Kyle Lybeck's Literary Lair
The Wildman by Rick Hautala starts off with us being introduced to Jeff, a man whose wife left him, a life that is in somewhat disarray, and finding comfort in alcohol to find solace in sleep. Jeff receives a phone call though, from a long lost pal by the name of Tyler that he used to share summer camp adventures with in his youth. Tyler wants to meet up with Jeff, and tries to convince him that it would be a fun idea if all the camp buddies got together again for a camping trip at the old site. One of the group is buying the property, so he says it will be fine, nobody to bother them, and friendships can be rekindled. Jeff is quite hesitant though, as he hasn't seen these now men, in quite a long time, and isn't sure how each has turned out from child to adult. The other thing that frightens him about returning to the campground, is what happened one night to another bunk mate of theirs, something that would change their lives forever, something that Jeff witnesses first hand for himself to take back to the others.

From a creepy old summer camp, to reminiscing with old pals, from remembering past horrors, to searching for new adventures, this novel has a coming of age aspect, but at the same time, keeps it pretty well in the present of these mens' lives. The story starts out slow in my opinion, while good writing is shown, it doesn't immediately draw you into the story in a way that I would have liked until about halfway through the book. From that point on though, Rick keeps the reader very engaged in the story, the adventures on the campground, a good twist, and a good ending to tie everything up. This is by no means a bad book, but at the same time not anything fantastic and special either. It was just a good read.

This was my first jump into reading the stylings of Rick, and in the future I can see myself going back to find others. As a bonus, the hardcover is a nice edition, and I would easily recommend it to others. Overall I'd give this a B- rating, and only because of the first half of the book.



Review by Kyle Lybeck

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