Customer Reviews

Wolves Among Us: A Novel

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Shades of Salem Witch Trials! This historic novel so scared me, that I actually had to put it down and walk away. Of course, I did pick it back up and finish reading it. I am so very thankful that I live in the 21st Century and not the 16th.

I quickly connected to the protagonist, Mia, and her sickly child, Alma. What a heavy load of problems Mia bears. She's married to hard-to-please Bjorn, the stern sheriff and cares for his bedridden mother. Even the ladies of the small village shun her. This gives Mia a very lonely existence. I hurt for her. As the plot unfolds, I feared for her.

An extensive Author's Note section, along with Discussion Questions and Supernatural Housekeeping are all included at the end of the novel.

Thank you to Bonnie at Christian Fiction Blog Alliance and David C. Cook for my copy.

Having had mixed feelings about Ginger Garrett's prior books (I've read three prior to this one), I started Wolves Among Us with similar mixed feelings. I quickly found, to my pleasant surprise, that this is her most readable work to date, and I really enjoyed it. Wolves Among Us tells the story of a small village in 16th century Germany, shocked when the bodies of two murdered people are found one morning on the church steps. Looking for assistance to help him find and apprehend the murderer, the village priest summons an Inquisitor. Almost as soon as the Inquisitor arrives, the priest realizes he has made a grave mistake; however, it is too late for him to close the Pandora's box, and soon his village is torn apart by witch hunt fever. There are truly wolves lurking among the people, both human wolves in the village, and actual wolves in the woods just outside the village.

It is Ginger Garrett's best book so far for several reasons. First of all, although this was originally supposed to be a continuation of the Chronicles of the Scribe series, it ended up being a stand-alone book. There are no scribe scenes, and no 21st century women transported back in time to expiate their sins. Both of which are huge pluses. However, for those readers who truly enjoyed the passages with the scribes, Ms. Garrett includes a bonus chapter at the back that continues the saga of Marisska.

Secondly, this book, although employing Garrett's characteristic surreal and somewhat disjointed style, is the most coherent of her books. Although it starts off a bit "jerky", it quickly smoothes out and begins to flow, and it is not at all confusing for the reader to follow the narrative and understand what is going on. And, in fact, Garrett's unique style is particularly well-suited to the subject matter of Wolves Among Us; she effectively creates a mood that conveys to the reader, at least in small part, how terrifying it must have been for women living during the times and places of witch trials. It was a time when people were bound by superstition, and it was a male- and church-dominated culture in which womens' voices counted for nothing.

Another strength of Ginger Garrett's writing is that things don't necessarily end up happily ever after for her main characters; in fact, quite often they don't, and that element of uncertainty keeps you reading. Also, she has an ability to describe some things in such a way that they seem graphically real (for instance, the sights and smells of the forest, or the horrible condition of the witch in the cage), while leaving other things curiously undescribed (namely, what people look like. We're given only the slightest description of what some characters looked like, and no description at all of what the main characters looked like).

There are really only two "discrepancies" I found in this book, and perhaps they are not discrepancies but just my own misunderstanding. The first was the night when Mia heard the woman murdered right outside her door. She had left her shutters open, meaning that the windows were wide open. Why would she leave her shutters open at night? And on an early spring night at that, when the weather was still very cold and rainy?

My second question has to do with the distribution of Tyndale's Bibles. Although I do know he worked with a printer in Germany to produce his Bibles, it has always been my understanding that he printed Bibles in English and shipped them to Great Britain for distribution in England and Scotland. Yet Garrett has him distributing his Bibles in Germany. Why would he have distributed English Bibles among German-speaking people?

Although I wasn't expecting to read any more of Ginger Garrett's books after finishing her scribe series, I was so pleased with this one that I look forward to reading whatever she comes out with next.

To all readers,

I cannot get into this book, it is very boring. I am an avid reader and this Author is not what I expected her to be. Thank you! I will not buy anymore of her books.

This book was hard for me to read. I kept finding myself getting angry. As a teacher I know how women in history were treated. I know that the church in the 1500's in Europe held so much power that they felt they could do whatever they wanted and people had to obey or suffer the consequences. I would not have survived long in their time period.The book starts off in Germany during the 1500's with the murder of a couple. The church immediately, along with the men decided that Catarina, the murdered was having an affair. They decide her husband found out and that the jealous lover killed them both. So what does Father Stefan do? He brings in an Inquisitor. When he suggested doing this to the Sheriff, the Sheriff advised against it. Once the inquisitor arrives things go from bad to worse. I felt extremely sorry for Mia, the Sheriff's wife who stayed home and took care of not only her sickly child, but also her aged mother-in-law. What thanks did she get? None. Her husband constantly accused her of evil thoughts. He called her such vile names and constantly put her down. Mia is alone. The only friend she had no longer talks with her. It wasn't just the sheriff who did this. The church had the men convinced that women were the reason for all of the evil things they did. Somehow they bewitched them and this caused them to do bad things. Mia prays constantly for healing for her daughter. She even goes so far as going to confession. The priest pretty much tells her that she is the reason that this stuff is happening to her daughter. It is the evil within her, the pride that causes her daughter's illness.It is clear from the beginning when the story opens with the discovery that a wolf has killed two of the village's sheep that this story is not about physical wolves. Yes they do catch and kill the wolf killing sheep. This is really about evil being all around us. During this period of time when most people were illiterate they had no way of truly knowing what the scripture said. They had to believe what the church "told" them the scriptures said. Women had it even worse. They were not allowed to read the scriptures even if they knew how to read. This is an excellent book to read to see how far we have come in church history. There are plenty of twists and turns in this book to hold your attention. I am happy that I was allowed to read this as an Inspy judge.

Wolves Among Us is a book with a message. That's not necessarily a bad thing.

Set in the medieval German village of Dinfoil, Wolves Among Us is the story of a lonely woman, a lost priest, and the evil that surrounds them.

Mia is married to Bjorn, the village sheriff. Mia is shunned by the other women but she is so wrapped up in caring for her frail child and invalid mother-in-law that she scarcely notices.

When a double murder occurs, Bjorn is resolved that the guilty party is a witch, but she is also dead. He regards the matter as closed. Father Stefan disagrees and calls for an Inquisitor, who finds their sleepy village is full of witches casting spells on the men and bewitching them. Bjorn and the other villagers are glad to have the evil ferreted out, but Father Stefan and Mia see the Inquisitor as he really is: a cold and calculating opportunist.

Soon enough, the entire village is hunting for witches and several more people die before the evil is stilled.

Ginger Garrett has done a prodigious amount of research and it shows. She (mostly) does a good job layering in the authentic details on top of a compelling story. In the beginning, I felt the lessons were hammered in a bit too firmly; I would have preferred a lighter hand with the admonitions about how women were viewed as prone to imaginary dramatics and as gossips.

Mia and Stefan have a particular journey of faith that is similar for both and I thought it worked well.

Garrett did a good job making her characters grow and change through the story. Father Stefan in particular was not very likable at first, but he matures and learns. Wolves Among Us is a good story, competently told.

Wolves Among Us quite literally made me sick. Let me clarify that this is meant as highest praise. This novel fully immersed me in the 16th Century Witch Craze. I was frustrated, shocked, terrified, and emotionally moved while reading. Thank you Ginger Garrett for writing about the freeing power of The Word. Thank you for allowing Mia to meet Jesus in a real and powerful way.

We are so blessed for our freedoms: I can read the Bible without fear, I can work and drive and make decisions for myself and most importantly I am free in Him.

May we never forget the sacrifices of our forefathers and foremothers!

This book is definitely hard to put down put also extremely dark. I don't usually read books like this but it kept my interest. I appreciated it even more after reading the author's notes at the end about how many women were killed for supposedly being a witch. Well written!

I don't read much Christian or religious fiction. Most of them contain a labored, obvious message and sometimes the story gets in the way of that message.

Wolves Among Us is different. This historical novel (set in the 16th century) has dark overtones, and it's not the kind of book I'd ordinarily read.

It contains good characters, a believable story with real-life situations, good pacing, and a satisfying ending. For me, those qualities add up to a good read.

Ginger Garrett is obviously talented. If she continues to improve, she has what it takes to become a top fiction writer.

First off, I had no idea this book was part of a series until after I finished the book. It's apparently the third book in the Chronicles of the Scribe series but one does not need to read the others to understand this book. I was actually really surprised it was part of a series because normally I am a stickler for reading books in order.

The story takes place in 1500s Germany and deals with witchcraft and gender roles in the church. When the story first begins, women are seen to be very low. It's always their fault for everything bad that happens. The main female character, Mia, is constantly blamed by her husband for everything wrong that happens. No matter what she does, she can't please him. Even when she wants to make love, he refuses her and insults her. However it's not just one abusive husband that's like this. Almost all the men in the story see women as inferior. The priest in fact does as well. When the accusation of witchcraft arrives in the town, again women are constantly blamed. It even goes so far that the men truly believe that the actions that they did are the fault of women bewitching them so it's not their fault at all.

I felt it to be extremely well written with lots of historical detail. It was really frustrating to read about how women were being blamed for everything and that it was their fault that men sinned. I really wanted to kick some of the male character's butts while reading the book. It was very sad to see how the women were being treated simply because of their gender. Even though this book deals with early history Christianity, it is not preachy at all. In fact, it questions a lot of theology and false preaching. It's quite disgusting to see people going around using Christianity and God for justification for the things that they do when it's clearly evil what they are doing. The "witch" trapped in the box was one of the saddest things I have ever read about. It's totally disgusting to see how a "man of God" treating another human being that way.

Equally as fascinating is the author's notes at the end of the book that give more historical insight to all the events that happened in the story. Garrett gives more insight to the Malleus Maleficarum which really gave rise to the notion of the lowering of women in the church. She also talks about gender roles in the church both back in time and in present day. It's absolutely fascinating to read all this because not only does a lot of Christian fiction never talk about this, it's usually never talked about in the church or by Christians in general. I don't feel Garrett trying to get all feminist here but what she says is stuff that I think we really need to sit and think about. I know for certain a lot of these thoughts and questions have entered my mind and I would like answers or explanations on them. She also talks more about the view of witches in historical and modern day by Christians, another fascinating note. There are also some really good discussions questions as well. This would make a perfect book club book especially for Christian book clubs because there would be some deep discussions here about faith.

All in all, this is an excellent read. There is something for everyone in this book. It's a book that really makes you think about why you believe the things you do. I do wish that more men would read it because of all the gender issues that are raised but that's probably not going to happen. This is a story that really gets the emotions and discussion going. I do hope that the other two books in the series are just as good as this one. HIGHLY recommended.

My first book by Ginger Garrett, and I wasn't sure what to expect. The description of the novel was vague, so I went into the book nearly blind as to what the storyline would be. I was pleasantly surprised after I finished this engaging historical fiction. Set during the 1530s when the rumor of "witches" and their powers ran rampant among the people of Germany, Wolves Among Us takes its readers on a harrowing journey.

When humble priest Stefan sends for an Inquisitor to hunt out the truth behind the mysterious murder of two people, he never expected that the man would be apprehending witches. Once the people's suspicions of witches in their midst, no woman is safe in Dilfoil--especially the young and beautiful.

While this outrageous belief in witches was interesting to read about, I found that the men's regards to women extremely interesting, and even a little insulting. As I listen to the Inquisitor go on and on, I found myself wishing I could go back in time and teach them a thing or two. There were times that I seriously laughed at their superstitions and the circumstances around which the Inquisitor based his proof on.

Before reading this book I knew very little about this period, but Ginger filled her book with so much history that after I finished the book, I felt like I had just had an in-depth history lesson while on a grand adventure with the characters. How wonderful! Certainly an eye-opener for anyone who wants to learn more about history during the 1530s.

The writing style, while very descriptive and vivid, was different. It took me a little while to get used to, but didn't ruin the book for me in any way. I did wish, however, that when characters had flashbacks, that there was some sort of way to break it up and make it more obvious. Once or twice it took me a little while to realize that my character was reliving previous days.

Mia was a very endearing character. One cannot help but sympathize with her as she struggles to love an unlovable husband and save her sickly daughter. When she discovers his shortcomings at the end, the depth of description put me right beside Mia as she felt the hurt and betrayal. Her confused and jumbled thoughts and desires were very believable and human and I easily made a connection with this character.

Ginger Garratt brought her story of Mia and Stefan to life through the pages of Wolves Among Us. I will be sure to pick up another book by Ginger in the future, sure of an adventure underneath the beautiful cover.

I reviewed this book for David C Cook. It was not required that I give a positive review, but solely to express my own thoughts and opinions of this book, which I have done.