Safe Return Doubtful

American Fiction – Published 2025

The author himself is a fishing guide on the Yellowstone river which partly explains how his descriptions of the seasons and the Montana mountain wilderness are so evocative, they are pretty much characters themselves and certainly play a large part in the enjoyment of the novel.

Thad and his younger brother, Hazen, have been doing whatever they need to survive, living off the land. Their mother long ago abandoned the family, and now their father has died. In contrast to their father who had strong morals they do what they need to survive, and that includes illegal bear poaching and antler collecting from within Yellowstone National Park.

By the nature of the genre Wink is writing in it is no surprise that the brothers come unstuck, and their lives become even more of a challenge. Their nefarious activities involve them mixing with a mysterious and dodgy outsider known as ‘the Scot’ and it seems the brothers are destined for disaster, but Wink is good at subverting expectations.

In criticism, though it may be seen as a compliment also, his descriptions of the landscape are stronger than his characters, we get to know the mountains better than the people. Also, that the emphasis is on the pace of the novel, which again, many readers will like, with page-long chapters and short sentences; a novel intended to excite rather than to educate or discuss.

My GoodReads score 3 / 5