Book Review: "Supernatural: Carved in Flesh" (T. Waggoner)

- by Ninja Ross, 2 May 2013

I don’t read many tie-in books. In fact I don’t think I’ve ever read a tie-in book that wasn’t a prequel to a game before in my life. The truth is, I’ve always been sceptical about tie-in books, especially when they involve TV shows or movies. “Wouldn’t that just be fan fiction?” I would ask. “There’s plenty of that online!” But now that I’ve had the chance to read one, do I still feel the same way? Is it just fan fiction?

Ok, first off: Supernatural is one of my favourite shows of all time. It’s dark, there are lots of monsters and the two protagonists are fantastically well written. Throw in plenty of comedic moments and family drama, too.

Each week Sam and Dean Winchester would drive across America in an Impala and hunt down monsters, saving innocents from the pits of hell. I should also mention they do it listening to kick ass classic rock songs. So, you know... You can’t get much better than that.

So, when Titan offered us the chance to review Carved in Flesh by Tim Waggoner I forgot about all my doubts and jumped at it.

The book is set during season seven, during the Winchesters' fight with the Leviathans. It’s fine that you don’t know what the heck I’m talking about, though, because besides a few mentions of the overall story of season seven, this is a one off story.

If you’re not familiar with the show, an average episode starts off with a prologue showing at least one person being killed by the episode's monster. Following the title screen, the Winchesters arrive in town to deal with the mess. They research what the monster might be, hunt down leads (often posing as FBI agents or whatever else suits their needs) and they then kill said monster.

Of course, no episode is the same. If it was, it wouldn’t be worth watching. Each monster is different (unless it’s a reoccurring monster, obviously) and each plot is different.

So, the monster here is a dog. Not just any dog, of course. This is a freaking Frankenstein dog that eats people. It’s made of a bunch of different dogs, giving it a creepy, disfigured look. The plot is mad science. Not just any mad science!!! The maddest! With magic and stuff! Mad science, magic and Frankenstein’s dog! It’s getting crazy in here.

Of course, there’s more to it than that, it does have to fill an entire novel, you know. Sam and Dean find this case to be eerily familiar, giving us flashbacks to better times, revealing more of their history. The flashback scenes can sometimes seems bit forced in the show, making it one of the few down sides of Supernatural, but in novel form it works a lot better. It’s not sudden or out of place.

Unfortunately, the need to fill the novel is the story’s downfall. That’s not to say it’s bad, not at all. But it’s stretched out in places, sometimes seeming like a ramble rather than a prose. For example, the prologue (featuring the murder I mentioned!) in the TV show would only be a couple of minutes long. Just long enough to establish location, victim and possible threat. Here, however, the prologue is stretched by giving us a little TOO MUCH info on the victims. We’re told their life story so that what should have taken only a couple of pages takes up quite a few more.

This occurs a few times as the book goes on, disturbing Waggoner’s pacing. It doesn’t really hurt the story at all and can be looked over pretty easily.

Besides that flaw, the story is actually pretty great. Sam and Dean Winchester are the monster hunters they’ve always been. The events of previous seasons obviously haunt them and that shows here, in some ways better than the show.

The story as a whole would fit perfectly in the series, too. It’s as good as any episode, keeping the tone just right. I would gladly read the rest of the books if they’re anywhere near as good as this.


So, are you a fellow fan of Supernatural? Have you read any of the books or are planning to (you can buy "Carved in Flesh" here!)? Let us know below!

Tagged: books, Reviews.

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