Wild Evolution by C. Fern Cook

Wild Evolution by C. Fern Cook
Book 1 of the Wild series
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

When Dan defends his livestock against a wild dog attack, he is put in a ‘kill or be killed’ battle. When he takes the head of a wild dog in to be tested for rabies he discovers he has the head of a human male instead of a wild dog. Now he is forced to cover up a self-defense killing because no one would believe he killed a wild dog when he has a human head. A werewolf by contamination, Dan’s life spins out of control. All his senses are heightened including his passion for the wild. His passion for the wild compels him to try to stop a new housing development that threatens the local wildlife from loss of habitat, but things don’t go according to plans and now he has a second body to dispose of.

It’s hard to keep a secret in a small town.

The mystery storyline was exciting and well-paced. One of the things I appreciated the most about it was that it was told from the killer’s point of view which isn’t something I’ve seen very often in this genre. This was a refreshing way to explain why someone might commit such a crime and what goes through their mind as they hide the evidence afterwards. There were so many twists and turns that I was never quite sure what to expect next. If the author is willing, I’d like to review the rest of the books in this series to see if my guesses about future events are anywhere close to being correct.

It would have been helpful to have more descriptions of the characters and settings. I struggled to imagine what many of the scenes looked like because of how little time was spent discussing what it would be like to stand in the middle of them and look around. This is something I’m saying as a reader who can generally easily picture a scene if I’m given a few details to work with, and I would have chosen a higher rating if this were easier for me as I was reading. The plot itself was exactly the sort of mystery I am drawn to.

Dan wasn’t immediately, much less entirely, aware of how he was changing after being bitten which made it even more interesting for me as a reader to take note of both the things he had noticed were different about himself as well as the ones that he seemed to be overlooking based on the descriptions of his personality and habits that were provided. Honestly, this is one of the best things about werewolf tales in my opinion because of how many different ways a plot can develop as someone slowly or quickly transforms, so I was glad to see it included here.

Wild Evolution kept me guessing.