Listen to a sample
Blacktail
- Author
- Scott Hawkins
- Narrator
- MacLeod Andrews
- Publisher
- Pan Macmillan
- Publish Date
- 3 September 2026
- Run Time
- 10 hours 54 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
Not available in your country
We don't have the rights to sell this audiobook where you are. If it's already in your library you can still listen to it in My Books.
What to expect
‘A modern masterpiece. Blacktail will consume you’ – Marcus Kliewer
‘Blacktail is as glorious as it is gruesome’ – V. E. Schwab
‘Utterly unique . . . an outstanding, majestic animal story’ – Daily Mail
A wolf embarks on a primal hunt for revenge. Blacktail is a dark work of animal fiction from Scott Hawkins, the critically acclaimed author of The Library at Mount Char.
Blacktail is a half-breed wolf, born to hunt. When he finds love beyond a garden wall, he dares to imagine a peaceful life – until men butcher his mate and unborn pups in a surgical act of cruelty. His grief ignites a rampage of torn throats and shattered bone, a slaughter so absolute it draws the gaze of an ancient feline witch. She sends him south to wake the sleeping Forest God and end the age of reason.
Fuelled by a rage that frightens Hell itself, Blacktail wages war against men and the beasts who dare defend them. From a gore-soaked wilderness to a burning confrontation with Heaven, Blacktail is a feral odyssey of vengeance.
The Forest God sleeps. But what will be the price of waking him?
* * *
‘Touching, horrifying, and entertaining . . . You should all get excited for this book’
– Mark Lawrence, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Book That Wouldn't Burn
‘Blacktail is one to savor; one to delight in the eccentricities of; one to sit with long after it ends’
– Olivie Blake, New York Times bestselling author of Girl Dinner
‘Beautiful, brutal fantasy, red in tooth and claw’
– Chuck Wendig, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Staircase in the Woods
Critics Review
-
Reader, be warned. This is not a gentle book, and those who cannot bear to see an animal hurt should guard their hearts. But persist, and you will be rewarded. Blacktail is as glorious as it is gruesome
V. E. Schwab, Sunday Times bestselling author of Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
-
Blacktail is a serious, wild, trippy, and gory flight of imagination . . . No one is spared the fang
Paul Tremblay, Bram Stoker Award winning author of A Head Full of Ghosts and Horror Movie
-
Wickedly sharp, unflinchingly brutal, and nothing short of a modern masterpiece. Blacktail will consume you
Marcus Kliewer, bestselling author of We Used to Live Here and The Caretaker
-
Mesmerizing and strange, like the headiest of folklore. Blacktail is one to savour; one to delight in the eccentricities of; one to sit with long after it ends
Olivie Blake, Sunday Times bestselling author of Girl Dinner and The Atlas Six
See more reviews See fewer reviews
-
A mad, feral fable – this is beautiful, brutal fantasy, red in tooth and claw. Funny, heartbreaking, violent. All hail Blacktail. Down with the two-legs
Chuck Wendig, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Staircase in the Woods and The Book of Accidents
-
A tale of lupine vengeance – at first – whose stakes escalate to degrees I never saw coming. Unexpected, blood-soaked and vividly told
qntm, author of There is No Antimemetics Division
-
Scott Hawkins’ Blacktail can be described in so many ways. Strange, beautiful, surreal, brutal, fantastic, fantastical. It evokes Richard Adams at his most bloodthirsty, Tolkien at his most apocalyptic. But, above all, it’s simply transcendent. Transportive. A magnificent, bloody saga that will change the way you look at the world.
Nat Cassidy, bestselling author of When the Wolf Comes Home and Mary
-
Blacktail is a journey through a universe simultaneously surreal and familiar, a tale that will leave claw marks on your brain that won't quickly fade. You simply won't read another book like it
Jason Pargin, author of John Dies at the End
-
Blacktail is a wild, wholly engrossing ride that puts you in the brain of a wolf hellbent on destroying all of us . . . Hawkins delivers a rich mythology laced with both humor and tragedy that will have you reconsidering your own place in the natural order
Max Doty, author of The House that Eats the Dead
User Reviews
No reviews yet.
Details
- Author
- Scott Hawkins
- Narrator
- MacLeod Andrews
- Duration
- 10 hours 54 minutes
- Release Date
- 3 September 2026
- ISBN
- 9781037417191
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Pan Macmillan
- Genre
- Horror, ghost stories and supernatural fiction, Dark fantasy, Narrative theme: animals, Speculative fiction, Science fiction: apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic, Narrative theme: journeys and voyages
Synopsis
‘A modern masterpiece. Blacktail will consume you’ – Marcus Kliewer‘Blacktail is as glorious as it is gruesome’ – V. E. Schwab‘Utterly unique . . . an outstanding, majestic animal story’ – Daily MailA wolf embarks on a primal hunt for revenge. Blacktail is a dark work of animal fiction from Scott Hawkins, the critically acclaimed author of The Library at Mount Char.Blacktail is a half-breed wolf, born to hunt. When he finds love beyond a garden wall, he dares to imagine a peaceful life – until men butcher his mate and unborn pups in a surgical act of cruelty. His grief ignites a rampage of torn throats and shattered bone, a slaughter so absolute it draws the gaze of an ancient feline witch. She sends him south to wake the sleeping Forest God and end the age of reason.Fuelled by a rage that frightens Hell itself, Blacktail wages war against men and the beasts who dare defend them. From a gore-soaked wilderness to a burning confrontation with Heaven, Blacktail is a feral odyssey of vengeance.The Forest God sleeps. But what will be the price of waking him?* * *‘Touching, horrifying, and entertaining . . . You should all get excited for this book’– Mark Lawrence, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Book That Wouldn't Burn‘Blacktail is one to savor; one to delight in the eccentricities of; one to sit with long after it ends’ – Olivie Blake, New York Times bestselling author of Girl Dinner‘Beautiful, brutal fantasy, red in tooth and claw’– Chuck Wendig, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Staircase in the Woods
About xigxag
xigxag is an independent, UK-based audiobook platform and the UK's only B Corp certified audiobook company. We offer nearly 150,000 audiobooks, all with professional human narration. No AI-generated voices. xigxag is rated an Ethical Consumer Best Buy for audiobooks and a top-rated ethical bookshop.
There is no subscription. You buy the audiobooks you want, you own them permanently, and prices start at $13.95. The more you listen over the year, the less you pay per book, and there is always a selection in Listen for Less from $7.95. You can also send audiobooks as gifts using our audiobook gift cards or in-app gifting.
Every audiobook on xigxag has honest reviews covering both the book and the narration, and our community features make it easy to share what you are listening to, discover what others recommend, and find your next listen.
Download or stream on iOS, Android, or in your browser. Browse the full catalogue at xigxag.co.uk.