When I first started reading “The Savage Boy” by Nick Cole, I didn’t think I would like it nearly as much as his previous book, “The Old Man and the Wasteland,” but surprisingly, it was just as good, if not better.
I’ve read a number of post-apocalyptic novels over the years, and I enjoy (if there is such a thing as enjoying a wasteland due to thermonuclear bombing) the setting Cole has given us very much, along with the voice he uses for his characters. While coming across as somewhat detached, Boy and his story, much like The Old Man, pulls you in and allows you to share an intimacy that is different from the way many stories are written.
While I wasn’t happy about some of the things that happened in the novel (it’s the darn romantic in me that is crushed over and over when things don’t go the way we want them to…and why should they when the United States has basically turned into a barbaric mess), I still highly recommend it. And I did love the ending.
Cole has a third novel in this series called “The Road is a River.” Disappointingly, you have to buy an omnibus containing all three books to get the last. My advice is to buy the omnibus if you like post-apocalyptic settings, so that you don’t end up like me with having bought the first two, only to have to pay for both of them again in the collection. If you want to see what his writing style is like, you can click on the cover at the top of the Amazon page and read the first 10 percent of the book. As for me, I still have hope that “The Road is a River” will become available as a standalone.
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