2021 Reading Challenge: a book set mostly outdoors

Those Who Wish Me Dead by Michael Koryta

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Possibly 4.5 stars

14 year old Jace Wilson, while swimming witnessed a murder. Having strong survival instincts he hid from the two hit-men.

Ethan and Allison are a married couple who run a summer wilderness survival training program for troubled boys in the mountains overlooking Yellowstone. Ethan's US Marshal friend comes to them asking if they would be willing to help with witness protection. They eventually agree and only know one of the boys joining the season's program is the witness, only they do not know who it will be.

Hannah is a spotter in a fire tower watching the wilderness, working of fighting her demons. She used to be a Hot Shot (those who were boots on the ground forest fire fighters) until a fire won and she was one of the few of her crew to survive a turn in the winds.

Jack and Patrick are the hit-men, who having found Jace's ID know there was a witness and now must track him and remove him from the equation.

When Jack and Patrick track Jace to Ethan and Allison's property, they find that the boy is already into the wilds. Jace, figuring that the two will still find him, tries to save those he's with by breaking away from the group and setting out on his own. Only he didn't think that the men were desperate enough to start a forest fire to flush him and those who would protect him out. Lucky for him, he runs into Hannah.

Now not only must he survive the hit-men, he must survive a fire and other unknown terrors.

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I saw the trailer for the movie based on this book and had ABSOLUTELY no desire to see it. But needing to have a book for a reading challenge category, I picked the audio up and I am glad I did. The way the narrator read the characters of Jack and Patrick was intensely creepy and terrifying. The story built well and there was a twist towards the end I did not see coming.

I still have no desire to see the movie as going back and watching the trailer had it only loosely tied to the book. But, that being said, while I am not a modern crime fan, I may just seek out more by this author.

Would recommend





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