The Abused Werewolf Support Group

Catherine Jinks (author)

Allen&Unwin, Australia: 2010

ISBN: 9781742373638

Genres: action, adventure, fantasy

Issues: friendship, identity, resilience

Tobias Vandervelde (not his real name) is usually ready for an adventure; for something crazy; to bend the rules a little, to make things go bang, or produce horrible smells, or give someone a scare. In other words he's a normal teenage boy who does his best to drive his mother to distraction. Until, that is, he wakes up in hospital with absolutely no memory of how he ended up in the dingo pen at Featherdale Wildlife Park - and why it was the dingoes who were hurt, not him. Toby feels, understandably, a little freaked out.

But when a priest knocks at his door and tells him he's probably a werewolf - well, that's just a little too wild. Werewolves don't exist... do they? And certainly not in Australia? Surely it's a con? Suddenly Toby finds that a small group of rather frail looking oddballs with strange sleeping habits might be his new best friends - especially once he's kidnapped and held captive in the outback.

Catherine Jinks is a well-regarded Australian writer and with The Reformed Vampire Support Group she took the current obsession with vampire fiction and gave it a much-needed laconic irony. In this companion volume the Vampire Support Group is back and so is Reuben, the first werewolf they rescued. Together they fight desperately to maintain their carefully constructed, socially acceptable identities, as well as rescue Toby, beat the bad guys and educate (when necessary) those who get a little too close to the truth. Strong characters, quirky humour, plenty of action - all of these will appeal to readers who like their fantasy a little unpredictable. Highly recommended.