The Fat Kid’s Wolfy Revenge: Not for the Weak Hearted or Mature Minded

The Fat Kid’s Wolfy Revenge: Not for the Weak Hearted or Mature Minded
Kristian J. Hanson
Outskirts, Apr 2011, $14.95
ISBN: 9781432773151

In Gilbert, Arizona high school student Joe Winnie is as uncool as a teen can be even living in a predominantly Mormon town. He loathes school; the girls treat him like a pariah when they ignore him. He especially detests his female peers who when they were younger were his friend, but now treat him like he possesses a contagious disease.

As he faces the fact he has no one to take to the prom, Joe watches a seven foot plus werewolf rip apart a door to door (always during a football game) Mormon missionary. Although terrorized he may be the dessert, Joe watches the Lycan tear into faked boobs Heather. He decides not to be the lunatic savior from movies like the Howling, but instead starts a blog following the murderous and raping exploits of the American Werewolf in Gilbert. As his blog becomes the in thing, his new BFF the beast that bites leads Joe to ask the rich Brazilian beauty Fernanda to the prom as he assumes she does not have werewolf catnip AKA silicon transplants.

This gory yet entertaining urban fantasy lampoons the sub-genre’s tendency towards either heroic passionate paranormal hunks in tune with their feminine side or amateurs risking their lives (and souls) to take down the maniacal beast. Although women are the prime victims of this brutal werewolf; those grotesque assaults are a key element in mocking the compassionate caring hero of romantic fantasy. Nothing is sacred in Kristian J. Hanson’s “Not for the Weak Hearted or Mature Minded” except Joe’s staying power went from 30 to 156 seconds.

Harriet Klausner