TITLE & AUTHOR: The Wolf Road by Beth Lewis
I was given a copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. WHAT'S IT'S ABOUT PUBLISHER: The Borough Press
OPENING EDITION: KindleWHAT I THOUGHT
RELEASE DATE: 30 June 2016PAGES: 400
Since the Damn Stupid turned the clock back on civilization by centuries, the world has been a harsher place. But Elka has learned everything she needs to survive from the man she calls Trapper, the solitary hunter who took her in when she was just seven years old.
So when Elka sees the Wanted poster in town, her simple existence is shattered. Her Trapper - Kreagar Hallet - is wanted for murder. Even worse, Magistrate Lyon is hot on his trail, and she wants to talk to Elka.
Elka flees into the vast wilderness, determined to find her true parents. But Lyon is never far behind - and she's not the only one following Elka's every move. There will be a reckoning, one that will push friendships to the limit and force Elka to confront the dark memories of her past.
I sat up high, oak branch 'tween my knees, and watched the tattooed man stride about in the snow. Pictures all over his face, no skin left no more, just ink and blood. Looking for me, he was. Always looking for me. He left red drops in the white, fallen from his fish knife. Not fish blood though. Man blood. Boy blood. Lad from Tucket lost his scalp to that knife. Scrap of hair and pink hung from the man's belt. That was dripping too, hot and fresh. He'd left the body in the thicket for the wolves to find.
The Wolf Road is bleak, gut-wrenching and brilliant. I loved every word of this book. In some ways this could be classed as post-apocalyptic fiction but is very different from fiction that usually falls under this category. This isn't about surviving to find a new way of life after the word ends. It's about discovering you've been raised by a human monster and trying to run from the dark memories threatening to drive you insane. The Wolf Road is written in the first person and I love Elka's voice and the dialect she uses. She compelled me to keep reading to find out whether she was going to keep running from the man who raised her or would be forced to confront him and the truth about the past they shared. There are some dark moments in this book but there is also a lot of love and hope especially when Elka saves someone's life and finds human companionship she's never known. This is the kind of book that sucks you in when you start reading and you find it very hard to put it down. I loved the premise behind the book - Elka finding out that the man she considers her father is a murderer. Her fear that he would find her and hurt her, her confusion that the man she considered her father was a monster and the pain caused when she started to remember things about her past with Trapper/Hallet were almost unbearably real. The Wolf Road is brilliant. I look forward to reading what the author has to offer next.
