Happy Thursday! Today I am super excited to share a review of The Wildlands, a standout genre-spanning novel now available from Counterpoint Press!
My Thoughts:
In the prologue of The Wildlands, a family is quickly preparing for a Category 5 tornado. They live on a farm and are working to secure the animals and themselves before disaster potentially strikes. I read The Wildlands as a hurricane was leaving an indelible and devastating path through my home state, and Abby Geni’s adept writing had me viscerally preparing for the tornado with the family.
The McCloud children live in Mercy, Oklahoma. They lose everything in the tornado and wind up orphaned and living in a trailer. These siblings, Cora, Jane, Darlene, and Tucker, are developed in three-dimension. You can almost hear them breathing; they are executed so well.
Tucker leaves his family behind but reappears years later after a bomb goes off in a cosmetics factory near Mercy. The lab animals are released during the bombing. Tucker now needs nine-year-old Cora’s help, and they set off together on a thrilling mission of violence and retribution.
Darlene assists the police in finding her siblings at a California zoo. Tucker is committed to saving the lives of animals, and he views his mission as a war.
The Wildlands is a literary-eco-suspense/thriller. A tension was felt throughout the story that kept me engaged and invested whether it was the tornado or the set-up of one of Cora and Tucker’s acts of vengeance. Geni’s prose is like butter- smooth and deliberate balanced with ample description. I compulsively re-read passages to absorb their radiance.
I am awe-struck by this smart book and everything accomplished by this talented author, and I cannot wait to read my copy of The Lightkeepers. The Wildlands captures “wild” in every sense of the word.
Thank you to Counterpoint Press for the invitation to read and review and the physical ARC. All opinions are my own.
Synopsis:
From the award winning author of The Lightkeepers comes a page turning new novel that explores the bond between siblings and the animal instincts that threaten to destroy them.
When a Category 5 tornado ravaged Mercy, Oklahoma, no family in the small town lost more than the McClouds. Their home and farm were instantly demolished, and orphaned siblings Darlene, Jane, and Cora made media headlines. This relentless national attention and the tornado’s aftermath caused great tension with their brother, Tucker, who soon abandoned his sisters and disappeared.
On the three-year anniversary of the tornado, a cosmetics factory outside of Mercy is bombed, and the lab animals trapped within are released. Tucker reappears, injured from the blast, and seeks the help of nine-year-old Cora. Caught up in the thrall of her charismatic brother, whom she has desperately missed, Cora agrees to accompany Tucker on a cross-country mission to make war on human civilization.
Cora becomes her brother’s unwitting accomplice, taking on a new identity while engaging in acts of escalating violence. Darlene works with Mercy police to find her siblings, leading to an unexpected showdown at a zoo in Southern California. The Wildlands is another remarkable literary thriller from critically acclaimed writer Abby Geni, one that examines what happens when one family becomes trapped in the tenuous space between the human and animal worlds.
Have you read The Wildlands or The Lightkeepers by this author, or are either on your TBR? Happy Reading! ~ Jennifer THR
Oooh, i haven’t even heard about this, but after your review i want to read it!
It must have been scary reading this while something so similar was happening so near you.
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I definitely had an eerie feeling, Norrie! And the author has a way of putting you right in the story. I loved this and definitely recommend it for something different and exceptional writing. ♥️
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Awesome review Jennifer. I definitely want to read this thriller. Happy Thursday.
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Thank you, Virginia! I loved this book and hope you do, too! Happy Thursday! 💗
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Loved this review. Hope things have settled for you now xx
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Thank you for both! Yes, things are definitely calm and dry now thank goodness. ♥️ It will take a long time for my state to recover from a big storm like this, but the worst has definitely passed. Xo
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I’m so glad you are safe, Take care xx
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Wow, Jennifer! This story sounds emotionally powerful. How ironic that you were reading this in the midst of Florence. Outstanding review.
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Thank you, Jonetta! Just that first chapter was about the tornado, but reading it at as we were anticipating the storm brought an extra eerie feeling. It is definitely an emotionally resonant story!
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Wonderful review Jen! Were you reading this during Flo? Talk about crazy!! How did you manage to save those beautiful flowers during all of that?💕💕
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Thanks, Sus! It was just that first chapter that has the tornado, but it was definitely eerie while I was “waiting” for the hurricane. And she described it so vividly! Eek! I took that pic before the hurricane, but we took some of the hibiscus in pots into the garage during the storm, so they are ok. Many of the buds fell off of the plants and trees, but those hibiscus probably look the best since they were inside for most of the storm. 😊 🌺 ♥️
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As usual, Jennifer, you have made me add to my TBR! 🙂 Great review…
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Thanks, Marialyce! This is such an original and beautifully-written book, I can imagine you loving it!
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An eco-suspense/thriller?? That sounds amazing!! It definitely seems like it’s superbly written!
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Yes, it’s pretty amazing, Nicole! I was surprised at how well the author executed all of it- it’s just wow! ♥️ Hope you’ve been having a great week!
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Wonderful review. I’m so glad you’re safe!
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Thanks so much, Chrissi!
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Another fantastic review my friend! I hope you have a great weekend! ❤️
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Thanks, sweet Dee! I hope you do, too! We’ve almost made it! 💗
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Sounds very intriguing…wonderful review, as usual!! ❤
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Thank you, Stephanie! This one really surprised me, and I was grateful it was offered to me because it’s not one I necessarily would have chosen myself, even though I have a pst book by the author. Absolutely loved it. ♥️ xo
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I love it when a book surprises me. No, I definitely wouldn’t have picked this one, but I think I’ll give it a chance now. ❤
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Sounds intense! Glad you and your flowers survived the hurricane – they seem to be getting more frequent, or maybe we’re just hearing about them more often?
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It was powerful- not really an intense tone. We had some damage to the flowers, but some were in the garage. This pic was taken prior to the storm. That is a really good question. I think we’ve always had several hurricanes a year, and we’ve always had strong, devastating ones here and there, and what’s changing is that the severe ones ARE happening more often. I read that the water temperature of the ocean was in the 80s during the storm, and of course, that might be due to global warming. I also think the media is much more focused on the storms than they were when I was growing up. No one even cared if we had a hurricane then. 😂 One time we were in our family car evacuating from the island we lived on, and we were stuck in traffic waiting for the drawbridge to come back down so we could leave. The actual eye of the storm passed over our car, and we heard that on the radio! My parents turned the car around and went home! A storm can last for days, though, but that particular one was a fast mover!
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Ha! Great story! 😀 We don’t get hurricanes – only the very tail end of one occasionally. But recently our weather people have been giving storms names – I guess we get jealous! Earlier this week we had our first storm of the year and the news went on about it for days beforehand. When it finally arrived, I couldn’t help but laugh – when I was a kid we’ve had said it was a bit windy and got on with whatever we were playing at! But Storm Ali sounds so much more dramatic…
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Oh my goodness, it’s just called “Storm Ali?!” Do you get thunderstorms there?
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Yes, but they’re usually pretty minor in comparison to other parts of the world, though they seem quite dramatic to us when they’re happening! I love thunderstorms actually…
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I love thunderstorms too!
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Just read your comment above, sorry to hear about some of your flowers being damaged. The storms and hurricanes sound really scary. I am glad that you are safe though.
Fab review, glad you enjoyed this book. I have only read one smart thriller which unfortunately, I didn’t get lol. This one sounds great though.
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Thanks, Diana, for all of your sweet words. It has been a stressful almost two weeks for sure. You would totally get this thriller. It’s straight forward, but I thought the themes and how she delivers it all is smart. I really loved it!
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Great review Jen! This book must have made even more of an impact on you reading it as the hurricane was coming through? 😱
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Thank you, Beth! It did! It was just the prologue that had the tornado scene, but we were under a tornado watch, and it was so vivid! She truly made it real (kind of magically so because her writing is so incredibly good!).
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