Truesilver (The Last Werewolf Hunter Series Book 4) by William Woodall

Truesilver (The Last Werewolf Hunter Series Book 4)

Zach looks forward to a quiet summer after finishing off the werewolf curse for good, so when Jolie and her cousin Matthieu ask him to help with waking up the sleeping ex-wolves in the store room, he thinks nothing of it at first. They're not dangerous anymore, right? But Zach soon discovers that some people don't need a werewolf curse to make them do evil things. Zach, Jolie, Cameron, and Matthieu quickly find themselves locked in a fierce battle with an accidentally-awakened sorcerer who is also a brilliant scientist. Only this time, they have nothing to fight him with.

The Guru's Review: 

I believe that most readers would have mixed feelings about reading the last book in a series. They are excited to see how the series will end as it reaches its climax but then comes the downside, once this has happened, there is the inevitable conclusion to a great journey the author has taken them on and it is over. Excitement and sadness. Such a sense of finality. It can be hard to return to the real world without this in your life now.

I felt like this when I read this final book in The Last Werewolf Hunter series. I guess that is a good thing as you know that all the books before it have kept your interest and added to the entertainment factor that an author has set out to achieve.

So with these mixed feelings I came to the end of this series! What a finale it was too! All the elements that I became used to in Woodall's writing were all consistently there and working well, well developed characters, consistently paced plot, a twist always around the corner, an ever deepening knowledge and revelation into the history and background of the werewolf curse, Zach and Cameron maturing into mature teens and wiser in the process, Woodall's successful and engaging first person narrative, and Zach's pearls of wisdom interspersed throughout the narrative and in response to specific plot developments. 

Woodall introduces the reader to a new evil in this last installment. It is bad enough that someone accepts the werewolf curse, but to have an evil and twisted mind as well existing in your siblings is a magnification of evil like no other. Such is case when three siblings are awakened from the breaking of the curse by another ex-werewolf and their sister at large and unaccounted for! Led by Andrew Garza, the older brother, these are sorcerers and were the most dangerous when they were werewolves as well.

Woodall also takes the role of werewolf hunter to the next level in this installment, and it is very appropriate as a result of the awakening of the Garza brothers. When two werewolf hunters retire, Cameron and Zach officially take their places and are anointed with oil by a senior werewolf hunter from Jolie's family and are now known as Avengers, sworn by solemn oath to fight evil wherever they found it, to the utmost of their power. A new name for a new purpose. They come into their own in this new role as they seek to neutralise the power of the Garza brothers, especially that of Andrew, the most dangerous and evil of the three. 

Against this backdrop, does this installment take the reader to the final outcome in this series. The danger to Zach, Cameron, Matthieu, Jolie increases and even extends to Justin, Eileen and baby Josiah. One last piece of "arsenal" that the Avengers are able to use is discovered and is effective in being used for their protection. It is here that much to my delight, the action, adventure, mystery and suspense is increased and allows the plot to take on more twists and turns.

If everything leading up to this novel has taken Zach and Cameron out of their comfort zone, Woodall is not finished with them by a long shot. One of Andrew Garza's evil schemes is total control and he invents a time machine. At first I thought this was a bit out of place, but as I read on, it then fitted in nicely into the plot and then realised this is part of what launches this series into the next. Yes, just when you think the Werewolf Hunter series comes to an end, Woodall has two other series that continue this plot line with one character from this series being transported to the future, but it is not the near future either. This is where the family trees that he has created on his website that I have mentioned in the previous two reviews of this series become very useful and adds cohesion to the plot. It really does pay for the reader to check these family trees out as they will obtain a better understanding of the characters once they see where everyone fits in. The Glossary on this same page in his website is also very useful throughout this series and for the other two from looking at it.

As mentioned in my previous reviews, this is part of Woodall's world building that forms a great foundation for this series and the ones to follow. 

Spiritually, the Christian/biblical themes are subtle and this by no means lessens their importance or impact. One example is where Cameron is very despondent and depressed about losing Joan and this loss was like rubbing salt into an existing sore from other losses in his life, and he was tempted to allow this self-pity to lead to bitterness. Zach identified this and decided to nip it in the bud, 

"Don't, Cam,"

"Don't what?" he asked

"Don't be bitter. Remember who you are and what you believe,"

Although this is not obvious here, but from reading the other three novels, Woodall is referring to who we are in Christ and what we believe (who God is, what He has done, and we can overcome our struggles with His victory over sin and death). Most of the snippets of wisdom from Justin and Zach that are interspersed throughout these three novels are based on the bible and how to live the Christian life and of course come also from the author's experience of living this as well. I did mention before that I believe that Justin is based on Woodall as an adult and Zach as a teenager. Although Woodall does not depict the power of God directly defeating the werewolf curse and the evil of the Garza brothers during this series, but has the sweet water, crystal rings and Guardian Stones empowered with His power and blessing to do this instead, these three books seem to have the message of faith, standing firm in your convictions, being true to yourself, honouring God in His promises, not giving in, trusting God, accepting consequences as the Christian message here and for teens and young adults these are lessons to be learnt and practiced in their lives. As I said previously, Christian living.  

I know it has been said by readers and the author that the third book, More Golden Than Day, seems to be a favourite amoungst them, and I said this too, but having read this last installment, I feel this is the better one, my favourite at least.

Woodall brings everything to a very nice close, from this series being that of Werewolf Hunters and has developed this plot line to follow onto other series that will give the reader further opportunities to savour the writing and creative imagination of this very talented author. He is in his element writing for teens and young adults which he does extremely well. I reckon this audience is very blessed.

Highly Recommended.