Sunday, March 07, 2010

Book 6 – Wild Jack

By John Christopher

One of the rare moments where I ran out of books to read during my trip! I had to resort to one of several male-oriented books in Olman's handy possession. So I ended up choosing the young adult adventure book, Wild Jack, which Olman also just conveniently reviewed

I totally agree with Olman’s assessment, and quite enjoyed this straightforward futuristic tale of an uber-privilieged city boy who gets wrongly accused of treachery by an unknown enemy and gets sent to a juvie labor camp on an isolated island. He befriends an American and Japanese fellow and they eventually escape in a tiny sailboat. They end up lost in the wilderness until they're discovered by a group of noble savages led by educated ex-city dweller, Wild Jack.

I agree with Olman that although the novel ended happily, our young hero Clive never gets the chance to avenge the betrayal that got him in trouble in the first place. And that unresolved issue is something that can definitely be followed up in a sequel. Unfortunately, this novel was short enough that I finished it during our 7 hour layover at the Miami airport. So I ended up buying a pocket paperback of Shutter Island at a newstand – its review coming next!

No comments: