The Maze By Will Hobbs

Sitting, wasting away, just waiting for your break to come. “Hey,” people say, “at least you’re normal. Your one of the ones who turned out okay.” Turned out okay? Sure, Rick may have turned out better some of the others that are also in his situation, but still, he is in the Blue Canyon Youth Detention Center. How can he possibly be “okay” and still be in a place such as this? Rick Walker is just 14 years old. His only real parent figure he ever had that actually cared for him was his Grandma, who raised him since birth. After his mother gave birth to him, being only 15, she panicked, leaving Rick with her mother -his grandmother- and gallivanting off to Los Angeles. After his Grandmother passed away, Rick was sent to numerous different foster homes and orphanages, but never seemed to find the right fit. He ended up in a youth detention center, a center that housed kids with problems that ranged from petty theft to murder. When Rick’s name shows up “on the cigs” Rick comes to think that staying at Blue Canyon is out of the question. He escapes from Blue Canyon and finds his way into the bed of a pick-up truck, rolling across a broad expanse of slick rock -in the middle of nowhere- with canyon walls towering hundreds of feet above him. When it all comes together, Rick finds himself working closely with the mysterious Lon Peregrine, a government employee working to help save the endangered California Condor, and finds that bird-watching is riskier then he first thought. It could mean his life.

The way the characters in this story are portrayed is incredible. The way you come to learn about their lives and perspectives on life, it seems to put you directly into the story. You feel almost as though you are a character, watching from the spires of the nearby canyon walls. I think that was what really drew me into this book. The way Rick sees life is so uplifting after he meets Lon. He has been waiting his whole life for the one time when he can break out and become his own person. He is always searching for his way out of ‘The Maze.” I could not stop reading the book. It was so enthralling, it just dragged me in and kept me turning the pages.

The plot in this novel was unbelievable. The way that it included all the feelings of passion, hope, caring, intensity and adventure was truly awe-inspiring. The story is not that of the stereotypical adventure novel, and the unexpected twists and turns really give the book character, a character that most books do not contain.

If you are worried about reading a book that does not seem to capture your imagination and your mind right off the bat, worry no more. The intensity of the book continues throughout, cover-to-cover. The book never has a dull moment.

The only frustrating part about this book for me, was that Will Hobbs has not come out with a sequel as of yet. I am sure that if -or when- he does, it will be just as riveting as its prequel.

Don’t get stuck in the maze. Find your way out.

Written and published by Ryan Bakken