Review of Nowhere Alaska - The Logjam

[Erin Dydek]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Nowhere Alaska - The Logjam" by Thomas J Lechner.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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In his brave attempt to reach help for his injured father, Luke winds up stranded in the wilderness of Alaska. Using all the lessons he learned from his parents at an early age, the teenage boy struggles for survival in an untamed land. He is entirely alone and isolated until he notices a large gray wolf loitering outside his camp. His father has warned him about the unpredictable nature of wolves, yet Luke strangely feels at peace despite the presence of the mighty beast circling his shelter. As his hopes of being rescued continue to diminish, what will become of Luke? And why does the mysterious wolf continue to linger?

Nowhere Alaska: The Logjam is a coming-of-age story by Thomas J. Lechner. As a fan of survival and man-vs-nature stories, I was excited to read about Luke’s adventures, and I could not resist the pull of the wolf gracing the front cover of the book. Nowhere Alaska was a nostalgic read that brought me back to the tales I loved reading as a kid. Just like Gary Paulson’s Hatchet featured a young boy who becomes a man through his trials in the wilderness, Nowhere Alaska: The Logjam took the reader through Luke’s transition while exploring a new land with a furtive animal companion.

While I would have enjoyed this book more in my teen years, I still thought it was a good story. The author uses the present tense to bring Luke’s adventure to life as the struggle to survive unfolds. I loved the sense of family and community that the novel offered, and I appreciated the satisfying conclusion the author provided. This standalone story also made for a quick read with seventeen chapters and a brief epilogue.

Unfortunately, this book had quite a few proofreading errors throughout the pages. While these errors were not too distracting, they did occasionally hinder my reading experience. The verb tense issues were the most obvious, with the past tense interrupting the flow of the present-tense narrative. There were also a few passages that were a bit dry and lacked the sense of adventure I was hoping to find in this tale. Because of the errors and the occasional dull passages, I give Nowhere Alaska: The Logjam three out of four stars.

I would recommend this book to those who love stories about nature, wolves, and surviving out in the wilderness. Nowhere Alaska should also appeal to those who enjoy a bit of romance as a subplot. This book had a few minor swear words and no erotic content, and I believe it would be best suited to a young adult audience.

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Nowhere Alaska - The Logjam
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[Ekezie1998]

This looks like quite an intriguing plot. Would definitely love to have this one on my shelf. Great review.

[Apple 7]

The book reminds me of the brief scene of the spartan in the movie 300 where a wolf was actually encountered by the spartan who had come of age.......very nice review....

[kirthana_shivakumar]

This looks very interesting. It's also one of my favourite genres so I'll definitely give it a try. Thanks for the review!

[Astral Magi]

Does Luke succeed? I like the Alaskan scenery, so just based on that I already find myself attracted to this story. Thanks for a great review.