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A review by pbanditp
Effectively Wild: A Baseball Horror Story by Aeryn Rudel
5.0
I read through this 100 page novella in one sitting because I didn’t want to put it down. Now I’m finished EFFECTIVELY WILD and I want more. Please, please tell me there will be more.
I love these characters. Wags is an aging catcher that was relegated to the minor leagues, he has been assigned to help out Andrei, a mysterious new pitching prospect. I could feel the struggles that both Wags and Andrei were going through. The tension was palpable, not knowing what was going to happen as Andrei’s abilities grew beyond what should be possible. Shrouded in mystery and coverups, Wags struggles with what is going on and what dangers await with Andrei around.
You don’t need to be a student of the game of baseball to enjoy this book, that is just the setting. Just like The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones and Daphne by Josh Malerman are not books about basketball and you don’t need to understand football to enjoy the Galactic Football League series by @scottsigler , Effectively Wild is a gritty, fast paced nightmare that just happens to be sliding into home base with its cleats up just daring you to try and tag it out.
On a side note, the baseball scout that found Andrei is named Harker and I did a little dance hoping that somehow he was related to Jonathan Harker from Bram Stokers Dracula even though this isn’t a vampire book. Maybe more will come out about that in the next book. (I don’t know if there is a next book but I am using all my psychic power to get Aeryn to write more in this universe.)
I love these characters. Wags is an aging catcher that was relegated to the minor leagues, he has been assigned to help out Andrei, a mysterious new pitching prospect. I could feel the struggles that both Wags and Andrei were going through. The tension was palpable, not knowing what was going to happen as Andrei’s abilities grew beyond what should be possible. Shrouded in mystery and coverups, Wags struggles with what is going on and what dangers await with Andrei around.
You don’t need to be a student of the game of baseball to enjoy this book, that is just the setting. Just like The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones and Daphne by Josh Malerman are not books about basketball and you don’t need to understand football to enjoy the Galactic Football League series by @scottsigler , Effectively Wild is a gritty, fast paced nightmare that just happens to be sliding into home base with its cleats up just daring you to try and tag it out.
On a side note, the baseball scout that found Andrei is named Harker and I did a little dance hoping that somehow he was related to Jonathan Harker from Bram Stokers Dracula even though this isn’t a vampire book. Maybe more will come out about that in the next book. (I don’t know if there is a next book but I am using all my psychic power to get Aeryn to write more in this universe.)