Customer Reviews

Dreadful Skin

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've been a fan of the werewolf story for as long as I can remember; I love those furry monstrosities above all others. So when I heard Cherie Priest, whose other novels I very much enjoyed, had was putting out a set of three connected stories about my favorite lycanthrope, I had to check it out.

But not, I'll admit, without some trepidation. As much as I did love both Four and Twenty Blackbirds and Wings to the Kingdom, and as much as they showed how well she can craft a great horror story, she was about to step into my territory. She was going to have to be measured against every book I've ever read about werewolves and every movie I've seen dealing with them. Unfair expectations for any writer, to be sure, but what can I say, it's werewolves. Do them right, or not at all.

She did them much better than right! Despite being broken into what the product description calls "disjointed" sections, Dreadful Skin presents an engaging story that I had great difficulty putting down. I had no trouble transitioning from one section to the next, though all three are written in drastically different formats. I especially enjoyed how the first section, The Wreck of the Mary Byrd, was told. Here is an author who respects the reader and says "If you're smart enough to pick up this book, you're smart enough you don't need to be coddled with a basic chronological narrative." I always appreciate that.

If you're a fan of werewolves, of horror in general, or if you just want an example of some quality storytelling, I highly recommend Dreadful Skin. My only complaint (which should be taken as a compliment) is that it left me wanting more.

This is a story of man who suffers and causes suffering, a nun who hunts him and yet battles her own problems, and the West as it was when it was still unknown.

Priest does an gives us three individual stories that weave together to create a cloth of excellent chilling horror. Not the gore filled horror of our movies, but the skin crawling, spine tingling, wonder what lies in the shadows kind. The voice is strong, as usual for Priest. The characters are interesting, flawed and real. The history of the area is woven in very well and you really get a sense of what the Old West might have been like if werewoles had walked among us.

The only flaw I would say is that while the stories weave together, there are snags that prevent the cloth from hanging all correctly. It seems clear that one of the stories was the main thrust and the other two were written to fill it out. And there is some differences and confusions as the result of it being 3 stories instead of a novel.

Solid historical information, excellent characterization and voice, top-notch creation of environment, and a werewolf-hunting, pistol-packing nun. What's not to love?

Definately not your standard fare as far as werewolf tales go, this book is brilliantly imagined and neatly packaged.

Combining werewolves, spiritual revivals and nuns with the Wild West, Priest creates a world vivcidly imagined and darkly drawn.

While not my favorite of her books, this one is definately a keeper and a must read again.

Wish there were half-stars. The first thing of length I've read by Priest, this has all the elements for a Very Good Time: impeccable historical setting and detail, interesting characters, interesting style, theological murmurings, and werewolves. The three sections work well enough, though I do wonder if this was originally conceived as a novel or grew out of shorter works. I also thought it was a little rushed toward the end but otherwise a crackling good time, with lots to love.

I am quickly becoming a fan of Ms. Priest, having read the Eden Moore series as well. She is a very talented writer. I do find her a bit dry at times, and her characters don't feel as authentic and fleshed out as they could be.

An issue I had with this book in particular is that it's actually more of a novella told in three parts. I like the approach but since the three tales are told in different styles/time periods it reads like an incomplete short story compilation. The timeline leaves some gaping holes, and some events I would have enjoyed reading about (or anyone even mentioning with any kind of detail).

The characterization felt wooden at times and I sincerely wondered if there were more stories out there about our tough Nun werewolf that were omitted from the collection, or will show up in a second book.

I just never really got to know her, and her timeline was so vague. But all in all it was still a nice read, and she is a beautiful writer and I will be reading more of her work.

Wow, very cool. A renegade werewolf nun with a revolver in her knickers, hunting down other werewolves - you gotta give it points for premise alone. Despite the fact that the story was told in three stories (or novellas, or whatever), they were connected enough to understand the story as a whole without any real problems. Sister Eileen (the renegade werewolf nun) is hunting down other werewolves - especially one werewolf in particular. This story is told via three vignettes that are connected by this central theme. Though the pieces are told with differing points of view and in different styles, I did not find the overarching story to be particularly disjointed.

Dreadful Skin was without a doubt my favorite novel this year. Cherie Priest is a fabulist storyteller with a gift for southern gothic. She paints a vivid picture of post Civil War west. Her characters are compelling. Most notably Eileen Callaghan, Irish nun turned Lycanthrope hunter truly came alive for me; she is witty, determine and surprisingly human throughout. Dreadful Skin manages to ask some big questions regarding good & evil, faith and free will, all the while telling a frightfully captivating story and never once tripping my fairly low gross-out threshold.

There are three linked stories in this collection, all featuring the same werewolf hunting nun. Yes, that is right. A werewolf hunting nun. Someone that is not quite human herself, and on the trail of a monster, throughout the three stories.

The first couple are told from the point of view of a few of the characters in it, the third somewhat different for the first major part, being recounted in letters and journals.

On the whole, rather good.

Sister Eileen Callaghan : The Wreck of the Mary Byrd - Cherie Priest
Sister Eileen Callaghan : Halfway To Holiness - Cherie Priest
Sister Eileen Callaghan : Our Lady of the Wasteland - Cherie Priest


"I ducked into a niche between a cabin and the pilot house and hiked my skirt up enough to reach down into my garter holster. I've heard it said that God made all men, but Samuel Colt made all men equal.

We'd see what Mr. Colt could do for a woman."

While Mr. Colt's equality of weaponry is one thing, I doubt it applies to werewolves, and one of which is what this nun is hunting, and has tracked him to a riverboat. Or at least she hopes she has, and it isn't the other way around.

4 out of 5


Sister Eileen, still looking for Jack, has her own case of the furries to deal with, and comes a werewolf at a revivalist camp.

3.5 out of 5


When Jack and the revivalist's son from the second story team up for a reign of terror and snacking, Eileen realises she needs help, and makes a stand with some allies in a town church.

3.5 out of 5




4.5 out of 5

I am most fond of what could be termed "the monster in the dark" genre, and Priest absolutely nails it with this werewolf tale. I couldn't put it down for wondering what happened next and to whom. The monster is absolutely delivered with gorgeous style, and the reveal comes neither too soon nor too late.

Very much worth the read!