The Wildman

By Rick Hautala

There is nothing new under the sun. That’s what they’ve said since Biblical times, and mostly it rings true. In the case of Rick Hautala’s new novel, the old rules bend. The Wildman is a novel about boyhood pals coming back together to revisit a horrible event in their past. Immediately upon reading this you might think of Stephen King’s “It,” Peter Straub’s “Ghost Story,” or Robert McCammon’s “Boy’s Life,” or, since you are here on my journal reading this review, my own “Roll Them Bones.” If you stopped at that assumption, you’d be making a mistake…

A long time ago at summer camp, a boy drowned. One of his friends - his best friend - saw him after his death, and it scarred him for life. It scarred all of them in different ways, and though they drifted apart, all it takes is a call from their tent-mate Evan to draw them back in again. And then there’s the “Hobomock” the native American demon or ghost they all half-believe might haunt the woods near the camp they all visited so long ago.

None of them really knows why they responded to the invitation, but they fall back into old patterns of behavior quickly, led by their “host” Evan. Jeff, the protagonist of the story, is fresh off a divorce and less sure than the others about being in that place. He is distrustful from the first of Evan’s motives, and it is Jeff that first notices that things are a little bit off.

Then it gets weird.

This is a story of friendships gone bad, of memories that leak into the present and stain reality in strange and unfamiliar colors. It’s a story of revenge, and hatred, death, and redemption. There are hints of the supernatural, but the tale is rooted in gritty reality. There are intrigues within intrigues, and at the end - you may believe you have it all figured out, but if you think about it again…run it through your mind…maybe you got lost in the woods.

This is a good, solid novel by a talented author, beautifully illustrated by artist Alan Clark. It is also the premiere original novel from new specialty publisher FULL MOON PRESS . This is a signed, limited edition book at an affordable price with lavish illustrations and the promise of wonderful production values.

Highly recommended…click that cover art on the right and go buy your copy from The Full Moon Press.  Use discount code DNW and get ten percent off the cover price!

-DNW