Tracy Sue Petrikoff is a seventeen-year-old girl enjoys the outdoors far
more than indoors and is more feral rather than human. Recently, she
has lost her mother with whom she seemed to have a strained
relationship. Her mother understands Tracy way too well and gives
Tracy rules that she must follow: one of these rules is to never make a
person bleed. However, as circumstances and fear permeate Tracy's
property, her mother's rules are becoming more and more difficult to
follow, until Tracy will be forced to make a choice: give up whatever
humanity she has left, or continue following her mother's rules.
From the summary of the book, I really expected for THE WILD INSIDE by Jamey Bradbury
to be very similar to other thrillers I have read, such as MADNESS TREADS LIGHTLY by Polina
Dashkova or MY SISTER'S BONES
by Nualla Ellwood. I expected for the book to be a tightly woven
narrative made up of an acrobat balancing across a taut string. I also
expected for THE WILD INSIDE to
have elements from THE GREAT
ALONE by Kristin Hannah in the aura of mystery and isolation. In
terms of MADNESS TREADS
LIGHTLY as well as MY SISTER'S
BONES, I was very disappointed, but like in THE GREAT ALONE, THE WILD INSIDE had it in spades so to speak. There
are mystery and isolation, but unfortunately, they weren't drawn very
well.
What I did enjoy about THE WILD
INSIDE by Jamey Bradbury is learning about the Iditarod race and
how much work it takes up when it comes to caring for dogs and
animals. I also liked the moments when it seemed as if Tracy grew up
and seemed to give up her own needs and desires to keep her family
safe, which was surprising considering her selfish nature throughout
the story when it came to humans. Tracy also seemed to have keen
insight into animals and often used the animals comparison with
humans, which was surprising for me.
Unfortunately, there are elements in the story that I found frustrating,
such as the fact its never sufficiently addressed whether or not Tracy
was a supernatural being (and yes it's important to know that.) I also
was not aware that one of the characters was transgender, or that
there would be scenes of Tracy's feral behavior towards people and
animals, and of blood being used to develop Tracy's personality. The
story also contains no quotation marks when it comes to dialogue.
For a reader seeking a tale set in Alaska that deals with blood, Iditarod,
animals as well as isolation, then THE
WILD INSIDE by Jamey Bradbury should be a treat.
A promising talent makes her electrifying debut with this unforgettable novel, set in the Alaskan wilderness, that is a fusion of psychological thriller and coming-of-age tale in the vein of Jennifer McMahon, Chris Bohjalian, and Mary Kubica. A natural born trapper and hunter raised in the Alaskan wilderness, Tracy Petrikoff spends her days tracking animals and running with her dogs in the remote forests surrounding her family’s home. Though she feels safe in this untamed land, Tracy still follows her late mother’s rules: Never Lose Sight of the House. Never Come Home with Dirty Hands. And, above all else, Never Make a Person Bleed. But these precautions aren’t enough to protect Tracy when a stranger attacks her in the woods and knocks her unconscious. The next day, she glimpses an eerily familiar man emerge from the tree line, gravely injured from a vicious knife wound—a wound from a hunting knife similar to the one she carries in her pocket. Was this the man who attacked her and did she almost kill him? With her memories of the events jumbled, Tracy can’t be sure. Helping her father cope with her mother’s death and prepare for the approaching Iditarod, she doesn’t have time to think about what she may have done. Then a mysterious wanderer appears, looking for a job. Tracy senses that Jesse Goodwin is hiding something, but she can’t warn her father without explaining about the attack —or why she’s kept it to herself. It soon becomes clear that something dangerous is going on . . . the way Jesse has wormed his way into the family . . . the threatening face of the stranger in a crowd . . . the boot-prints she finds at the forest’s edge. Her family is in trouble. Will uncovering the truth protect them—or is the threat closer than Tracy suspects?
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