As someone who championed Jennifer Thorne’s previous novel Diavola, hopes were high going into Newbourne Park.
Thankfully Thorne is two for two, as Newbourne Park is a truly fantastic read.
Billed as Saltburn meets the Wolf Man, this isn’t conventional in any sense and has layers I wasn’t expecting.
When Martha goes for a weekend getaway in a middle class mega mansion, she and her companions get more than they bargained, especially when there is a full moon.
What Thorne does really well here is paints Martha as someone who isn’t perfect, and when her life changes forever this becomes more about her grappling with who she actually is instead of what she could become.
It does it some usual werewolf beats, but there is a real emotional core here, much the same as Diavola, based around family which made this a real page turner.
Thorne is showing herself adept at taking age old genre tropes and giving them a modern spin, much in the same way authors like Paul Tremblay have.
If you’re looking for your next read, and don’t mind some teeth, Newbourne Park is a delight.
Newbourne Park by Jennifer Thorne is out now in various formats from Titan Books.
