A Review: The Wild Road Home by Melissa Payne

Overall Rating:

Tuesday is for Book Club rates this a 1.5 out of 5

Katie chose this book,  saying she wanted something "uplifting" and while Goodreads labeled it a "beautiful and enriching novel", she disagrees. 

Would we recommend to a friend? A resounding No.

This copy is available for purchase here

Review:

This book was WILD! Initially, I was disappointed because it felt like reading the script to a bad Lifetime movie. That isn't exactly a negative because I LOVE cheesy Lifetime movies. However, I don't want to read the script - I want to watch it complete with bad acting and all. As I read on, I found myself unable to put it down because I needed to know what crazy thing the author was going to throw at the plot next. This book has just about every trauma you can think of, crammed in to 281 pages.

Spoiler Alert - 

The book starts off with an immediate plot issue. Mack wants to fake his own death in order for his wife Daisy to receive his life insurance payout for cancer treatments. I could go along with this if his wife just had cancer but she also has Alzheimer's. Her Alzheimer's is also pretty advanced to the point that she doesn't even remember Mack most of the time. I realize we're supposed to be sympathetic to the fact that he cannot accept the reality of losing her but it's far fetched.

That aside, we have Mack living off the grid, pretending to be dead and we start to learn a little bit about his life. He has flashbacks remember their son Jesse who we slowly come to realize had drowned to death. Mack and Daisy had many struggles with this loss such as a brief separation and Mack's attempted suicide by hanging. We also learn that before Jesse had passed, Mack loses his arm protecting his family from a bear while they're out in the woods doing what they love: camping, foraging, boating etc. These details alone tell a tragically sad story.

Then enter Brandi and Sy. Brandi is a young adult who has been living with her mother who is a drug addict. She has few good memories except for a brief time as a child when she lived with her Aunt Heather who is no longer present in their lives. Brandi also has a younger brother who she has practically raised since her mother is unreliable. Brandi has recently been released from Juvie which we learn, she was there as a misunderstanding and not actually being guilty. She returns home to check on her brother who is clearly neglected. He is skinny, dirty, and holding a gun in protection rom their mothers boyfriend. He also seems pretty traumatized acting as if he doesn't remember Brandi and is being mute. Brandi has her own memories of these boyfriends sexually assaulting her. Brandi decides she is going to take Sy and try to get to their Aunt Heather to see if she is willing to help them. She escaped by stealing their mother's boyfriend's car. 

So, we have these 2 overly tragic stories and then they collide. This is where the book started to become more entertaining for me because how could it get any worse? 

Brandi and Sy get a flat tire out in the area that Mack is living off the grid. He decides he needs to help these kids get to their Aunt Heather because it is what his wife Daisy would do and what she would want Mack to do. Mack witnesses Brandi's dedication to Sy and is heart warmed. He can see how neglected Sy has been and he sees some of his son Jesse in both Sy and Brandi further compelling him to step in and help. 

On their "wild ride home" they encounter a lot of unnecessary issues such as attempted sexual assault, theft, drug ingestion, fraud etc. During all of these trials and tribulations, Brandi becomes attached to Mack and sees him as a sort of father figure that she never had. They both work together to bring Sy out of his muted state. They work their way to Aunt Heather who we learn doesn't want anything to do with them. Brandi finally feels defeat and Mack is heartbroken for her. 

Then we have this climax of the mother getting Sy back and Brandi having to account for missing drugs to the deadbeat boyfriend. He takes her by knife point to locate the drugs that Brandi says she has hidden although Mack know it is a lie. Mack is able to save Sy from this situation but they know they need to involve the police to save Brandi. Meanwhile Brandi struggles with her mothers boyfriend for his gun and he shoots - but Brandi's mother finally helps her by blocking Brandi and taking the bullet. She is killed. Brandi can hear her mothers spirit telling her to run. Brandi runs in to the woods and the boyfriend follows. She runs up on a bear with her cubs. She remembers Mack's story about how to avoid a bear fight since he himself had lost his arm to a bear. She plays dead but the boyfriend isn't as smart and ends up being mauled by the bear. Mack shows up just in time to chase the bear away - save Brandi and the boyfriend survives and is arrested by the police for murder.

And then on the side of ALL of that - we have Mack coming back from the dead and admits that his plan was bad. He plans to be by Daisy's side until the end. Also, Mack reaches back out to Aunt Heather and learns that she did want the kids all along and that there was just a misunderstanding with her partner. She is able to adopt Sy. This allows Brandi some freedom to get her life back. She stays close with Mack.