by Michael Koryta
Little, Brown 2014
391 pages Fiction
Don't you love it when a book grabs you on the first page
and never lets you go? That is exactly what happens with Those Who Wish Me Dead
by Michael Koryta.
Jace Wilson is a 14 year old who witnesses a murder and sees
the murderers face to face while at a quarry swimming hole in Indiana. A private
security guard convinces his parents to hide him at a wilderness survival camp
in Montana instead of putting him into a witness protection program. Ethan and Allison
Serbin run the survival camp for troubled teens, and when the group that
includes Jace comes, nobody knows which boy is the one in hiding. The
action begins with the murders and ends with a forest fire in the mountains.
Along the way there are several deaths and so many breath-taking moments that
your heart never stops pounding. In the midst of the danger, Jace grows up, and
Ethan and Allison grow older, wondering why they agreed to this craziness in
the first place.
The first chapter tells the story of Jace Wilson being in
the wrong place at the wrong time. The details of the crime he witnesses is so
graphically written that I had to stop reading at the end of the chapter. I was
breathless, and so scared for Jace that I had to take a break to process the
situation he is in. Koryta knows how to grab an audience and make them want
more.
The assassins are among the most cleverly created villains that
I have ever read—almost as clever as the villains in Fargo in their absurdity
and menace. They are brothers and are totally bonded with each other—so close
that their dialogue is uniquely their own and hard for their victims to follow.
They also like to "play" with their victims, in much the same way
that the cat plays with the mouse before it devours it. They are seemingly invincible,
and as much as the reader hates their guts, you can't help but admire their
prowess. They find Jace almost immediately upon their arrival in Montana, and
they create a trail of terror, including several deaths and the forest fire
that almost kills them all.
And then you can't help but admire the pluck and grit of
Jace (or Conner, as he is known to Ethan and the other campers). He is facing a
desperate situation, but he is a very smart, quick learner. He also has the
good sense to know when he is not just in danger for himself, but that he is
also putting other people in danger. He
is wary about seeking out people to help him because he knows that the
assassins are on his trail; yet because he is just a boy, he inspires those who
meet him to try to save him. The story line would have been entirely different
if Jace had been an adult in danger rather than a teenage boy. You would have
worried, but you wouldn't have been frantic with worry.
The details of the setting are realistic. That's because
Michael Koryta has taken the same kind of survival training that Ethan taught in his
survival school in Montana. Koryta and some friends backpacked in the Beartooth
Mountains, and that trip became the inspiration for Those Who Wish Me Dead. His
group had stopped for lunch at a vista overlooking the mountain range. "I
realized I could not see another soul," he said. "I immediately began
to think, 'I could put someone in a lot of trouble up here.'"
Also remarkable, Michael Koryta is just 31 years old, and
this is his tenth novel. He first hit the bestseller lists with The Prophet in
2012, and Those Who Wish Me Dead has already been optioned for a movie. One
reviewer compares him to Stephen King because of the breadth of material he has
created, including science fiction, fantasy, and ghosts. Many reviewers feel
that Those Who Wish Me Dead is his best novel so far.
As I was reading the book, I had two major thoughts: The
first was that this will be a great movie, and the second was that I wanted my
teenaged grandsons to read the book. It isn't a YA book by any means, but one
of my grandson's is on his way to the Philmont Boy Scout wilderness camping
experience today, and my other grandson wants to spend his life in the woods.
They will love everything about Those who Wish Me Dead.
Review on Tor.com.
Article about Michael Koryta in the Wall
Street Journal.
Michael Koryta's website.
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