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Reviewed by Katelyn Hensel for Readers' Favorite
Right off the bat, the title and cover of The Savage Boy should tell you that when you crack open Nick Cole's latest masterpiece you are going to get something gritty, dark, and great. The world has been ravaged by nuclear war and the end of days has come. America has reverted to savage tribes of survivors clinging to their very last resource with violent efficiency. Traveling across this barren post-American wasteland is the protagonist, a boy and his one and only friend, a horse. The boy has been raised by a former American soldier who believes that there is still an army and some semblance of civilization left in California. His dying wish is that the boy make his way across the dangerous land to reach the last bastion of human decency.
With the barrage of post-apocalyptic and dystopian literature that has been sweeping the shelves lately, it's hard to know which book to choose. I will make it simple for you; you should choose The Savage Boy. This book really makes you think about what could happen if the nuclear weapons that threaten the world actually caused the end of it. The tone is so dark, and so somber, but underneath it all is a quiet kind of determination. You feel the kid's passion and dedication to his mentor and his mission. I really enjoyed his struggle and his journey. While I thought that the savagery of the tribes was a tad overdone, it was easy to see and believe in the wasteland that Nick Cole portrays with cool and precise imagery.
