Breaking Wild

Breaking Wild by Diane Les Becquets is a highly recommended novel of survival and suspense featuring two different women.

Amy Raye Latour has left her husband with the two children at home while she is on a hunting weekend with two male friends in western Colorado. The guys have gotten their elk, but Amy Raye is a bow hunter and she is still going out one last time on her own, hoping to get an elk to come near enough for her to shoot and bag. What she doesn't realize is how tenuous her situation really is and the importance of her choices - now and in her past.

Pru Hathaway is a archaeological law enforcement ranger with the Bureau of Land Management. She has a teenage son she is raising herself. She also has the only certified search and show more rescue dog in the county, Kona. When Colm, the county sheriff, tells her of a missing hunter, Amy Raye, Pru and Kona join the search. As the days turn into weeks and the official search is over, Pru alone keeps thinking about Amy Raye and continues the search.

The chapters of this mesmerizing book alternate between the lives of Amy Raye and Pru. We learn what is currently going on and what has happened in the past; what has made them the strong women they are today. Both women have had sorrow and loss in their lives, but they chose to handle it differently. Amy Raye was hiding plenty of secrets and is a seriously flawed character. What they have in common is a love for the healing nature of nature, whether it is the land, or animals.

The writing is incredible and brings to life the characters and establishes the setting. It is nice the see strong, albeit flawed, women living, striving, enduring, and surviving on their own terms in what could be termed a man's world. Amy Raye's situation is life threatening and Pru is a strong, determined, capable woman.

The ending was... rather anti-climactic after all the drama preceding it. Actually, I would have liked to learn more about Pru's life afterward. I quite liked her character, which is in strong contrast to how I felt about Amy Raye. While she has some qualities that could be appreciated, her back story turned me off and I was growing tired of reading about her poor choices. I really enjoyed Les Becuets' writing and hope to read more from her in the future.

Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of the Penguin Publishing Group for review purposes. show less

You know how movies can have you sitting on the edge of your seat? Well, that's what Diane Les Becquets' Breaking Wild did to me. This book is, in part, an homage to the wonderful Colorado wilderness. In talking about grief and love and wild spaces, it is downright poetic. But much more than that, it is a survival story and a character study of two amazing women.

On the surface, the women seem to be opposites. Pru Hathaway has only had two relationships in her whole life, and now the BLM archaeological law enforcement ranger's son Joseph is about to finish high school. Hers has been a very self-contained yet rewarding life. Amy Raye Latour is a wife and the mother of two...and when it comes to men, she's made one disastrous choice after show more another. So many disastrous choices that her marriage is in very real danger. Pru looks within herself for what she needs; Amy Raye looks outside herself. The only two ways these women are similar is in their love of wild spaces and the fact that neither one of them knows how to give up.

In alternating chapters, we hear from both Pru and Amy Raye. When a cougar begins a cat-and-mouse game with Amy Raye, Les Becquets really tightens the thumbscrews on this tale of survival. I was so caught up in the story of Breaking Wild, that I cried at the end-- and that very seldom happens to me. This is an exceptional tale well told. If you're in the mood for a rollercoaster ride of a character study featuring beautiful wilderness and two fantastic women, don't wait to get your hands on a copy of Breaking Wild. Wow. show less

I truly enjoyed this unique novel by Diane Les Becquets featuring two women -- Amy Ray Latour, a bow hunter in pursuit of elk; and Pru Hathaway, the search and rescue ranger who, with her dog Kona, searches for Amy when she disappears during a camping trip.

The novel is told in alternating chapters from both Amy and Pru's point of view, and also goes back in forth in time so the reader learns about each woman's childhood, young adult life, and current situation. While at the most literal level Amy is "lost" and Pru "seeks" her, the reader learns that in the metaphorical sense each of the women is both "lost" and "seeking". Both characters have a realistic depth to them, and Les Becquets gives us a novel that feels both character-driven, show more with the suspense of wanting to know how the plot will end.

I mention the two women as main characters, but Les Becquets beautifully draws a third character worth mentioning -- the landscape. Nature plays an important role in the story and the author's vibrant description of the setting (and Amy and Pru's love of nature) is thoroughly enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. show less

Les Becquets uses a survival story combined with search and rescue to explore many facets of being a female today. Her novel, BREAKING WILD, touches lightly on gender stereotyping by showing how two highly capable women—neither is an actual feminist— can endure. By employing backstory, she also introduces many other issues that create two flawed but fully realized female characters. These issues include love, addiction, family, risk, friendship, commitment, rejection, failure and indeed even survival.

The novel is set in the wilderness of Western Colorado. The very ruggedness and isolation of this setting serves to present both challenges and solace to the women. Les Becquets’ descriptions of the terrain, wildlife and weather evoke show more a mood of danger that pervades the novel and adds to the suspense.

The two main characters are Amy Raye Latour and Pru Hathaway. Both have complicated pasts characterized by taking risks and responding to failures. Both are highly competent survivors. Although the intention seems to have been to create two very distinct characters, in actuality their similarities are so numerous that the women risk being viewed as almost interchangeable. Both are consummate outdoorswomen; have had troubled relationships; have experienced failures and live with somewhat blended families. Pru has come to terms with her past and seems to have found her place in Colorado as an archeological law enforcement ranger working for the Bureau of Land Management. She has a son she adores from a brief sexual dalliance and seems to be moving toward developing a mature relationship with a recently divorced local sheriff.

Conversely, Amy Raye is struggling with reconciling her unusual need for risk with the stability provided by a loving mate and family. Her behavior leading to her disappearance is the most outward manifestation of her need for risk. In a recent interview, Les Becquets mentions that “life is a risk. If we protect ourselves too much, nothing will happen - nothing at all.” Clearly, this theme pervades the novel. The key question becomes: when does acceptable risk become foolhardiness?

Unfortunately, Les Becquets’ portrayal of Amy as a self-involved and headstrong person interferes with engendering any caring for whether or not she survives. Pru does not know her and is just involved in doing her job well, but the reader does learn to know her and therein lies a problem.

This is a fast-paced and suspenseful thriller that follows events with alternating chapters: Amy’s are first person while Pru’s are third. This narrative approach leads to developing a level of intimacy with Amy that far exceeds that for Pru.

The level of detail in the book was quite remarkable and included information on many topics, including bow-hunting, ancient artifacts, animal behavior, search/rescue, terrain and weather. Although this tends to slow the pace, the story is suspenseful enough and the novel benefits from the detail. show less

This is a tale of survival – both of the elements in the wild and of life in general. Told through the eyes of two tough women, this story is mainly about Amy Rae, a hunter (in more than one sense of the term) who goes missing when conditions turn bad. Injured, lost, and soon presumed dead, Amy Rae struggles to survive while also struggling with her dark past. A damaged character, at times her pain radiates off the pages, but it is that very pain that fuels her will to survive.

The other narrator is Pru, one of the officials called in on the initial search for Amy Rae. The more Pru gets to know about Amy Rae, the more she feels the need to discover what has happened to the missing woman, if only to provide her family with some closure. show more The more the reader gets to know about Pru, the more apparent it becomes that there are many parallels between the two independent women, although they have chosen different ways to handle their pain.

This is the first adult novel by author Diane Les Becquets. The writing is lovely, the story engaging, and the pacing suspenseful. Quite honestly, I didn’t know how the story would end until I finished reading. There were a few loose ends that I would have liked tied up – such as what became of certain characters, but I see this as a good thing. Too often lately I’ve found that I don’t care enough about the characters I’ve been reading to give them a second thought after I’ve closed the book. Les Becquets is definitely an author to watch. 5 stars. show less

Lost -4.5 stars..

Breaking Wild is much more than a survival story. It's a story about loss and grief, infidelity, sexual addiction and finding your way not only in the wilderness but in life. I had no idea going into this book that it touched on so many issues but it was pleasantly surprising.
 
The main character, Amy Raye loves bow hunting and being out in the woods. Her husband understands her love for the sport but doesn't share her passion so he stays home while she goes on an Elk hunting trip with two of her guy friends. Unbeknownst to her husband though, their marriage is in trouble so this trip for Amy is also a time for reflection. Toward the end of the trip though she still hasn't snagged an Elk so she leaves her friends back show more at camp and sets out real early on her own to hunt by herself. She encounters a number of obstacles during her hunt and ends up losing her way. A search and rescue party is called in and Amy's life story unfolds in parallel with the lead investigator, Pru's back story. 
 
I thought the parallel story line worked perfectly here. Little by little, each woman's life is revealed and the suspense is continually ratcheted up. The character development was also phenomenal. I swung back and forth from sympathizing with Amy to really disliking her. The whole time her husband is there on the sidelines and you feel completely sorry for him. His complete an utter understanding and devotion though is the only part that didn't ring totally true for me in this story but that's really just a small part of an otherwise very compelling story.  
 
If you enjoy hunting or wilderness settings you'll really enjoy this one but even if you don't, this story is about so much more then that and absolutely worth checking out anyways. From just reading this book, you would never guess that this was Becquets 'adult' debut. It really is that good! I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for more from her. show less

I don't read many survival stories, but I was so intrigued that the two main characters of BREAKING WILD were women - one lost in the wilderness, and another determined to find her. Had I known upfront that it was heavy on recreational hunting details, I probably would have skipped it, but in the end, I'm glad I read it.

Pru is a ranger who works search & rescue missions in Northwestern Colorado. When a bow hunter named Amy Raye goes missing, Pru is called in to help. The story alternates between Pru in first person, and Amy Raye, in third person. Both women are complex characters whose pasts are slowly revealed over time. Amy Raye, in particular, has her flaws, and it's easy to judge her before realizing how her past has brought her to show more this point and time.

Some parts I thought were slowed down with too many hunting details, but overall BREAKING WILD was an exciting and suspenseful adventure story. The author's descriptions of the snowy Colorado wilderness were vivid and gorgeous. I felt like there could be a mountain lion slinking up behind me at any moment. This is a perfect winter read -- you'll feel the chill in your bones.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. show less