Book Review: The One You Feed - Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile

Media Type: Ebook
Title: The One You Feed
Author: James Drummond
Publisher: Self-published
Pages: Ebook; 290
Release Date: October 20, 2012
Source: Author
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Content Screening: Adult Language; Violence

HDB Rating: 3 Keys to My Heart

Recommended to: Those who enjoy quick moving stories with a horror theme.

Add it on: Goodreads / Shelfari / Amazon / BookLikes

Like most kids who grew up in the small Oregon town of Silver Falls, Toby Hoffman had heard all the scary stories about the monsters living in the neighboring woods of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Now a teenager, he knows the stories are told to keep the town’s children from wandering where they aren’t wanted. However, when an unknown animal begins brutally attacking Silver Falls’ residents, Toby can’t help but wonder if one of the fables might be true.

Then his best friend, Nate, wakes up covered in blood in the reservation woods, with no recollection of whose blood it is or where it came from. Toby convinces himself that it’s time to take action—not an easy decision considering he’s barely left his room in over a month, still stricken with grief and guilt following a family tragedy.

With the help of Rachel, a determined Native American girl who has moved off the reservation and into the house next door, Toby searches for a way to save his hometown from further attacks. He also develops feelings for his new neighbor, which are put to the test when he and Rachel discover that certain mythical monsters really do exist and that her uncle may be responsible for their unexpected emergence.

To make matters worse, there’s also evidence that Nate is now one of the beasts and he has every intention of holding onto his extraordinary new creature capabilities—no matter the cost. In order to save Silver Falls from a true scary story, Toby will have to face off against his closest friend.

A small town. Stories about the monsters that lurk in the woods. Best friends, who become enemies. Does this perhaps sound familiar to you? If you’re thinking that it sounds rather similar to a good old fashioned horror movie, you’d be right! The One You Feed made me feel like I was watching an 80’s horror movie, and I’m not going to deny that I ate it up. Be prepared for some blood and gore.

Toby was my favorite character, hands down. We meet him at an extremely low point in his life, and are allowed to watch as he slowly pulls himself out of the abyss. The unfortunate part is that Toby is really the only fully fleshed out character. Most of the others pop into scenes when they’re needed, but not very much is revealed about them as whole. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get to know Rachel better. I think she would have been my favorite otherwise. Perhaps we’ll learn more about the others in the next book?

I do have to admit that the plot was fairly slow at times, which was one of the reasons this garnered a lower rating from me. James Drummond writes a very to-the-point fight scene, and there were plenty of instances of torn off limbs and spilled entrails. Did I mention you shouldn’t read this if you are squeamish? Point being, each time something exciting happened I was engaged. Then it would go back to being slow again. Since this is the first book a series, I understand the need for back story. I just hope things pick up from here on out.

Although The One You Feed doesn’t really bring anything new to the table in terms of werewolf lore, it does put a pretty nice shine on what’s already there. I would have liked to see more information about the origin of the werewolves, but it was okay overall. If you’re a fan of horror novels, you might want to give this a shot! I can definitely say that I liked Toby enough to come back for more. The ending is a bit of a cliffhanger, so I’ll be back to see what happens next.

FTC Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. I was not monetarily compensated for my opinion.

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