Charm and Strange

Andrew Winston Winters stalks his way through life at an exclusive Charlottesville boarding school. Intense, driven, semi-feral and haunted by dark flashes of memory, he shuns friendship, preferring solitude. When a hiker’s savaged body is found nearby it’s difficult for those around him not to make assumptions.

But Win is possessed by different demonic impulses - memories of his childhood and his family in Vermont. His life when he was Drew, when he tried to fit in and please everyone. A life in which monsters were let loose.

Kuehn makes daring use of the werewolf theme in this dark, brooding novel to explore the much darker subject of abuse. The alternative past and present narrative voices give the reader a clear picture of the intensity of Win's mental turmoil, as he tries to hold back a tide of unbearable memories - and mental breakdown. This unnerving psychological thriller makes a challenging, but deeply compelling read.