Wolves

I've read all of D.J. Molles' "The Remaining" books. I was ready for another entertaining (and scary) post-apocalyptic read.

That didn't happen. This is a metaphor of a man with good intentions who descends into the tempting depravity of evil while he struggles for redemption. Molles' battle scenes (and horrific injuries) are as realistic as ever, but he skips the entire backstory about the disaster that killed American civilization. (He also neatly avoided cliche traps.) Most of the characters are sketchy outlines, set up for speaking roles with the main character but discarded as soon as they make their point. He writes extremely well about the philosophical issues, and he delves into a lot of good therapy about war and crime, but the story keeps hitting the "Pause" button while the protagonist repeatedly ruminates on his fate. It's well-written and thought provoking, but not so entertaining.

"Desperate men with nothing left to live for, they’re the most dangerous animal alive."

Huxley and his wife Charity and daughter Nadine wandered as nomads for two years after skyfire destroyed the old world and way of life. They then came upon a small farming commune in the western part of what used to be the United States and lived their lives happily there for nine years with Huxley growing barley.

Then the slavers attacked, raping and killing Charity and enslaving Nadine. Before Charity dies, she's able to give a clue to Huxley about one of the slavers and the course of his life is set - hoping against hope to find Nadine and seeking vengeance.

Huxley heads east, picking up other men along the way with the same taste for vengeance as he has and very quickly he learns that he can't carry out acts of vengeance without a profound change to himself.

Part post-apocalyptic, part Western (and I could definitely see Cormac McCarthy influences), this is definitely a hard hitting book. It is a long book (528 pages) and it is a TENSE book. I had to take breaks from it periodically because it is bloody, gritty and horrifying.

How far must a man go before he turns into the monsters he is chasing?

The famous quote by Nietzsche is so true - "Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you."

Huxley is a hard character to like. He does things that make him no better than the monsters he chases. But if you lived in this world, he is someone you would want fighting for your side.

Hard men and women in a hard world - a world I hope I or family never have to deal with.

If you have a strong stomach and like the post-apocalyptic or Western genres, this is definitely a story you should read. Author Molles has done a masterful job of world building and I was engrossed in the story from page one.

I received this book from Blackstone Publishing through Net Galley in exchange for my unbiased review.

An angry father hits the trail of slavers to rescue his kidnapped daughter. He found his wife dead, his home destroyed by the depredations of the roaming bandits, and knows his daughter is doomed unless he can get her away from them. As he becomes more and more ruthless along the way, he realizes that he's becoming a part of the evil he's fighting.

With nothing left to lose, Huxley, a man driven by grief to become a force of destruction, moves across the land toward a singular vengeful goal. He seeks his daughter, and the death of man with the tattoo that enslaved her and brutally killed his wife. No matter how low it gutters, the flame of hope refuses to die. Huxley will not stop—cannot stop-- even if he becomes everything he hates about the enemy himself.

I can say much about this book, but first I want to say Bravo! to D. J. Molles. He went all in on this one with extraordinary courage and raw human honesty. It is impossible not to feel Huxley, Jay, Lowell and all the rest. There is so much action and complexity within the story and the setting that it leaves the page and stays with you when you put down the book. Although there was a satisfactory ending, I did not want to leave the story when it ended.

To call this book only a western or a post-apocalyptic story is shorting the value. It is set in a western setting (which is so well done that even if you don’t like westerns, you will still willingly go there) and it is certainly in a low tech post-apocalyptic civilization, but it is also a hero’s relentless journey, an infernal quest of sorts, and a glimpse into fierce human souls in pain. Just a story of a man, a husband and father compelled to do anything and everything to anyone and everyone to get to his daughter. Huxley’s journey is beautiful in the same way stormy seas are beautiful-- destructive, awesome, terrible, but in a good way if you are somewhere safe and warm.

Read it the day it is released! Put it on whatever list of books to read—at the top. This review and others at annevolmering.com.

This book is a long read and every word leaves you with a gritty taste in your mouth. With strong examples it poses the question of what it takes to be a good man. Three days after finishing this book I was waking up with certain scenes going through my mind and asking myself questions. The post-apocalyptic environment is the stage for an odyssey through badlands and new lands with friends appearing who may not be friends and enemies appearing who may not be enemies. There are no good guys or bad guys. there are only survivors. The action is suspenseful and continuing. Do all roads lead to a dusty death? You won't be disappointed if you read to find out. Maybe death isn't the worst that can happen.

Dark and disturbing, intense and gripping, violent and soul destroying…

Huxley was a teacher, a husband and a father when the skyfire changed his world. He created a second life in what was known as the wastelands and was content growing barley with his wife Charity and daughter Nadine on a commune. Then, the slavers came through, killed his wife and took Nadine to be a slave. A man’s life can change in a moment and his did.

As he works his way east to where the slavers go he nearly dies a few times, wreaks vengeance, takes lives and saves a few. What he does turns him into a different man. Remorseless, avenging, seeking justice…he is a predator after prey…and finding plenty to prey upon. At times he asks himself how he feels, makes an assessment, and then continues on his way to where the slavers go to find the man with the scorpion tattoo.

Words that come to mind, while trying to describe this book, include: epic, saga, apocalyptic, dystopian, journey, values, valued, slavery, amoral, hedonistic, survival, humanity, inhumanity, law, order, disorder…and many more. This is a powerful book, very dark but also very powerful. It made me consider “what if” and then it made me wonder what I would be willing to do to survive and then finally ask myself if there was anything I would not do to make sure that someone I loved would survive and be able to live a free life.

This made me think of books written by John Wyndham that my father collected. It made me think of a movie with Clint Eastwood in which he lost his family and went to seek vengeance. It made me think of the movie Mad Max. It made me think of the Denzel Washington movie in which he is blind and moving West. It made me think of some recent books written by authors such as Megan Crane and Rebecca Zanetti. It is a book I recommend to those who don’t mind dark, gritty and violent and who also are willing to really think and ponder, “what if”.

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Wolves by D. J. Molles is a dark, gritty post-apocalyptic western. It is highly recommended for those who like plenty of gun play, violence, and a doomed man on a mission.

Huxley is a man who has lost everything. The world as we know it ended for him. He was living on an agricultural commune with his wife and daughter until the Slavers came, killed his wife, and took his daughter to sell. In her dying breath his wife told him the man who took his daughter had a scorpion tattoo on his neck. Now Huxley is crossing the Wastelands, heading east. He is saved from dying when another man, Jay, gives him water. The two travel together, on a mission to avenge and kill slavers.

As Huxley and Jay travel the wastelands, tracking the path of a band of slavers as they head east, he acquires a rag tag band of followers. They are hard men on a mission, to kill all the slavers who have ruined their lives. The two are motivated by pain, blood and death now, as they leave a path of destruction in their wake. It is a tragic portrait of a man pushed to his absolute limits.

This is a non-stop dark, bloody, violent, gritty, and intense novel. The influence of classic westerns is obvious in this saga of a man on a mission of vengeance and rage toward the people who took his daughter and killed his wife, as well as anyone who enabled the Slavers to continue their evil enterprise. It's also a long novel, so be prepared for the sheer overload of violence you will encounter within these pages.

The writing is excellent and above reproach. The character development, descriptions, and world building is exceptional. Honestly, the only drawback is that sometimes this is a hard novel to read because of the tone. It is a dark novel, very ominous, gruesome, bloody, and harsh, with relentless violence. Huxley is a driven man, by grief, and revenge, but also buried deep, by the love for his wife and the daughter he needs to save. There is redemption at the end, but an overwhelming amount of violence lead up to it.

Disclosure: My advanced reading copy was courtesy of the publisher for review purposes.

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Wolves
D. J. Molles

Johnstone, L'Amour, Gray, they couldn't have done it better.
A well–crafted story full of suspense that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. Set in a post-apocalyptic America. The country has reverted to a wild west mind set. In Western America there is little law and small communities have taken root. Some of them exist by barter with wandering scavengers or small trading caravans that pass by.
In the East a group of wealthy men have banded together to lay claim to the lands between the Mississippi and the Missouri calling it the "Riverlands"They controll with an iron hand and punishment is deadly.
Then there are the "Slavers" that are sent out to raid the small western holds and villages. They are without mercy. They take children and young adults and leave the rest dead. Burning everything behind them.
In one community they missed one father. Big mistake. This is his story. He goes by the name of Huxley. They will soon learn to fear him. All he wants is his daughter back and he will go through hell to find her.
Molles has done an extraordinary job of bringing Huxley to life. Following his psychological journey from simple, peaceful farmer to a steel hard, deadly, hunter.
I couldn't stop this story once I started it.. It was too good.
I highly recommend this novel.

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This is a tale of revenge and attrition; of just how far a man will go to avenge the loss of his loved ones when all he has left is grief fuelled anger. Yet, it is also a thoughtful consideration of what happens when that violence becomes too much; when, amongst all the blood and death, the initial reasonings become lost and only insanity is left; and, whether one’s humanity can ever be regained.

If you are a lover of dark, tormented novels and are not at all squeamish when it comes to rape, death and gore then Wolves is most definitely for you!

Huxley, a man who once was a history teacher, husband and father has lost everything that once created his sense of self. When an apocalyptic event alluded to as the ”skyfire” destroyed civilization, Huxley and his young family fled the cities in search of a safe haven and found it for a time in a farming community. Huxley’s descent into darkness occurs when slavers come to the farming community causing pain, death and evil in swaths of blood. Now Huxley is focused on revenge. He will stop at nothing to find and kill the man who sold his daughter into slavery and murdered his wife.

Wolves is a strange novel that is equally dark and disturbing – a novel about revenge set in a world where slavers tear the jaws from victims as trophies can only be dark and grotesque. I don’t know if there was any other destiny for this novel beyond disturbing. The fact that Huxley does not differentiate from “bad guy” and “good guy” for a large portion of this novel did not bode well for Huxley’s future. Nor was it promising that the people Huxley surrounded himself with were equally as damaged and deranged as himself. In this end, this novel was about more than revenge; it was about taking ownership of one’s sins and the evils humanity.
Huxley is the villain and the tortured soul. The entire cast of characters commit horrific acts in the name of vengeance and in the end have lost themselves regardless of age or origins. They are irredeemable.

This novel is deceptively complex with the social commentary on societies build on slavery, the darkness of humanity and the inherent evil of a world without technology. Although there was a particular scene with a dog that almost made me stop reading this novel, the overall themes of this novel kept me reading. Wolves is most definitely not a light read, or something that many can read in one sitting. There is a darkness and heaviness to J.D. Molles’ writing that makes this a difficult novel to read. Nevertheless, the writing is superb and it is not at all evident that this novel is written by a man who generally writes military fiction.
Wolves has a unique and unexpected level of complexity that makes it worth the read – but it is definitely not a novel that can me devoured in one seating.

In the end, Wolves is a difficult novel to review since the novel is meant to make the reader face the depravity of humanity when faced with their most base and animal instincts. The lack of civility and humanity in many of the characters can make the characters not only unlikable to a reader, but irredeemable. I found that personally I hated each major character of the novel for their atrocities committed against innocent people and was woefully unsatisfied with the ending. I don’t think one character in this novel didn’t deserve to die in the end. However, the writing is masterful and the story is deeply enriched with details that make the story “real” on a sociological and psychological level.

This novel will appeal to readers who enjoy dark novels with excessive violence, westerns and post-apocalyptic literature. This book is not for the light of heart and should be read by those who are not squeamish when it comes to rape, murder and slavery. Wolves is a wonderfully complex and realistic post-apocalyptic western that is a one of a kind.

What is the price of vengeance? After reading Wolves, I would have to say that it is your soul.

Every once in a while, I find a book that I connect with on multiple levels - a book that speaks to me, pulls me into the lives of the characters and leaves me craving more. Wolves is one such book. Many times as I was reading, my wife would ask me, “How is your book?” All I could say in response was, “Dark.” There is no bubble gum, princesses or sparkly unicorns in Wolves (not that I expected there to be). It is about dangerous people living in an even more dangerous time.

What is it about Wolves that captivated me so much? I would have to say it was Huxley. He is my go-to type of protagonist. Huxley is, or was a good man, but circumstances have left him jaded and changed. Violence and loss have made Huxley a new, different man; one that wouldn’t even be recognized by the old Huxley. I was riding right along with Huxley on his road of terror and hatred. Several times, I found myself wondering what I would do if this happened to me, would I lose myself?

Even in the darkest books, I usually like to have some comic relief. I find it helps to level things out and keep things from getting too heavy. Wolves has none, it didn’t need any comic relief. It would have been disrespectful to the story, and I respect Molles for it.

Wolves is not only a story about vengeance, it is about hope, hatred and redemption. It looks into the human soul to see if there is anything salvageable there.

This is my first book by D.J. Molles. I can only hope that he hasn’t set the bar too high for his other books that have now jumped up on my TBR list.

*5 Stars

Wolves - a revenge tale. On top of that, a good revenge tale. People grieve in different ways and his way is by avenging. You can't help but get pulled into the life of Huxley, the main character of this post-apocalyptic tale. This hard working man, struggling to provide for his family, has his life turned upside when loved ones are killed and kidnapped. Now a tortured man, he leads a quest of grim horror, retribution and redemption. But what price does one pay throughout all of this: possibly the loss of one's soul. What kind of person have you become, when the dust settles - hero or monster? This is a fantastic story and addictive read. Highly recommended.

Wolves by DJ Molles reminds me of books I'd like to read. Classics which have been on my read list for awhile now. It is one of those plotlines that sticks with you for awhile after having read it. Gruesome and dark yet makes you wonder at the same time.