In Toby Barlow's debut novel, Sharp Teeth, competing packs of werewolves have plans to take over Los Angeles. But if Barlow's book reads less like science fiction and more like a heroic epic poem, that's because it's written in free verse.
Barlow describes the book as "a ripping yarn with the extra words ripped away ... a graphic novel without the pictures, or a hard boiled novel that's been boiled down to a reduction sauce."
Barlow is executive creative director at an advertising agency in Detroit and a contributor to the literary magazine n+1 and The Huffington Post. An excerpt from Sharp Teeth follows.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.