All Things Left Wild Book Blog Tour, Review, and #Giveaway #LoneStarLit

Posted June 19, 2020 by Lynn in Blog Tours, Giveaways, Reviews / 3 Comments

ALL THINGS LEFT WILD
by
James Wade

 Genre: Adventure / Rural Fiction / Coming of Age
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Publication Date: June 16, 2020
Number of Pages: 304 pages

Scroll down for the giveaway!

After an attempted horse theft goes tragically wrong, sixteen-year-old Caleb Bentley is on the run with his mean-spirited older brother across the American Southwest at the turn of the twentieth century. Caleb’s moral compass and inner courage will be tested as they travel the harsh terrain and encounter those who have carved out a life there, for good or ill. 

Wealthy and bookish Randall Dawson, out of place in this rugged and violent country, is begrudgingly chasing after the Bentley brothers. With little sense of how to survive, much less how to take his revenge, Randall meets Charlotte, a woman experienced in the deadly ways of life in the West. Together they navigate the murky values of vigilante justice.

 Powerful and atmospheric, lyrical and fast-paced, All Things Left Wild is a coming-of-age for one man, a midlife odyssey for the other, and an illustration of the violence and corruption prevalent in our fast-expanding country. It artfully sketches the magnificence of the American West as mirrored in the human soul.

 PRAISE for All Things Left Wild:
“A debut full of atmosphere and awe. Wade gives emotional depth to his dust-covered characters and creates an image of the American West that is harsh and unforgiving, but — like All Things Left Wild — not without hope.” — Texas Literary Hall of Fame member Sarah Bird, Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen

“James Wade has delivered a McCarthy-esque odyssey with an Elmore Leonard ear for dialogue. All Things Left Wild moves like a coyote across this cracked-earth landscape—relentlessly paced and ambitiously hungry.” — Edgar Award finalist David Joy, When These Mountains Burn

CLICK TO PURCHASE:
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Blogging on review tours is a great way to expose oneself to novels that are outside of the comfort zone. I may never have read or even heard about All Things Left Wild on a normal day. But thankfully for me, this tour led me to take a chance that paid off. Reading this novel expanded my exposure to historical westerns beyond romance.

 

All Things Left Wild is two separate story lines on a collision course to a showdown. Even the chapters follow the separate story lines. The point of view switches between Caleb and Randall with each new chapter. The novel also doesn’t fit into any typical genres, crossing between adventure, historic fiction, and journey of the spiritual and physical variety. The plot twists and turns. Even at halfway through the novel, I wasn’t sure where the story or characters were going, but I was certainly along for the ride.
Mr. Wade’s writing style is lush and visually descriptive. Details about characters, places, and things come alive as you read. I highlighted so many passages of metaphors and dialog that I could not share them all! Here are two of my favorite examples:
“but rage was controlling the puppet strings and there was no reason or hesitation.”
So physically descriptive, I can see the strings!
“The umbilical piping rose up to and through the ceiling and it had been the smoke from this stove which had led them there in the first place …”
The paragraph this sentence belongs to is just an amazing description of a cast iron stove. Who else knew that umbilical is used to describe piping. Not me! I’ll never be able to look at exposed pipes again without thinking about this sentence.

 

With few exceptions, the characters in All Things Left Wild are flawed and unrelatable. I struggled to empathize with any of the decisions that are made throughout the novel. Caleb is looking for balance and to atone for his sins. He is straddling that line between man and boy, feeling the first rush of hormones while also mourning his mother. Randall is looking for revenge. And maybe redemption. What he finds though is that the family you make is just as important as the family you are born into. Grimes, the leader of The Lobos gang, is very persuasive in his cause. His attempts at persuading Caleb to join the gang are powerful and slick. He has amassed a group of followers that strongly believe he is leading them to their salvation. But no one, apart from Caleb really, questions the means to that salvation. The one character that I really loved in the novel is the Widow Cole who shelters Randall’s group during a snowstorm. Her direct and some might say blunt attitude towards every subject, especially men, was a refreshing blast of cold air on a scorching hot day.

 

I read All Things Left Wild with both my eyes (ebook) and ears (audio book), as that’s how I roll sometimes. Mr. Hastings’s audio narration was smooth and warm, like a glass of whiskey. The voices are distinct and easy to follow, especially the voices of Caleb and Randall. The Texas twang comes through very well. There audio production is well done, with no awkward pauses. This may have been my first experience listening to Mr. Hastings’s narration, but it will not be my last. (I’m confident in saying I could listen to Mr. Hastings read the phone book and may have already been doing some Audible stalking!) Either format is recommended for this novel.

 

Overall, I enjoyed reading All Things Left Wild. The descriptive writing and excellent narration made for a satisfying read.

 

 

I received All Things Left Wild free in exchange for my honest review. Thanks to author James Wade, narrator Bradford Hastings and Lone Star Book Blog Tours for providing this opportunity.

James Wade lives and writes in Austin, Texas, with his wife and daughter. He has had twenty short stories published in various literary magazines and journals. He is the winner of the Writers’ League of Texas Manuscript Contest and a finalist of the Tethered by Letters Short Fiction Contest. All Things Left Wild is his debut novel.
  Website ║ Facebook ║ Blog 
 Instagram ║  YouTube ║ Goodreads 
———————————
GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!
TWO WINNERS: A signed copy of All Things Left Wild
JUNE 18-28, 2020
(US ONLY)
 
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FOR DIRECT LINKS TO EACH POST ON THIS TOUR, UPDATED DAILY, 
or visit the blogs directly:
 
6/18/20
Author Video
6/18/20
Excerpt
6/19/20
Review
6/19/20
Scrapbook
6/20/20
Review
6/21/20
Author Interview
6/22/20
Review
6/23/20
Review
6/23/20
Guest Post
6/24/20
Top Ten
6/25/20
Review
6/25/20
Playlist
6/26/20
Author Interview
6/27/20
Review
6/27/20
Review
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Posted June 19, 2020 by Lynn in Blog Tours, Giveaways, Reviews / 3 Comments

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3 responses to “All Things Left Wild Book Blog Tour, Review, and #Giveaway #LoneStarLit”

  1. Wendy Wall

    Let me be upfront, I haven’t read James Wade book,but from the review, it seems like it will be a wonderful read. Look forward from this review of reading James Wade.

  2. Kristine Hall

    Great review. It’s interesting — there were parts of most characters that made them relatable for me (and that I could sympathize/empathize with), but like you, not one in full. Yet, they were all very realistic portrayals, I think, of complex humans. Thanks for the post.

    • Lynn

      Thanks, Kristine. And I agree. I could empathize with certain decisions, but not all.