Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher | Horror Fiction Audiobook Review
Loved the book but not so much the narration.
My 2 Cents for Free!
Thanks to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio and T. Kingfisher for providing the arc!
T. Kingfisher horror novels are one of my favorite things and this new book is no exception. It’s earthy, it’s creepy, it’s full of bugs and decay and snark and suspicious characters and there is nothing here that I didn’t enjoy about the writing. I am reviewing the audio narrated by Mary Robinette Kowal, however, and I’d recommend you maybe read it in paper if you’re picky about your narrators.
There was something about the narration that didn’t seem to fit the historical time period of 1899, and the voices of the men were, I’m sad to say, dreadful in the most terrible of ways. So much so that they made me smirk in places where I really shouldn’t have been smirking and would almost always throw me out of the story. I tried speeding up and slowing down and they only struck me as funnier so I guess I’ll chalk this one up as another ill fit between story and narrator choice. Or perhaps I’m too easily distracted by funny voices and/or perhaps I’m losing my mind.
Sonia is in a bad financial way after the death of her father. It’s 1899 and a 30ish unmarried woman with a dollar in her pocket and training as a naturalist has very little in the way of options. She is a scientific illustrator by trade and accepts a job with a grumpy old man who has hired her to illustrate his life's work. She relocates to his manor where she gets busy illustrating his collection of parasitic bugs. But things don’t go to plan because of course they don’t! What happened to the previous illustrator? Why are the wild creatures acting so strange? Are the whispered rumors of murder true? Why does her grumpy bastard of a boss walk in the woods alone at night? WHAT IS IN THE SHED? She snoops, she snarks and she snoops some more and she finds herself some gooey answers. I don’t hold any of it against her because I probably would’ve done the same damn thing, lol.
It’s icky, it’s funny, it’s not super disturbing and it’s a delight to read. I highly recommend Wolf Worm in paper which I would give all the stars but again I’m reviewing the audio, and I can only give the production a four for all of the reasons I noted above.
Final Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐(⭐)
Publisher Plot Synopsis
“I saw the devil in these woods.”
Sonia Wilson is a talented scientific illustrator—but she is only able to follow her dream because of her father’s reputation as a renowned scientist. Such is the lot in life for a woman in science in 1899. And after his death, she is left without work, prospects, or hope.
So when the reclusive Dr. Halder offers her a position illustrating his vast collection of insects, Sonia jumps at the chance to move to his North Carolina manor house and put her talents to use.
Once there though, she encounters dark happenings in the Carolina woods, and even darker questions come to light, like what happened to her predecessor? Why are animals acting so strangely, and what is behind the peculiar local whispers about “blood thiefs?”
With the aid of the housekeeper and a local healer, Sonia discovers that Halder’s entomological studies have taken him down a twisted road. His ground-breaking discoveries come with a cost—one that Halder is paying with human flesh.
If Sonia can’t find a way to stop the monstrosity, she may be next under the knife.
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