The Lycan Journal

Chad Long
Long Stories, LLC (2005)
ISBN 9780615152950
Reviewed by Ian McCurley (age 14) for Reader Views (1/08)


“The Lycan Journal” takes place on modern-day Earth in a small, rural town in the US.  The story begins when the father of eighth-grader Gordo Gates falls ill after being scratched by a strange man.  Gordo’s father was a bounty hunter and had been hunting this strange man.  After further investigation, Gordo discovers that this man is a Lycan, and also that the Lycans had been hunting a young girl named Allie Zabel.  Gordo discovered this through a secret, illegal website that Lycans used to advertise their dirty jobs.  Learning of the threat to the girl, Gordo uses his funds to travel to Greece not only to help the girl, but also to find a cure for his father’s illness.  When Gordo meets Hank, a helicopter pilot, and discovers that Allie’s aunt had been murdered by a Lycan, they Gordo, Hank and Allie travel to the city of the Lycans and meet Dusty, a young Lycan.  Now the four must try to find the vast silver treasure of the Lycans before sinister forces at work find them.

In “The Lycan Journal,” Chad Long’s writing style is intriguing in the way that he occasionally incorporates himself into the story.  The book flows erratically which cancels out any possible suspense.  (Having a comma every three words didn’t help, either).  However, the plot was interesting and original.  Unfortunately, the interesting plot was full of holes, and the book had many inaccuracies such as taking the main character only a matter of minutes to input a 100,000 digit password.  In actuality, it would take an average eighth-grader days or weeks at 60 words per minute.  This and many special inaccuracies were present. 

“The Lycan Journal” is for readers ages 10 and up who enjoy reading about mythical creatures and kids involved in secret conspiracies.  “The Lycan Journal,” with its original and short-winded story makes a great read if you can overlook certain literary flaws.

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