Shadow of the Wolf

Goss’-swappin’, channel-hoppin’, boy-clockin’ Danni is your archetypal adolescent in most respects. She’s in and out of relationships. That’s normal. She shelf-stacks at a supermarket. That’s normal. She doesn’t appear to own a mobile phone … How, like, weird! No matter. When old school friend Leah shows up out of the blue, Danni meets her match, or rather her metaphor. Superficially streetwise though she is, Leah is the eponymous predatory loner, a damaged child who craves a settled family life and secure friendships with others.

Peppered with the language of pubescence – life crises are ‘full on’, people are ‘up themselves’, ‘reality checks’ abound – and punctuated with pathetic fallacy to spell out the characters’ see-sawing moods, Shadow of the Wolf might appeal to a (double-spaced) magazine readership, but is, in short, a depressingly undemanding read.