The St. Andrews Werewolf

This book is a fiction mystery written by Eric Wilson. Liz Austin is the main character in the book, and she is investigating a large number of fires in the town of St. Andrews. She is confronted with multiple challenges throughout the book, such as the proposition to build a mall in St. Andrews. The plot of the novel is mainly based around the idea of the mall, because there is a town vote, and the fires that have been lit are intended to intimidate the voters into saying yes to the mall. But according to anonymous phone calls, and letters the St. Andrews werewolf is performing these arsons. As the book progresses we learn more and more about the mall, and the werewolf. Also during all of this Liz is performing in a musical called Annie. One of the major themes that was in the book was the theme of crime. One of the motifs that supported this theme was the arsonist in the town.

This is a good book that keeps you reading from page to page, but I would not advise someone looking for an advanced mystery novel because the language in the book is very basic. I think that this book could be improved if the author were to try and enhance the plot by giving more background about the characters, and make the language a bit more vivid. Also if the author were to use a higher level of language it would keep people more interested.

I thought the t this book was similar to Great Expectations because the author addresses problems in our society today. I thought that the lack of jobs really tied into today’s society with the recession, and the thousands of people that have lost jobs and need to move away. I think that this book, although not very advanced, it relates to one of the biggest problems that the world is facing today. It also shows that people will go to drastic measures to make sure that they get what they think is best.

In the book the author did not use many rhetorical devices, but there were some that I thought were effective. One of them was the use of a metaphor near the beginning of the book, “I heard it. An unearthly sound.”(pg. 5) I think that this is a good use of auditory imagery because it entices the reader, and they want to know what is making such a terrible noise. Also the author used a lot of visual imagery, for example, “Suddenly, a ball of fire exploded out of a window sending us fleeing to the road for safety. Flames began licking up the wall.”(pg. 6) The metaphor is the final rhetorical device that I think the author used well, “Stars exploded in my skull.”(pg. 64) I think that this is a really good way to depict what happened to one of the characters when he was bludgeoned in the head by an unknown attacker.