Book Review: "Wildland" by Rebecca Hodge

This isn’t a page-turner; it’s a page-flipper! I raced through this as fast as my pulse was racing.

Kat is planning a quiet month’s stay at a secluded cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains. She beat breast cancer a number of years ago, enduring surgeries, chemo, debilitating recovery. But now the cancer has come back again, and she’s not sure she has the strength for another fight, regardless of her daughter’s feelings.

While getting the lay of the land, she meets the occupants of the two nearby cabin, each is a man traveling with his child, but both couldn’t be more different. Malcolm, who has physical and, clearly, emotional scars of his own, is dealing with his adopted son, Nirav, while brash, demanding Scott is struggling with the challenges of his preteen daughter, Lily.

Both children are immediately taken with Kat, not to mention the two dogs she has found herself with. One night while both children are sleeping at her cabin, a lightning strike causes a fire which quickly starts to encroach on them. With no choice, Kat leads the children and the dogs deeper and deeper into the woods, hoping to escape the fire and hoping there’s a way they can be rescued.

Meanwhile, Malcolm and Scott frantically plan a rescue of the kids and Kat but are at the mercy of the fire and the authorities. And even when Malcolm is able to pull strings their efforts are hampered. Will their kids be safe? Will a woman with barely enough strength to fight her own battles be able to muster the courage to protect two children she barely knows? It’s a race against the elements, time, and the human body.

Even though I knew what would happen I couldn’t put this book down. There was a lot more complexity to these characters than you usually get in a thriller. Malcolm and Nirav could have been a book all their own. This is a book that gets your heart racing but also tugs at your heart. It also would be an excellent movie.

I’m grateful to be part of the blog tour for this book. Thanks to Kate Rock Book Tours, Rebecca Hodge, and Crooked Lane Books for providing a complimentary advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. I appreciate the opportunity!!