The Wehrwolf

A Short Story

By: Alma Katsu

Narrated by: Jim Boeven

Alma Katsu, the visionary author of The Fervor, The Hunger, and The Deep, brings readers a terrifying short story about monsters among men—and the thin lines that divide them.

Germany, 1945. In the waning days of World War II, the Nazis have been all but defeated. Uwe Fuchs, never a fighter, feels fortunate to have avoided the front lines as he cared for his widowed mother.

But Uwe’s fortune changes when Hans Sauer, the village bully, recruits him to join a guerilla resistance unit preparing for the arrival of Allied soldiers. At first, Uwe is wary. The war is lost, and rumor has it that Hans is a deserter. But Hans entices him with talk of power, brutality, and their village’s ancestral lore: werewolves.

With some reluctance, Uwe joins up with the pack and soon witnesses their startling transformation. But when the men’s violent rampage against enemy soldiers takes a devastatingly personal turn, Uwe must grapple not only with his role in their evil acts but with his own humanity. Can he reclaim what this group of predatory men has stolen from him?

Or has he been a monster all along?

©2022 Alma Katsu. (P)2022 Brilliance Publishing, In., all rights reserved.

Scary & Real

This is a work of fiction.

However once you start to listen and I mean listen, it becomes a message from our past of how easily humans can & are transformed into Monsters.

There is so much to absorb in this short novel. The afterwords made a huge impression!

Listen/Remember

A bleak look at human nature

I believe I got this from prime reading, which also made the audio available, so I have it a go.

In continuously shrinking Nazi Germany, 1945, the arrival of Allied soldiers is all but guaranteed. Uwe just seeks to keep his town safe, so when the town’s bully, Hans, offers him the ability to protect his family, as well as grow powerful, the allure is too great to say no.

In a short story that apparently follows the typical styling of the author (this is a first for me from them) we see the true transformation between man and monster. What drives man to evil, and how sometimes the transformation isn’t all that difficult. Everyday citizens turn into monsters, in this one, literal werewolves. In no time, regardless of what ‘skin’ they’re wearing, the transformation is permanent.

Personally a 4/5* for me. The German accent for the narration was great.

A cautionary tale for our times

A great story and a great listen. A reminder that if we fail to learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it. It serves as a reflection on our times, failure to head the voices of compassion and care, anyone can be a monster.

Enjoyable short story.

I really enjoyed the narrator. I think he did a great job. I also enjoyed the story. It has a fast enough pace and kept me interested throughout.

Excellent story and narration

I'm not into historical fiction, and anything around the World Wars bores me to absolute tears. It's the most overdone and nauseatingly dull time period in historical fiction. I have two books preordered that will be out tomorrow, so I wanted something short. Alma Katsu gets recommended to me often. I figured I would pass the time with this.

With expectations about as low as they could get, I am beyond thrilled at how good this novella was! The war was barely window dressing to the story, and didn't punch the reader in the face with its "message." (Yes, nazis bad, ho hum ho hum...) The author's note at the end about 6 January was more relevant to the plot. THANK YOU, ALMA KATSU!

This is a classic story of good versus evil, who decides which is which, and what lines need to be crossed (or avoided) for a person to believe they are still right.

Chilling Tale of Monsters

This was a chilling story set in WW II Germany about how ordinary men can become monsters literally and figuratively. A good man who is a farmer and loves his family is drawn into something that spirals out of control. You can feel the tension in the air throughout the story. Very well done and the author’s note is a reminder that humans can become the worst monsters of all. I listened to this on audio and the narrator read this in an attempted German accent that needs work.

The Wehrwolfes of Germany

Quite good with a nice ending; engaging with foreign overtones.
Great narration with accents.Well recommended.

Predictable

The story was very predictable. There were no unexpected plot twists or devices. If you like your horror/monster stories old school look no further. It’s like a Grimm fairytale in a more modern setting. It wasn’t bad, I suppose I just set my expectations too high. I did not care for the political musings in the author note at the end. I have an academic background in both political science and history (as well as some real world experience) and I (and many others) draw different conclusions to the events referenced. I didn’t really feel a book of this nature was the appropriate place for the author’s political opinions, but it’s not my book.

EXCELLENT -- Great Suspense, WELL WRITTEN!

I rarely leave reviews but had to stop immediately upon completing - on outdoor trail to give this. I won't give anything away but recommend for anyone looking for well written horror wout oversexed teeny boppers making stupid decisions.

Deep!

Wow, this was deep! The story is a combination of history and horror--ironic considering that much of our history IS horror.

The story takes place in a small, out-of-the-way German village during the tail-end of WWII. It follows Uwe, a kindhearted farmer whose only major care is for his wife and daughter. The Nazi party had all but lost the war at this point, and there was much talk in the village regarding the possibility of Allied soldiers storming the village.

As always, there was one loudmouth, alpha male, Hans, who bullied enough men into forming malitia to "protect" the village. Hans preyed on Uwe's insecurities and sense of duty to convince him to join the malitia. What he didn't do was tell the truth about what initiation into the malitia entailed.

Without spoiling, this short story felt like a full-length novel. It was full of backstory and substance. I felt I knew the characters and was in the struggle with them. It was full of emotion and heartache. I felt for Uwe, who only wanted to feel the comraderie of his peers and to do what he believed was right to protect his family. He was naive and taken advantage of. His desire to protect his family became his downfall. It was heart-wrenching and so beautifully written.