With the rights to a film adaptation already optioned, it would appear safe to reaffirm the public’s keenness on the urban fantasy genre with the publication of Red Moon. As is the long-established tradition, Benjamin Percy’s latest novel also deals with the weighty topic of prejudice between species.

In the world of Red Moon, lycanthropy has long been an established fact. Just not that comfortable to live with. A particularly gruesome terrorist attack carried out by werewolf rebels on a domestic flight results in bloody crackdowns on lycan households throughout the United States. Seventeen-year-old Claire Forrester, one of the few survivors of the government-sanctioned “countermeasures” against the lycans, finds herself on a cross-country race to secure her safety. Closely intertwined with hers are the paths of the sole survivor of the bloodbath at 30,000 feet, another lone she-wolf, and a wily anti-lycan politician.

As befits its highly theatrical themes, Red Moon is never dull. With believable characters and tangible tension strung throughout each chapter, Percy keeps his readers hooked. Whether his “literary” style is to your taste is another question.

[ thereview@thenational.ae ]