Feral

By: Matt Serafini

Narrated by: Matt Godfrey

Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's Summary

There’s a thin line between animal and man. A line that’s about to be crossed.

Jack and Allen need a break. They’ve decided to spend the summer before their senior year of college out in Western Massachusetts. But their quest for rest and relaxation comes to an end when they arrive in Greifsfield, MA. Their friendship is tested by a mysterious beauty and her razor-sharp smile, then broken when they’re caught up in a rash of mysterious disappearances. 

How will these two friends cope with the truth behind a town that craves raw meat? And how will they survive beneath the glow of the full moon?

Werewolves are real, and there’s no such thing as escape. This vacation’s about to get a little hairy.

The Howling meets 30 Days of Night in this furious lightning blast of a novel.

©2017 Matt Serafini (P)2018 Matt Serafini

Critic Reviews

“Never has a book’s title been more appropriate. Feral is all gnashing teeth and animal stink. It is just what your veterinarian ordered if you caught fleas from the litany of bad, toothless werewolf books on the market.” (Adam Cesare, author of Video Night and The Con Season) 

“An ambitious, balls-to-the-wall werewolf extravaganza. You can feel the lifetime of passion for horror in every paragraph.” (Horror Drive-In) 

A Great Read for Fans of Werewolves

I have always enjoyed a good werewolf tale, but other the past couple of years they have been few and far between. The author of this book also clearly enjoys tales of werewolves and it comes through in his writing. There is some great world building in this first book with characters that feel real and some great twists to go along with them. The descriptions of the werewolf attacks are very detailed and gruesome which really helps sell the nastiness of these creatures. I'm looking forward to reading the second book in this series.

7 people found this helpful

Infestation

Feral is a novel of a small town werewolf infestation, and it starts with a bang, with the introduction of the main character, Amanda, hunting werewolves, and then takes a quick change of pace to the suburban life of some young people in the dating world, which rapidly declines with the fates of many of the newly introduced characters. The situation rapidly dissolves when it becomes apparent that the issue is town wide, and Amanda and Jack try to sort out the mess. Jack's friend Allen is turned, and is with Elizabeth, an older werewolf, who is not part of the town plot.

Just a couple of notes. The book was too full of erotica for my personal taste, and if I was aware of this, I'd not have gotten it. The category of the book didn't indicate this, nor does the book description. This book should be flagged as such. Also, I did get this book free as a review copy. That said, I am horror fan, and I don't really come across many werewolf novels, so I took the opportunity to listen to it, and given it was billed as just horror, and the description indicated the theme of the movies I love, 30 Days of Night and The Howling, so I jumped at the opportunity.

The narrator reminded me of Curtis Armstrong. Very easy to listen to. I don't have any other books narrated by him, but would definitely listen to more.

Aside from the over prevalent erotica, the story was engaging, and a good listen. If you like horror with a healthy does of that, then this book would be highly recommend. If you want your horror more just horror, like me, I'd say only if you (like me) bemoan the lack of werewolf novels.

12 people found this helpful

Over-sexed, but bloody

This book was full of unnecessary sex scenes that were not always relevant to the story, however the overall story was nail biting and kept me listening even if I cringed during some of it. I think that was the point.

5 people found this helpful

The buffet is now open...

This is Greifsfield. Not Griswald. And this ain’t no Wally World. It is however, sort of an amusement park for evil, furry, fanged beasties.

More of a buffet than a park, really.

Matt Godfrey is a great narrator. I have thoroughly enjoyed everything that I have listened to from him. His cadence and tone are perfect for the story. The best narrators make you forget you are listening and immerse you in the story and that’s exactly what Matt’s narration does. It helps that the story doesn’t suck too.

This is one crazy fast werewolf blood fest that had some truly disgusting imagery sprinkled throughout. I dug that about it. Definitely entertaining. Bloody entertaining. If you like your stories with a little bite to them, then I think you will really enjoy “Feral”

“I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

3 people found this helpful

A complex paranormal thriller!

I find myself debating whether this is a werewolf love story or a thriller; maybe a bit of both. Elizabeth our primary villainess and werewolf have a thing for Allen. She spends a large part of the book chasing after Allen while molding him into the werewolf of her dreams. Kind of strange, but original. On the other side of the plot coin we have Antoine Fane, the sinister werewolf, who has his sights on the town of Greifsfield, Maine. His ambitious scheme is to turn everyone in sight creating his own private army to take over the world. Very ambitious, but not original. Amanda Church the hunter versus Fane is the other plot. There are several couples of interest vying for your attention; Elizabeth and Allen, Molly and Allen, college buddies Jack and Allen, and Amanda and Jack. Then there’s Lucy and her father Rory who bring a whole new perspective to family bonds. These are not your typical werewolves or Varcolacs as they are called here. Aside from appearance and killing method, there is little similarity to the wolves of The Howling. When the werewolves do make an appearance the action is intense and the blood starts flying. All-in-all Feral is a pretty good story for fans of the paranormal. This audiobook was given by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom.

4 people found this helpful

Blunt , Gory and Seductive

Tired of those teenage werewolf fairy tales? Then take a listen to Feral. This audiobook has some really disgusting and immoral moments....and you will still want to listen because it will keep you interested that much!

I loved all the twists and turns in this story. I couldn't stop listening as the story unfolded. Very well written with lots of juicy details!

The narrator did an excellent job of displaying emotions and different accents for each of the characters.

I was given this review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

1 person found this helpful

Good read

this turned out to be quite a good read and I enjoyed it from beginning to end.

1 person found this helpful

werewolves and country clubs

a different kinda twist on the werewolf story. never knew that werewolves had deep passion.

1 person found this helpful

surprisingly awesome

story was absolutely Feral does the name of the book it was very well written for a paranormal story it surprised me because I expected something obvious and I received something else at all and it was enjoyable and very very interesting the story was amazingly well written I think every werewolf fan will love this book and even not a warewolf fan will adore this book
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

1 person found this helpful

Think THE HOWLING Meets UNDERWORLD...

Thank you to the author for sending the audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

Feral by Matt Serafini follows two students who are on summer break in Greifsfield, MA when they become entangled in a war between werewolf and vigilante, between werewolf and werewolf. Greifsfield is infested with beasts, and there is nowhere to run...

This is the second book I've read by Matt Serafini, the first being Under the Blade, a slasher story with a unique twist. One thing that both of these books have in common is the small town setting. While Serafini's tiny towns seem cozy and peaceful on the surface, look a little further and you will see they are anything but. Even without the murder, the people are downright depraved. Characters struggle with forbidden desires that should make any reader squirm in their seat, no matter how hardened they may be. Under the Blade was milder in this way, but Feral presents the reader with a heaping serving of discomfort and shock. This all comes down to the animosity inside the characters who have been changed into werewolves. All morals evaporate as the animal takes over, transforming them into murderous, sex-crazed beings. This does lead to scenes of sexual assault, so be forewarned. There are also a lot of graphic sex scenes, some of which are disturbing, others of which are more erotic in nature. If you are turned off by a lot of sexual content, Feral might not be for you. Likewise in the gore department, because Serafini is brilliant when it comes to writing gore.

I, for one, enjoy a bloody story every now and then, and this totally delivered. Matt Serafini’s prose is smooth and descriptive at all times, from the details about Greifsfield to scenes of people being ripped apart. The world building is quite impressive as well. Even though this story takes place in our modern world, it feels very much like a universe of its own. Think The Howling meets Underworld.

Bottom line, I had a blast with this book. I never knew where it was going, twisting in ways that had my jaw on the floor. There is definitely some shocking material here that I did not expect. If you are a sensitive reader, have caution. But if you desire a traditional werewolf tale with a nasty modern punch, check it out.

I'd recommend listening to the audiobook, too! Matt Godfrey is one of my favorite narrators. He has a great voice, so you really can't go wrong with anything he narrates.

Slooooooow<br /><br /><br />

Takes an age to get going I h
Mean hours 5 hours in it is still in character back story mode. I like the idea but the delivery and editing leaves a lot to be desired. Very much a YA style but with a bit of bad language

Gory stuff

I am fussy when it comes to werewolf novels, I prefer them on the monstrous side and this certainly delivers.

The story starts with Jack and Allen meeting up at Lucy's father's resort for a holiday, Allen falls straight into a relationship with Elizabeth, for whom I had very mixed feelings, I loathed Allen and Lucy's Father., both are pretty horrible characters. It's not long before things start to go wrong, Lucy's friend Molly vanishes, Jack runs into trouble trying to locate her, then finds that Allen is also missing, he and Lucy team up for a bit, but then Lucy runs into her own spot of bother and leaving Jack alone again, he runs into trouble with the cops but is saved by Amanda, the werewolf hunter, they make a great team and were by far my favourite characters.

I was not happy with ending but the story was enjoyable, the narration was marvellous and I totally recommend this to anyone who enjoys gory horror, because this is, without doubt, GORY and a half ...

I was lucky enough to receive my copy free of charge and am happy to leave this honest review.

A Horror so foul bood trickled from my earphones

The book opens with a glorious and bloody first chapter (it begins with a vicious scene involving a girl in a bath tub. I won’t say any more on that).

The story then meanders a bit as you get to know the central group of characters but pretty soon people start disappearing and werewolves start crunching on skulls with their big fanged mouths. At one point a man’s face is torn away like skin from a cooked chicken. So if you like that sort of thing, tuck in.

The narration by Matt Godfrey is excellent. His voice delivers the story to your ears with great efficiency and effectiveness.

Feral is a good start to what I’m sure will be a bloody and howling series.

My only criticism is the meandering second act but much is made up by the quality of the writing. Matt Serafini knows his craft well.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.