Book review: "The Wolf Road" by Beth Lewis

Elka, our narrator could kill me and skin me pretty deftly I think. After "the Big Stupid" (which we never get a full account on but seems to be some kind of nuclear/global war) she and her nana live alone in a cabin in the woods. But after a dangerous storm lands Elka far from everything she knows she meets the Trapper, who takes her in and teaches her everything she needs to know about  living in the forest and being a skilled hunter. He never let's her go with him on big hunts for things like elk, and he's not exactly parental and warm but he's taught her a lot and took her in when she was in need of shelter. So they're a weird little family....until Elka is in town one day and is confronted with a lady boss officer of the law who tells her that the Trapper may not be all who she thinks he is....so Elka makes a run for it, with almost nothing to her name but her wits, skill and a really good knife.

Elka is not met with kindness from all as she tries to make her way to the town where she thinks that her parents, who she hasn't seen since she was a baby, set out for to make their fortunes on what sounds like a post apocalyptic gold rush. The whole time she can basically feel the Trapper's breath on her neck. She does meet a few allies on the way, one has four legs and fur, and the other is a person who ends up saving her life more than once.

There is danger, adventure, terrible creepy people, good hearted nice people, the scariest sounding thunderstorms I've ever heard of (maybe nuclear war disrupted our weather patterns or something?), death defying escapes, and people locked in crates. I wouldn't read this book while camping. Nope nope nope.

I give this book a 3.2 out of 5. It was entertaining and a fast read, even if it wasn't ever breaking new ground. My only criticism was that a lot of the time I forgot that it was supposed to be post-apocalyptic because it didn't really play into the story TOO much. It could have just been the normal 1880s most of the time. Either way, not a big criticism.

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review