All hell broke loose and bring on the teeth and claws and snarling and fur full force.

And. It. Was. AWESOME.

The scene where the "big bads" finally caught up with the family was so frickin' good. It wasn't rushed, didn't feel abbreviated, and left none of the emotion-evoking details passed over.

It was suspenseful and had me on the edge of my goddamn seat FOR-EV-AH, as the same events are told twice; once from Cyrus' wolfy, would-be savior point of view and again from Nate's handicapable, wheelchair-bound human captive point of view.



But that long action scene was only the pyrotechnics of this story, the *WOW* moment. The bread and butter of this story was the tentative, developing relationship between a vagabond boy who'd never had a home and a boy who was happy, in spite of his circumstances, but also very lonely. And it was beautifully done.

Also very well done was Nate's humor. His enthusiasm had me laughing really hard when the sexy times ensued. I wouldn't really characterize this book as a sexy read, but more of a touching story, with lots of Nate's insecurities to work through and Cyrus' constant thoughtfulness.

The story was definitely not perfect, though. It could've seriously used another round of editing for missing words and such, and the book ends with remaining possibility for danger, but I'd still rate this one at around 4.5 stars and whole-heartedly recommend it.

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