WILDMAN by J.C. Geiger

I'm offline traveling in Wales, enjoying the final week of our UK sabbatical. The photograph above is of Carew Castle and Tidal Mill in Pembrokeshire, home county of my husband's ancestors. If you're looking for good summer reading, check out Wildman and the link below to more book reviews. Next post I'll teach you how to say bookstore in Welsh!

In Wildman by J.C. Geiger an auto breakdown strands a valedictorian in rural Washington days before graduation. Lance has a full scholarship to Oregon State University to study Business, but he still auditioned for a music school in Seattle. If he dumps his car, Lance can return home in time to party with his girlfriend, but the old Buick is all Lance has left from his deadbeat dad. In a classic teen boy dilemma, Lance must choose between his car and his girl.

What makes this young adult novel special is the strong sense of place. Inside the gorgeous cover, the story is scented with fragrant pines, motel mildew, and cheap beer. Every night a cargo train blasts through Trainsong at two in the morning. Lance is warned to get out while he still can, but waiting at a dive bar, he bonds with hard-luck young adults who jump trains for fun. A quirky young woman makes Lance question his life choices. Wildman reminded me of the TV series Northern Exposure, set in Alaska.

The setting enhanced the menacing drama:

"The road got darker, more remote. Like they weren't travelling across the wilderness so much as tunneling into it."

Although the writing was often lyrical, the voice and imagery were true to a teenage boy:

"He rifled through his stories like a deck of old baseball cards. What had he ever done?"

The unfiltered teen boy perspective was pitch perfect for its intended audience but might offend other readers. Although Lance cares the most about personality, female characters were rated by their sexual allure and a fat woman enjoying her food was observed with disgust. There was underage drinking, borderline infidelity, barroom violence, and false testimony to the police with few consequences. From the limits of Lance's point-of-view, the ending was a bit confusing, but I loved the final imagery. Wildman is a fast and fun read, which teenage boys will enjoy. After this impressive debut, I'm eager to see what J.C. Geiger writes next.

With a shift of location up the west coast, Hotel California could be Wildman's soundtrack:



Reviewer's Disclosure: the author and I share an agent, Sara Crowe. Upon my request, I received a free digital galley from the publisher, Disney Hyperion, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Wildman's North American release date is June 6th, 2017.

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@Barrie Summy