Wrecked
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4.7 • 3 Ratings
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
Looking for Alaska meets Breaking Bad in this “winding, twisty” (Kirkus Reviews) novel about three teens, caught in the middle of the opioid crisis in rural Appalachia, whose world literally blows up around them.
For as long as Miri can remember it’s been her and her dad, Poe, in Paradise—what Poe calls their home—hidden away from prying eyes in rural Kentucky. It’s not like Miri doesn’t know what her dad does or why people call him “the Wizard.” It’s not like she doesn’t know why Clay, her one friend and Poe’s right-hand man, patrols the grounds with a machine gun. It’s nothing new, but lately Paradise has started to feel more like a prison.
Enter Fen. The new kid in town could prove to be exactly the distraction Miri needs…but nothing is ever simple. Poe doesn’t take kindly to strangers. Fen’s DEA agent father is a little too interested in Miri’s family. And Clay isn’t satisfied with being just friends with Miri anymore. But what’s past is prologue—it’s what will follow that will wreck everything.
Shining a klieg light on the opioid crisis coursing through this country, Wrecked will have readers on the edge of their seat right up until the explosive ending.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
As romantic as it is gritty, Henson (The Whole Sky) explores familial obligation and new beginnings in this explosive thriller recalling William Shakespeare's The Tempest, set amid a Kentucky opioid crisis. Sixteen-year-old Miri and her father, Poe, live isolated in the backwoods of predominantly white Kentucky. Poe and Miri used to bond over motorcycles, but now Poe's meth dealing causes a rift between them. Miri's only companion is Poe's glorified errand boy Clay, 19, whom he took in when Clay's mother was incarcerated for cooking meth, but Clay and Miri's tenuous friendship becomes strained when she rejects his romantic advances. Desperate to get away, Miri plans to head west the moment she turns 18, but that's before she falls for newcomer Fen, 17, from Detroit. As their feelings intensify and Fen's DEA father starts snooping around Poe's meth outfit, Miri must decide if her need to protect her family outweighs her need for a fresh start. The alternating perspectives of Miri, Clay, and Fen create a multilayered experience, highlighting their respective lives in impoverished Kentucky and each character's individual longing for escape and security. This love story packs a powerful punch, boasting suspense and edge-of-the-seat action. Ages 12–up.
