All Things Left Wild: A Novel

Product Description

After an attempted horse theft goes tragically wrong, sixteen-year-old Caleb Bentley is on the run with his mean-spirited older brother across the American Southwest at the turn of the twentieth century. Caleb’s moral compass and inner courage will be tested as they travel the harsh terrain and encounter those who have carved out a life there, for good or ill.
Wealthy and bookish Randall Dawson, out of place in this rugged and violent country, is begrudgingly chasing after the Bentley brothers. With little sense of how to survive, much less how to take his revenge, Randall meets Charlotte, a woman experienced in the deadly ways of life in the West. Together they navigate the murky values of vigilante justice.
Powerful and atmospheric, lyrical and fast-paced, All Things Left Wild is a coming-of-age for one man, a midlife odyssey for the other, and an illustration of the violence and corruption prevalent in our fast-expanding country. It artfully sketches the magnificence of the American West as mirrored in the human soul.

Review

”A debut full of atmosphere and awe. Wade gives emotional depth to his dust-covered characters, and creates an image of the American West that is harsh and unforgiving, but — like
All Things Left Wild — not without hope.” —
Sarah Bird, author of Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen

”James Wade has delivered a McCarthy-esque odyssey with an Elmore Leonard ear for dialogue.
All Things Left Wild moves like a coyote across this cracked-earth landscape — relentlessly paced and ambitiously hungry.” —
David Joy, author of When These Mountains Burn

”An intense and lyrical journey through the borderzone of the American Southwest in a time before walls, infused with the real feeling of the land, and of the violence its conquest engenders.” —
Christopher Brown, Campbell and World Fantasy Award-nominated author of Tropic of Kansas and Rule of Capture

”A breathtaking debut! In
All Things Left Wild, James Wade paints an exquisite portrait of the American West in all its splendor, violence, and mythic power. Messianic outlaws, deadly orphans, and soul-broken poets ride across a landscape both treacherous and beautiful, finding unthinkable viciousness and unfiltered compassion. With a voice reminiscent of Larry McMurtry and Cormac McCarthy, Wade has managed to craft a novel that is both a lyrical pilgrimage and a thrilling, page-turning adventure.” —
Owen Egerton, PEN Southwest Book Award winning author of Hollow

”As a southerner, the very first sentence wove such a familiar and comforting tapestry, and it never let up. Wade presents rich, flawed, human characters who I feel I know personally even though I’m neither of their time or place. As someone who loves a terrific Western, this book sure did scratch my itch. I hope this book finds its way to Taylor Sheridan because that’s a collaboration I need Hollywood to hop on.” —
Corey Ryan Forrester, comedian and author of The Liberal Redneck Manifesto

”Transfixing …The author takes a classic western setup and refreshes it with sharp writing, strong characterizations, a vivid evocation of place, and a body count to rival The Wild Bunch. Fans of
All the Pretty Horses will want to saddle up for this literary ride.” —
Publishers Weekly

”James Wade’s debut novel, All Things Left Wild, is set in the still-Wild West of 1910, and it’s a chase novel/spiritual journey for all involved … Wade writes skillfully about the brutality and bloody history of the West, and of the United States. Every person his travelers meet has a story and a philosophy of life … This is anything but escapist fare, and some of the players might remind you of current leaders.” —
Liz French, Library Journal

”This is the kind of novel readers can spend weeks discussing — the philosophical and moral nature of it as well as its fatalistic sense of justice … For a long time to come,
All Things Left Wild will linger in the memory of all who read