‘Wereworld: Shadow of the Hawk’ (Book 3)
By Curtis Jobling
Published by Puffin
RRP £6.99
ISBN 978141340494
Reviewed by Lynsey Evans

I haven’t abandoned everything and sat and read a book since the final Harry Potter book was released, this is how much I was looking forward to reading the next instalment of the Wereworld series!

‘Wereworld: Shadow of the Hawk’ picks up from where ‘Wereworld: Rage of the Lions’ left off – Drew has been captured by Kesslar and is trapped on his slave ship bound for distant lands; Gretchen and Whitley are who knows where; Trent Ferran is working with the Bastians to track Drew and want to kill his brother to avenge the death of his parents, which he wrongly believes was at Drew’s hand; Hector’s cursed with the Vile of his dead brother Vincent and is travelling with Vega, the Shark Lord pirate, Drew’s mother Queen Amelie and Manfred the stag lord – all desperately searching for Drew, the rightful King of Highcliffe and the last Grey Wolf.

This book is absolutely packed full of action from the off! War has broken out in Lyssia on land and sea. We meet new therain species from were-crocodiles and walruses, to werehawks and mammoths. We share in Drew’s misery and his courage as he’s put to work fighting gladiators and other werecreatures for the Lizardlords amusement in the fiery land of Scorcia – the arena in a volcanic pit called ‘the furnace’. We watch as Hector’s necromancy and dark magick slowly strips away the boarlord we met in ‘Wereworld: Rise of the Wolf – his struggle with trust and his quest for power, showing us a sinister side to this once-gentle man. We see friendships bloom and others ripped into tatters. We see villains fall, unlikely heroes rise and in the midst of this brave Drew battles on in every sense for what is right, true and just.

A terrific page-turner – the plot has twists and turns throughout; the characters are fantastic in name, description and in action. I have to say, I haven’t got into a book this much in a long time, I’m totally hooked on Wereworld! It’s the next great teen fiction series to sit up there with Harry Potter and Twilight. It’s a crime if Wereworld doesn’t get made into a film, it lends itself to it so, so well. If you haven’t read Wereworld yet – why??? Get yourself off to the bookshop or library pronto and get reading!

Very highly recommended for readers aged 12+ (book does contain violent scenes.)