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A review by jennyshank
The Wildlands by Abby Geni
4.0
https://www.dallasnews.com/arts/books/2018/10/23/nature-inspired-new-novels-wise-ways-science-storytelling
Dallas Morning News, October 23
The McCloud family of Mercy, Okla., becomes known as "the saddest family in Mercy" after the four children are orphaned when their mother dies in childbirth and a tornado flattens their farm, killing their dad. The oldest sibling, practical, resourceful 18-year-old Darlene, accepts all media interviews that offer money. Darlene's brother Tucker resents her for selling their story and runs away.
This is enough calamity to fuel a whole book, but it's only the beginning as The Wildlands clips along with its eventful plot, detailed in sensitive prose that ponders nature, adaptation, survival and the mysteries of family ties. Darlene thinks nothing worse can happen, but as her dad used to say, "And then something else happens."
When an explosion rocks Mercy's cosmetics factory, freeing its animal test subjects, and then the youngest McCloud disappears, Tucker is suspected. Abby Geni creates arresting tableaus of nature juxtaposed with the trappings of modern life as a wild spree sets horses, dogs, ostriches and polar bears loose across Texas, New Mexico and California. (Counterpoint, $26)
Dallas Morning News, October 23
The McCloud family of Mercy, Okla., becomes known as "the saddest family in Mercy" after the four children are orphaned when their mother dies in childbirth and a tornado flattens their farm, killing their dad. The oldest sibling, practical, resourceful 18-year-old Darlene, accepts all media interviews that offer money. Darlene's brother Tucker resents her for selling their story and runs away.
This is enough calamity to fuel a whole book, but it's only the beginning as The Wildlands clips along with its eventful plot, detailed in sensitive prose that ponders nature, adaptation, survival and the mysteries of family ties. Darlene thinks nothing worse can happen, but as her dad used to say, "And then something else happens."
When an explosion rocks Mercy's cosmetics factory, freeing its animal test subjects, and then the youngest McCloud disappears, Tucker is suspected. Abby Geni creates arresting tableaus of nature juxtaposed with the trappings of modern life as a wild spree sets horses, dogs, ostriches and polar bears loose across Texas, New Mexico and California. (Counterpoint, $26)