Johnson, Hal. Immortal Lycanthropes.

Johnson, Hal.  Immortal Lycanthropes.  Houghton Mifflin/Clarion  2012  292p  $16.99 978-0-547-75196-2       Fantasy     VG-BN   

Under-sized thirteen-year-old Myron Horowitz is a boy with an unfortunate name and an even more unfortunate face, which was marred in an accident he cannot remember and which makes him a target for the local bully, but as it turns out, being bullied by larger children is the least of his worries.  After an incident at school, Myron is pursued by violent strangers, rescued by other strangers who tell him that he is an immortal lycanthrope, and then lost by his rescuers before they can determine what form he takes when he is not looking like a human.  With only the faintest clue about what he’s getting into, Myron begins a quest to discover who and what he is. His quest takes him from Pennsylvania to Canada, and all over the North American continent, in the company of others of his kind, some of whom are friendly, while others are hostile, and few are what they seem to be.  From these fellow immortals he learns more about their kind and some useful skills, including wilderness survival, grifting, and dealing with ancient secret societies like the Illuminati and the Rosicrucians.  The story is narrated by a fellow immortal lycanthrope whose other form is a binturong and who cannot resist inserting his own opinions, which he thinks are very clever.  The narrator’s style is reminiscent of Kipling, but his wit is much more vicious, and while both his style and his wit could easily become tiresome, author Hal Johnson has enough sense not to overuse them.  The narrative style will appeal a great deal to teenage readers, and probably make up for the fact that none of the characters is particularly likable, not even Myron.       

Shapeshifting–Fiction, Supernatural–Fiction, Disfigured persons-Fiction                                                       --Bethany Geleskie