Review
Title: “Genealogy of Werewolves”
Author: Mette Ivie Harrison
Publisher: BCC Press
Genre: Fiction-Fantasy
Year Published: 2022
Number of Pages: 337
Binding: Paper
ISBN: 978-1948218696
Price: 9.95
Reviewed by Amanda Ray for the Association of Mormon Letters
I know I’m in for a treat with a new Mette Ivie Harrison novel. Ever since I first read The Bishop’s Wife back in 2014 (and managed to snag an advanced reader copy in the early days of my library career), I’ve been hooked into each story she tells. I don’t normally go for paranormal stories, but the right author will find a way, and that’s what Harrison has been for me. The paranormal aspects of the story certainly bring a different light to the story, but at the core of Harrison’s novels are relatable characters with scruples and idiosyncrasies and troubles like anyone else… and of course, there’s a Mormon connection. I remember being hesitant to read Vampires in the Temple at first but nevertheless intrigued by the title, if not the premise, and devoured the book in less than two days. Which is how I read a Mette Ivie Harrison novel – I dive in and her writing pulls me deeper. And the sequel Genealogy of Werewolves was no different and an event that I looked forward to.
We find our protagonist, Jack Hardy, working as a private investigator, a bit down on his luck. The wounds he experienced in Vampires in the Temple are still fresh a few months removed from the end of that story. Even though I hadn’t read Vampires since it first came out a few years ago, I was able to quickly acclimate myself back into the story and pick up the pieces from the narrative. Jack is still grappling with the fallout of the events of that book, and the themes of grief and change permeate through the story. But with any good story that involves a former police officer turned private investigator, he gets pulled back into the station to help in a case that he is uniquely qualified to assist with, and his former partner knows it. And the conspiracy gets thicker.
Harrison creates engaging and relatable characters that you’d think could be pulled from almost any Utah or Mormon community. From the police chief bishop to how Utah singles act, she fleshes out these characters in ways that make them very much like people we know. Lori, the Mormon Mom of the story, can fill your tummy and offer some comforting words, and even turn into a Mama Bear when it’s warranted. She’s only soft when she wants to be and hard as nails when it’s needed. Jack grapples with his inner demons and tries to be the good person others see in him. The young teens in the story, even with their unique characteristics, are still the teens we know from our wards and neighborhoods. The grief the protagonist wrestles with and the heartbreak other characters deal with is a real grounding for the novel. Even with vampires and werewolves and conspiracy, those feelings are identifiable and familiar and pull you into another human side of the story that even those who may not necessarily like paranormal fiction will be drawn to. I love that her vampires and werewolves have their unique challenges on living in and understanding a human world that some of the human characters understand and sympathize with and others fear.
I love that this is Da Vinci Code for Mormons. It’s taking history and doctrine we know and having a little fun with it to create a story that seems familiar but, you know isn’t, and therefore can’t help but keep reading to see what twists get revealed. What Church History mysteries will get highlighted or resolved? How will aspects of faith be tested? It grapples with Church History in a way that some readers may find distasteful – not just the paranormal aspects outside of canon scripture; but the way certain real church leaders and positions are twisted in the narrative. But I find that it adds to the way we tell our stories, and the way others view them. Besides giving us a fantastical story, it also forces us to reexamine the lens with which we view our history and historiography. Like many horror and paranormal stories, the unreal creatures and inventions reflect the paranoias and conspiracies of the day, and the reader will find themselves rectifying that.
Even though this is a paranormal tale, it fits well with her Linda Wallheim/Bishop’s Wife books, in that there is a mystery in a Mormon habitat to be solved that carries through and picks up other stories along the way. We’re obviously being set up for additional installments in the series as the world Harrison is creating becomes larger and more defined, and I look forward to seeing where her characters and conspiracies take us.