Review of Country of the Bad Wolfes, by James Carlos Blake

Gorgeous family drama spanning generations over a hundred years. 

This is one of my all-time favorite novels. This is also my second time reading it. It’s got to have one of the best openers of any novel I’ve ever read. The prologue tells the story of the family’s patriarch: A handsome Irish-English pirate shipwrecked in the New World in 1826, the first of the Wolfes to set foot there.  

The rest of the novel is a rhapsodic, fairytale-like romp full of action and adventure as his descendants carve out their lives in New England, Mexico, and finally Texas over the next eighty-four years. James Carlos Blake is able to weave through the years at a brisk pace, yet zero in on thrilling moments with emotional depth and fully fleshed out characters, all while tying the plot to historical events and even including historical figures like Porfirio Díaz. There are so many moments that brought tears to my eyes, made me laugh, or even made me want to be there.  

James Carlos Blake was one of the best writers of our time. Read this book and you’ll see why. Sadly, we lost him in January 2025. He was 81 years old.

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