maandag 12 januari 2026

Book Review - When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy

Title:
When the Wolf Comes Home
Author: Nat Cassidy
Genre: Horror
Published: 2025

Description: One night, Jess, a struggling actress, finds a five-year-old runaway hiding in the bushes outside her apartment. After a violent, bloody encounter with the boy’s father, she and the boy find themselves running for their lives.
 
As they attempt to evade the boy’s increasingly desperate father, horrifying incidents of butchery follow them. At first, Jess thinks she understands what they’re up against, but she’s about to learn there’s more to these surreal and grisly events than she could’ve ever imagined. And that when the wolf finally comes home, none will be spared.
 
Review: “When the Wolf Comes Home” is a genre-bending nightmare that is far more than a standard creature feature.
 
The story starts with Jess, a struggling L.A. actress, discovering a terrified five-year-old boy hiding in the bushes outside her apartment. What starts as a tense rescue mission quickly spirals into a gory, surreal road trip when the boy’s father arrives, leaving a trail of butchery in his wake.
 
The book has a lot of gore and violence, but beneath all that is a heartbreaking exploration of generational trauma and fear. Author Nat Cassidy uses a bizarro fiction approach where the boy’s fears can literally manifest in reality.
 
Jess is a wonderfully flawed character. Her complicated feelings about her own estranged father and a layer of depth that makes her bond with the mysterious boy feel earned rather than forced.
 
The story is action-packed and adrenaline-fueled. Cassidy balances gruesome body horror with unexpected moments of dark humor.
 
While the concept is brilliant, the pacing is slightly uneven in the middle. The transition from a grounded thriller to full-blown surrealist horror involves several WTF moments – including references to “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” – that felt a bit jarring and weird.
 
“When the Wolf Comes Home” is a bloody, deeply moving entry in contemporary horror. Very reminiscent of Stephen King’s “Firestarter”. If you’re expecting a regular werewolf story, think again. You’re in for one hell of a ride.
 
Rating: 4/ 5

Geen opmerkingen: