Brian Lindenmuth reviews: Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow
Sharp Teeth is a novel about werewolves in L.A. told completely in free verse. That condensed summary might scare some off and will excite others. A fundamental question becomes 'is this a gimmick or a legitimate device that serves the story well'?
Sharp Teeth never for a moment becomes gimmicky it has a frequency that is easy to tune into. It's got such an easy rhythm to it that you never get pulled out of the story with thoughts of form or layout. So any potential readers who think that they might be put off by a free verse novel shouldn't have any worries.
One thing that the free verse form does allow for in its telling of a hardboiled story is an ultra streamlined pace that results in a lean and mean narrative in the best sense. Digging below the surface what we find are elements of great crime fiction. There are drugs, murder, betrayal, revenge and gangs. All of these, at times familiar, tropes are married with a new modern, urban werewolf mythos that gives them a fresh face and really stretches the boundaries of what a hard-boiled/noir story can be.
What really gives the book an extra dimension is Barlow's ability to create complex, human, relatable and sympathetic characters with just a few brush strokes. It's obvious that he really cares for his characters and as a result we do to.
We are personally invested in the love and loss; hurt and happy; confusion and chaos; and life and death of these characters. Sharp Teeth is a special book that encompasses a very broad spectrum from action scenes that blew me away to swift violence that surprised to quiet and devastating moments that made my heart ache.