Lone Wolf

by Jodi Picoult

[Leah]

Jodi Picoult is one of my favourite authors. Her books are always challenging, they always make me question my beliefs, and her writing is always flawless. However, even I questioned her wisdom on writing a book titled Lone Wolf, all about a man who spends his life living with wolves. Wolves don’t really interest me and I wasn’t sure if the book would click with me. I was always going to read it, though; it’s Picoult, of course I’m going to read it. And d’you know what? She nailed it.

I found Lone Wolf fascinating. Mostly due to the whole wolf plot. For me, at least, the court room drama and the fight between Cara and Edward took second place to learning about Luke and the wolves. The wolves, and how Luke acts around them and how passionate Luke is about them is what drives Lone Wolf. It’s fascinating to learn more about wolves. When you think about a wolf you think of a scary-ish creature that’s a bit like a dog but isn’t a dog at all. About a creature that could and would probably kill you. Yet that’s not true. Wolves won’t (and don’t) kill people; they have order, they have packs, they’re not necessarily murderers (of people, anyway). I loved reading about how Luke integrated himself into wolf packs. How they allowed him to do that. I mean, that’s terrifying! But, that’s where Luke felt at home, that’s where he felt he belonged and I just loved the entire wolf theme.

Of course Lone Wolf is about more than wolves. It’s about family, about what the “right” thing to do is when it comes to someone in a coma, and about the reasons why both Edward and Cara have differing views on what should happen to Luke. I did find myself leaning towards Cara in that I didn’t really want them to pull the plug on Luke, but I could also see why Edward wanted to let him go. There was a delicate balance there and there are reasons, both good and bad, as to why both Cara and Edward wanted to let Luke stay in a coma and let him die peacefully, respectfully. The battle between the two was interesting, as it always is when Picoult gets her characters into court, and I had no clue where it was going to end, and I was rooted to the pages.

Lone Wolf was just brilliant. I have felt that with Picoult’s last releases they were missing a vital ingredient, something that made me go “wow” once I had put the book down. Don’t get me wrong, they were both awesome reads, but they just weren’t 5-star for me. Lone Wolf was. Lone Wolf was just brilliant and I was stunned at just how much I loved (and related, I suppose) to the whole lone wolf thing. It was a book I was riveted to. A book I didn’t want to put down once I was reading it and the insight into Luke, into Cara, into Edward, into Georgie (Cara and Edward’s mum and Luke’s ex-wife), into Joe (Georgie’s second husband) created a perfect story. This is Picoult at her best. This novel isn’t about a big dramatic story as with her other novels and there is no big twist as we have come to expect, instead it’s just a novel about a family with a big decision to make. The writing is tip-top, as always, and the dilemma and the backstory and all the strands make for a fascinating, interesting read. I can’t wait for the next Picoult book because the woman is a genius.