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Hostile Territory
In Paul Greci’s Hostile Territory, a catastrophic earthquake strands four teens in the Alaskan wilderness—and leaves them without a civilization to return to.
Josh and three other campers at Simon Lake are high up on a mountain when an earthquake hits. The rest of the camp is wiped out in a moment—leaving Josh, Derrick, Brooke, and Shannon alone, hundreds of miles from the nearest town, with meager supplies, surrounded by dangerous Alaskan wildlife.
After a few days, it’s clear no rescue is coming, and distant military activity in the skies suggests this natural disaster has triggered a political one.
Josh and his fellow campers face a struggle for survival in their hike back home—to an America they might not recognize.
Josh and three other campers at Simon Lake are high up on a mountain when an earthquake hits. The rest of the camp is wiped out in a moment—leaving Josh, Derrick, Brooke, and Shannon alone, hundreds of miles from the nearest town, with meager supplies, surrounded by dangerous Alaskan wildlife.
After a few days, it’s clear no rescue is coming, and distant military activity in the skies suggests this natural disaster has triggered a political one.
Josh and his fellow campers face a struggle for survival in their hike back home—to an America they might not recognize.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published January 28, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
September 12, 2019
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts are not affected by the free copy.
No one is more disappointed than I am about me having to put this on my DNF pile. Though I technically did read the ending, I stopped about halfway through and skimmed pages after that. Maybe it's partly my fault for not reading the whole synopsis of this book and just going in assuming it was going to be a simple tale of survival. But yeah, this is NOT just a simple tale of survival. If anyone else is going in thinking that's all there is, I feel the need to say something so they won't end up disappointed and upset like I was.
Honestly, I love survival fiction, and I don't feel like there's enough of it anymore. It's getting harder and harder to believe that such a thing is possible with our technology. At first, this posited a believable enough scenario that I was engrossed in these four struggling to survive as they trekked across the Alaskan wilderness. They encountered real, believable dangers like grizzly bears, moose, blisters and allergic reactions, the search for clean water and food, and of course clashing personalities. We don't get to dive too deeply into three of the characters since this is done in first person POV, but I still think that was all done pretty well.
Yet there are a few things in the survival scenario that were frustrating or could've been expanded on more. We modern-day people would certainly struggle to survive in a hostile environment, and I guess I can accept that these kids at first don't really think of doing things differently. But when Josh (the POV character) says that they can't fish or hunt, I have to squint my eyes suspiciously. Were there really no animals at all besides the dangerous ones? No rabbits or birds or fish? Did they not have access to rocks and thick branches to make into improvised weapons? I'm not going to pretend I wouldn't be crying and freaking out, but if it was between starving and stabbing a fish with a sharp stick, I'd learn how to make that stick sharp enough to stab the fish. And I don't know Alaska well, but if it was getting dark enough for stars to come out, couldn't they tell directions by finding the North Star? One character is basically a walking Wikipedia page, knowing things from the behavior patterns of moose to how to climb trees. Couldn't she, at least, have suggested these alternative methods?
After a while, I was starting to suspect there was more going on than just a simple survival story. There were some weird things going on and the kids seemed to keep running into problem after problem. Again, I know these are real hazards, but to run across so many in the span of a few hours was super suspicious to me. But then I hit the halfway mark and I found out I was right, just not exactly. Either way I would've been upset, but this... I don't want to explain for spoiler reasons, but let's just say I don't like it. Not just the situation itself but the way the kids blindly believed everything they were hearing. Even more, the way Josh initially describes the discovery is so rushed after days of these kids being on their own. How about more of an emotional response, guy? Shock, surprise, relief, anything other than "oh and then we came across this, moving on". The next half of the book is completely different from the first half to where it feels like two separate stories.
If I were rating just on the first half (the survival portion), I would rate this a four star easy, maybe even four and-a-half. Even the second half wouldn't be so bad on its own. But putting them together makes it feel like it's cheating people who love survival fiction like me out of the experience, and it's also cheating people who would enjoy the second half. I guess I'll have to go back to Hatchet and Island of the Blue Dolphin if I want my fix of survival fiction.
No one is more disappointed than I am about me having to put this on my DNF pile. Though I technically did read the ending, I stopped about halfway through and skimmed pages after that. Maybe it's partly my fault for not reading the whole synopsis of this book and just going in assuming it was going to be a simple tale of survival. But yeah, this is NOT just a simple tale of survival. If anyone else is going in thinking that's all there is, I feel the need to say something so they won't end up disappointed and upset like I was.
Honestly, I love survival fiction, and I don't feel like there's enough of it anymore. It's getting harder and harder to believe that such a thing is possible with our technology. At first, this posited a believable enough scenario that I was engrossed in these four struggling to survive as they trekked across the Alaskan wilderness. They encountered real, believable dangers like grizzly bears, moose, blisters and allergic reactions, the search for clean water and food, and of course clashing personalities. We don't get to dive too deeply into three of the characters since this is done in first person POV, but I still think that was all done pretty well.
Yet there are a few things in the survival scenario that were frustrating or could've been expanded on more. We modern-day people would certainly struggle to survive in a hostile environment, and I guess I can accept that these kids at first don't really think of doing things differently. But when Josh (the POV character) says that they can't fish or hunt, I have to squint my eyes suspiciously. Were there really no animals at all besides the dangerous ones? No rabbits or birds or fish? Did they not have access to rocks and thick branches to make into improvised weapons? I'm not going to pretend I wouldn't be crying and freaking out, but if it was between starving and stabbing a fish with a sharp stick, I'd learn how to make that stick sharp enough to stab the fish. And I don't know Alaska well, but if it was getting dark enough for stars to come out, couldn't they tell directions by finding the North Star? One character is basically a walking Wikipedia page, knowing things from the behavior patterns of moose to how to climb trees. Couldn't she, at least, have suggested these alternative methods?
After a while, I was starting to suspect there was more going on than just a simple survival story. There were some weird things going on and the kids seemed to keep running into problem after problem. Again, I know these are real hazards, but to run across so many in the span of a few hours was super suspicious to me. But then I hit the halfway mark and I found out I was right, just not exactly. Either way I would've been upset, but this... I don't want to explain for spoiler reasons, but let's just say I don't like it. Not just the situation itself but the way the kids blindly believed everything they were hearing. Even more, the way Josh initially describes the discovery is so rushed after days of these kids being on their own. How about more of an emotional response, guy? Shock, surprise, relief, anything other than "oh and then we came across this, moving on". The next half of the book is completely different from the first half to where it feels like two separate stories.
If I were rating just on the first half (the survival portion), I would rate this a four star easy, maybe even four and-a-half. Even the second half wouldn't be so bad on its own. But putting them together makes it feel like it's cheating people who love survival fiction like me out of the experience, and it's also cheating people who would enjoy the second half. I guess I'll have to go back to Hatchet and Island of the Blue Dolphin if I want my fix of survival fiction.
February 7, 2020
This book is hard to review.
The first half is okay. It is not extremely thrilling, considering the subject matter, but it was an okay read. I will say that the author really needed to rethink the whole "shoe" "my shoe" episode because I think the characters said the word "shoe" at least 20 times in a short few pages. It became the main focus for way too long and bordered on the ridiculous.
The second half of the book is simply put - way over the top with very little pay off in the end. The characters took a huge detour in the story and I just could not get into it at all...I kept thinking "wow, this is way too much".
The first half is okay. It is not extremely thrilling, considering the subject matter, but it was an okay read. I will say that the author really needed to rethink the whole "shoe" "my shoe" episode because I think the characters said the word "shoe" at least 20 times in a short few pages. It became the main focus for way too long and bordered on the ridiculous.
The second half of the book is simply put - way over the top with very little pay off in the end. The characters took a huge detour in the story and I just could not get into it at all...I kept thinking "wow, this is way too much".
February 1, 2020
I have a unique young adult survival story to share with you today. My son and I both read this book, and I have included both reviews.
*Thank you @Edelweiss and @Imprint for a gifted copy. I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own.*
Hostile Territory
By: Paul Greci
*MY REVIEW* 🌟🌟🌟🌟
I kind of accidentally found Hostile Territory on Edelweiss. I know many reviews are critical about this book, but I decided to give it a go. I'm so glad I did because it is a great young adult survival story. Yes, it's different, especially the second half, but I still liked the story overall. Once I started reading,I couldn't put this book down. Four teens at a survival camp, an earthquake, a long dangerous trek through the forest to who knows where, and all the while, they aren't sure what happened because no one came to rescue them. Where is everyone else outside of this camp? They begin to see what appear to be military aircraft, but an odd looking symbol is painted on the sides. Their one cell phone also displays an odd image and no longer works. Things are strange and getting stranger. When they encounter something very unexpected, they must each decide for themselves what they truly believe and what is worth fighting for. It's an intense thrilling read with twists and turns and drama. The characters are authentic, strong willed, intelligent and inspiring because they refuse to give up in the face of overwhelming obstacles. I probably would have died in the forest immediately! I enjoyed every minute of this story, and I immediately passed it to my eleven year old son. He devoured and loved it, too. Hostile Territory is one of our favorites!
MY SON'S REVIEW* 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Hostile Territory is an amazing book and a fantastic reading. Great job Paul Greci! I really enjoy these types of books. The book starts out with an earthquake (or so thought) at Simon like, burying all staff at the main grounds. The four kids, (Josh,Derrick,Brooke and Shannon) try to rescue survivors but they find only one person. They then continue on to the woods in Alaska. They then find that Brooke's phone has a red image on her screen. They then later see a bear outline in that red. Then, Derrick sees a green thing that stands out from the surroundings of the area. They find (classified) and are recruited by (classified) then have a mission to complete. That mission is to place bombs on bridge's and then later detonate them. They run into some problems along the way, like a bear, but all in all complete their mission. I rate this book 10 out of 10! Like I said earlier, great job! 👍👌
*Thank you @Edelweiss and @Imprint for a gifted copy. I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own.*
Hostile Territory
By: Paul Greci
*MY REVIEW* 🌟🌟🌟🌟
I kind of accidentally found Hostile Territory on Edelweiss. I know many reviews are critical about this book, but I decided to give it a go. I'm so glad I did because it is a great young adult survival story. Yes, it's different, especially the second half, but I still liked the story overall. Once I started reading,I couldn't put this book down. Four teens at a survival camp, an earthquake, a long dangerous trek through the forest to who knows where, and all the while, they aren't sure what happened because no one came to rescue them. Where is everyone else outside of this camp? They begin to see what appear to be military aircraft, but an odd looking symbol is painted on the sides. Their one cell phone also displays an odd image and no longer works. Things are strange and getting stranger. When they encounter something very unexpected, they must each decide for themselves what they truly believe and what is worth fighting for. It's an intense thrilling read with twists and turns and drama. The characters are authentic, strong willed, intelligent and inspiring because they refuse to give up in the face of overwhelming obstacles. I probably would have died in the forest immediately! I enjoyed every minute of this story, and I immediately passed it to my eleven year old son. He devoured and loved it, too. Hostile Territory is one of our favorites!
MY SON'S REVIEW* 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Hostile Territory is an amazing book and a fantastic reading. Great job Paul Greci! I really enjoy these types of books. The book starts out with an earthquake (or so thought) at Simon like, burying all staff at the main grounds. The four kids, (Josh,Derrick,Brooke and Shannon) try to rescue survivors but they find only one person. They then continue on to the woods in Alaska. They then find that Brooke's phone has a red image on her screen. They then later see a bear outline in that red. Then, Derrick sees a green thing that stands out from the surroundings of the area. They find (classified) and are recruited by (classified) then have a mission to complete. That mission is to place bombs on bridge's and then later detonate them. They run into some problems along the way, like a bear, but all in all complete their mission. I rate this book 10 out of 10! Like I said earlier, great job! 👍👌
December 19, 2019
This fast-paced Alaskan survival story would be a perfect fit for a reluctant teen reader. It starts off quickly and never lets up. Short chapters enhance the book's pace, and there are a lot of interesting facts to glean about Alaska, it's animals, and the environment. Josh, the main character, learns and changes along the way, discovering that leading means more than just being the fittest and the fastest. He learns that he has to rely on others, share power, and consider others' thoughts and feelings rather than just ramming his ideas through. Hand this to kids who liked Hatchet.
January 3, 2020
Four teens on a wilderness retreat are left alone when an earthquake wipes out their camp.
It's billed as a survivalist story, and I guess it kind of is. The first half, anyway. The second half jumps off into something so different and odd, I half expected them to wake up from a virtual reality sim at the end. The characters are little more than tropes: one characters knows about everything, one is a gentle giant, one moans and groans but is also brave because the narrator has a crush on her, and one is the narrator. Obstacles are dealt with quickly so the group can move on to the next one, and there's never really any sense of peril.
It's not awful. Short chapters keep interest high, so it would be a good read for a reluctant reader. But it's just not that good, either.
It's billed as a survivalist story, and I guess it kind of is. The first half, anyway. The second half jumps off into something so different and odd, I half expected them to wake up from a virtual reality sim at the end. The characters are little more than tropes: one characters knows about everything, one is a gentle giant, one moans and groans but is also brave because the narrator has a crush on her, and one is the narrator. Obstacles are dealt with quickly so the group can move on to the next one, and there's never really any sense of peril.
It's not awful. Short chapters keep interest high, so it would be a good read for a reluctant reader. But it's just not that good, either.
April 23, 2020
I guess more like 3.5. I haven't done this in a long, LONG time but I just pulled this book off the shelf at work (the library). Read the inside cover and said "huh, let's take this one!". Not until later did I look it up on here and see the horrendous ratings. Meh. I didnt think it was that bad, but like a lot of other people have said, it's a tale of two halves. The first half was a survival tale, and I really enjoyed that. And then... then the second half happens. It's just unreal, which honestly, doesn't bother me because authors can to whatever they want (in my humble opinion).
What bothered me about it was the realness of the first half. A survival story after an earthquake in the Alaskan wilderness? Alright! Let's do this! But then there's a potential war and then the teens are unofficially sworn in as government operatives and they're being shot at and blowing crap up. It's like sudden whiplash and it hits you out of nowhere. Overall, it was enjoyable and a super quick read because of the super short chapters. If it wasn't for the goofy change in story, I definitely would have probably enjoyed it more!
What bothered me about it was the realness of the first half. A survival story after an earthquake in the Alaskan wilderness? Alright! Let's do this! But then there's a potential war and then the teens are unofficially sworn in as government operatives and they're being shot at and blowing crap up. It's like sudden whiplash and it hits you out of nowhere. Overall, it was enjoyable and a super quick read because of the super short chapters. If it wasn't for the goofy change in story, I definitely would have probably enjoyed it more!
January 18, 2024
After reading Paul Greci's 'The Wild Lands', I knew I had to read the other books he had written. Being a huge fan of survival fiction, I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of the book. It is filled with vivid imagery and lots of nature. I could tell the author was very familiar with the Alaskan wildlands as his writing made me feel like I was in the actual scene, walking past the barren tundra and encountering the wild animals. At first, the book was very enthralling, it was incredibly hard for me to put the book down as each chapter almost forced me to read the next one to have a sense of satisfaction. Until I reached the second half. It was definitely not the ending I expected, and I did not like it. I feel like the first half and the second half are completely different stories and cannot be put together. They should be their own adventures, and putting it together just made it more confusing and less engaging.
But all in all, I think it is a good book if you like survival fiction and love plot twists, the ones no one would ever expect.
But all in all, I think it is a good book if you like survival fiction and love plot twists, the ones no one would ever expect.
June 27, 2020
Despite a lot of the less than stellar reviews, I really liked this book. The four teens are the sole survivors of a massive earthquake while they are at a leadership camp in the Alaskan wilderness. Unbeknownst to them, Russia has invaded and occupied the state and is threatening to launch nuclear missiles aimed at the major US cities. Their only option is to hike until they can find someone who can help them get back to civilization. I really liked the characters with Derrick and Shannon being my favorites. I really didn't believe all the things that went wrong for the kids but it didn't matter; I still couldn't put the book down.
January 22, 2022
I had read another book by Greci that was ok and thought maybe this one would take things in a better direction....but it was a disappointment. The first half or so was mildly interesting as it follow four teens as they try to survive in the Alaskan wilderness after a tragedy while realizing the rest of the world has changed in some way they are unaware of. When they then stumble upon a hidden outpost....the book gets real dumb. Somewhat Red Dawn like with Russians and nukes, super agents and teen accomplices....oh, and moose and grizzly bears too. All while keeping afloat a teen romance angle that just seems forced the whole time.
All in all, think I'll pass on anymore Greco Alaskan stories.
All in all, think I'll pass on anymore Greco Alaskan stories.
August 8, 2023
This book felt more like two stories. The first story was of 4 students overcoming a disaster and trying to survive. The second story had these 4 students as operatives trying to save Alaska from global destruction. It felt like the first story got a lot of the focus and time, and the second story wasn’t built out enough and felt rushed. Still glad I read this book. This is the second book I’ve read by this author and I enjoy his style and writing. Wish this book had been 100 pages longer, with more focus on bridging the two stories
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 15, 2020
This is a good survival story set in Alaska. The short action packed chapters hold the reader's interest as do the encounters with bears, wild moose and other hazards. I will be recommending it to students who like adventure survival stories.
Read
January 5, 2020Senior, high-school-age characters, but middle school interest.
Wilderness survival story that is jam-packed obstacles ... no letting things breathe.
Characters were flat, two-dimensional.
Problems and resolutions (the whole "survival" story part) were boring. No creative problem-solving a la Hatchet or The Martian.
Very very didactic; people (neither adults nor teenagers) just do not act or talk like this! (Not a quote from the book but basically stuff like: "We are having a disagreement. Let us remember and discuss disagreement resolution strategies like we learned at the leadership camp... Hmm X is feeling [this] way because of Y and I can use the wisdom of old mentors to both understand and find a solution.)
Speaking of jam-packed, let's see how many things I can name, sticking only to the natural sort and ignoring all the end of story stuff (so, BEFORE Russian-invading-and-now-all-humans-are-a-potential-threat):
Earthquake
Cracks in earth that person falls into
Landslide
Grizzly bear (twice)
Blisters so bad that the leaves the socks sodden in blood
Wolves
Starvation
Losing a SHOE while having to bushwhack another 50+ miles
Moose mom attack
Severe cold
Pouring rain, howling wind
Bear spray in the face
Wasp/epi pen
Rock gauging the forehead
Lightning storm
Forest fire
River crossings (massive rivers)
Exposure
And THEN, after all that, a whole lotta stuff about blowing up a bridge to stop the world from descending into the chaos of world war 3.
Oh and he gets the girl.
Wilderness survival story that is jam-packed obstacles ... no letting things breathe.
Characters were flat, two-dimensional.
Problems and resolutions (the whole "survival" story part) were boring. No creative problem-solving a la Hatchet or The Martian.
Very very didactic; people (neither adults nor teenagers) just do not act or talk like this! (Not a quote from the book but basically stuff like: "We are having a disagreement. Let us remember and discuss disagreement resolution strategies like we learned at the leadership camp... Hmm X is feeling [this] way because of Y and I can use the wisdom of old mentors to both understand and find a solution.)
Speaking of jam-packed, let's see how many things I can name, sticking only to the natural sort and ignoring all the end of story stuff (so, BEFORE Russian-invading-and-now-all-humans-are-a-potential-threat):
Earthquake
Cracks in earth that person falls into
Landslide
Grizzly bear (twice)
Blisters so bad that the leaves the socks sodden in blood
Wolves
Starvation
Losing a SHOE while having to bushwhack another 50+ miles
Moose mom attack
Severe cold
Pouring rain, howling wind
Bear spray in the face
Wasp/epi pen
Rock gauging the forehead
Lightning storm
Forest fire
River crossings (massive rivers)
Exposure
And THEN, after all that, a whole lotta stuff about blowing up a bridge to stop the world from descending into the chaos of world war 3.
Oh and he gets the girl.
January 28, 2020
*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.*
I feel a little hesitant writing a review for this book, because I received it in a box of other ARCs from the publisher and it’s not my typical genre. Since it’s not my favorite kind of book, please take what I say with a grain of salt...
The writing style was kind of hard for me to adapt to, but I think I’m a way it suited the genre and the voice of the narrator. Again, not my typical genre, so I’m not really sure what is expected there. But once I got past that, I did find the four teens’ story of survival intriguing. From wolves to moose to a forest fire to the threat of starvation, they face so many obstacles and tackle them in clever or daring ways.
Though the book description and little hints along the way told that the book would be more than just a survival story, the transition about midway through the book was kind of jarring for me. I found the survival portions of the story as the teens traveled through nature and tackled natural problems to be far more compelling for me than their problem of trying to take on a Russian invasion of Alaska. Also an interest premise, but maybe in a different book...
It was also hard for me to buy that the kids could stumble upon a secret government agent hiding out in the wilderness who would then decide they’d be good recruits and good safe keepers of secret government information. I think that, maybe even more than the shift in the main problem of the story, was what drew me out of the story and made it harder for me to finish the final section of the book.
All in all, I like for a book to entertain me, and this one did. I think if the second half had been handled differently, this would have received more stars from me.
I feel a little hesitant writing a review for this book, because I received it in a box of other ARCs from the publisher and it’s not my typical genre. Since it’s not my favorite kind of book, please take what I say with a grain of salt...
The writing style was kind of hard for me to adapt to, but I think I’m a way it suited the genre and the voice of the narrator. Again, not my typical genre, so I’m not really sure what is expected there. But once I got past that, I did find the four teens’ story of survival intriguing. From wolves to moose to a forest fire to the threat of starvation, they face so many obstacles and tackle them in clever or daring ways.
Though the book description and little hints along the way told that the book would be more than just a survival story, the transition about midway through the book was kind of jarring for me. I found the survival portions of the story as the teens traveled through nature and tackled natural problems to be far more compelling for me than their problem of trying to take on a Russian invasion of Alaska. Also an interest premise, but maybe in a different book...
It was also hard for me to buy that the kids could stumble upon a secret government agent hiding out in the wilderness who would then decide they’d be good recruits and good safe keepers of secret government information. I think that, maybe even more than the shift in the main problem of the story, was what drew me out of the story and made it harder for me to finish the final section of the book.
All in all, I like for a book to entertain me, and this one did. I think if the second half had been handled differently, this would have received more stars from me.
September 11, 2020
I got an arc of this!
This book is not for me. Let's be honest, the vast majority of the books I read are not written for me. I'm 36 years old.
I really enjoyed the plot of this book. It was high interest and action-packed. But I did not like the narrator at all. You don't need to like a narrator to read a book, obviously. But I almost always like a narrator. It's a part of empathy. But although it took me a while to figure out why I couldn't stand this narrator, I finally figured it out. He sounds like every male person who is decided to be AH in AITA posts. (Not every male who posts... just the ones who are AH. There is a definite sort of voice to those.) Our narrator, Josh, is surprised that anyone who is not him knows anything. He says he doesn't want to be the leader and isn't trying to be when he very clearly is because he thinks no one else's ideas are any good. He does get BETTER about all of this as the book goes on. But I had a rough time getting into this book.
I have a LOT of students at my school who will love this book. So although I would probably rate this a 3 for me, it definitely deserves a bump because of how many kids I know I can put this in the hands of. I'm going to see if I can find a good price on some copies to include them in some of my #StagsRead bags.
This book is not for me. Let's be honest, the vast majority of the books I read are not written for me. I'm 36 years old.
I really enjoyed the plot of this book. It was high interest and action-packed. But I did not like the narrator at all. You don't need to like a narrator to read a book, obviously. But I almost always like a narrator. It's a part of empathy. But although it took me a while to figure out why I couldn't stand this narrator, I finally figured it out. He sounds like every male person who is decided to be AH in AITA posts. (Not every male who posts... just the ones who are AH. There is a definite sort of voice to those.) Our narrator, Josh, is surprised that anyone who is not him knows anything. He says he doesn't want to be the leader and isn't trying to be when he very clearly is because he thinks no one else's ideas are any good. He does get BETTER about all of this as the book goes on. But I had a rough time getting into this book.
I have a LOT of students at my school who will love this book. So although I would probably rate this a 3 for me, it definitely deserves a bump because of how many kids I know I can put this in the hands of. I'm going to see if I can find a good price on some copies to include them in some of my #StagsRead bags.
October 24, 2019
Should’ve stuck with survival. The two situations did not blend well and the second half of the book was way less interesting. Characters and set up were alright and the survival part was believable enough and fun. After that this book sorta sucks. like, a lot.
November 21, 2020
When an earthquake destroys the main campsite at Josh's summer survivalist camp, he and the three other survivors must try to make it back to civilization on their own. But with bears attacking, inadequate supplies, and no knowledge of why a rescue hasn't even been attempted, their spirits are low. Then, they stumble upon an even more surprising discovery, and all bets for survival are really off.
Qualifying this review by saying that the audiobook I was listening to had serious playback issues (most likely not a fault of the audiobook itself, but with the platform I was using). These issues certainly caused me to struggle a bit with following the plot and losing myself in the story. This is fast-paced and filled with action, which was an improvement over the last Greci story I read, so that was nice. The survivalist portions of the story were done very well, but when they finally reach the military hideout and discover the Russian takeover, I found it much harder to take it seriously.
Qualifying this review by saying that the audiobook I was listening to had serious playback issues (most likely not a fault of the audiobook itself, but with the platform I was using). These issues certainly caused me to struggle a bit with following the plot and losing myself in the story. This is fast-paced and filled with action, which was an improvement over the last Greci story I read, so that was nice. The survivalist portions of the story were done very well, but when they finally reach the military hideout and discover the Russian takeover, I found it much harder to take it seriously.
October 2, 2021
The first half - wilderness survival, the mystery of the planes in the sky that are obviously Russian, the description of how miserable it can be to actually bushwhack through the backcountry was all entertaining. The second half was nonsensical. The canoe incident was bizarre, the way the war refugee scene went was strange, the premise of everyone suddenly becoming CIA operatives was jarring, the bridge destruction plot made no sense. I would've preferred a narrative where the gang misses the whole war, shows up in Talkeetna, and has everything explained at the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 9, 2022
Aside from the very weird spin of switching from wilderness survival to secret super spies, why is it clear the author has a foot fetish. Why were there so many scenes with feet. There was a teenager sucking on another teenager's foot and they admitted it was arousing. Aside from the foot fetish being weird these are TEENAGERS. Why. There was almost a whole chapter dedicated to washing and bandaging one character's foot. There were at least 5 foot-centric scenes. I read this book months ago and it haunts me. I need answers but I don't want them.
January 9, 2021
Horrible follow up to Wild Lands. Equally eye-roll inducing as Shusterman’s Dry. I am so sick of writers pushing their political opinions in their stories. I wouldn’t follow this guy into the woods if you paid me.
September 5, 2021
This is one of those old fashioned boy & and his friends in the wilderness adventures that for a century or so they published too many of, because they crowded out other worthy stories that deserved to be told, but that now they publish virtually one of, which is also a problem because there are still lots of kids (especially but not exclusively boys) who crave these types of stories and there are virtually none being published anymore.
I have nothing to add to the many reviews in terms of plot. Previous reviewers have correctly identified the flaws: the implausibility, the lack of nuance or depth in the characterization, the jarring plot shift about 2/3 through (it really should have been a sequel since it's really a follow-up adventure featuring the same characters), the slightly arrogant narrator. But I would argue that these things aren't problems, because they are spot on for a target audience that can't relate to the usual sensitive, angsty, tormented protagonists whom we generally find in the 10% or so of YA novels with boys as the sole POV character. Don't get me wrong, I love those sorts of narrators, but as a teacher I can't tell you how often I hear from parents of sons the lament, "He used to love to read until he [graduated from middle grades]." This is the type of book so many of those kids would love and that I have already started to recommend to some of my students.
Josh, the narrator, is tough and confident, a traditionally "masculine" hero, but he is not toxically masculine. He respects the abilities of female friends, who are, in fact, every bit as tough and competent as the two boys. He pines after one of the girls but wants to get to know her better as a person long before he even thinks of kissing her. The little romance there is (and there is very little) is wholesome and it never even occurs to Josh to kiss Brooke (or anything else) without asking for consent. (There is no LGBTQIA+ representation, nor of any groups other than White and indigenous Alaskans.)
As a teacher I read lots of YA and always try to look at it from the point of view of the teens for whom it is (or should be) written. Often that means reading teen romances that have no appeal to me as a reader personally, but that I can enthusiastically endorse on their own terms. In the same spirit, I highly recommend this for boys looking for old fashioned adventure stories. For everyone else, we are fortunate to live at a time when there are lots of other great choices.
I have nothing to add to the many reviews in terms of plot. Previous reviewers have correctly identified the flaws: the implausibility, the lack of nuance or depth in the characterization, the jarring plot shift about 2/3 through (it really should have been a sequel since it's really a follow-up adventure featuring the same characters), the slightly arrogant narrator. But I would argue that these things aren't problems, because they are spot on for a target audience that can't relate to the usual sensitive, angsty, tormented protagonists whom we generally find in the 10% or so of YA novels with boys as the sole POV character. Don't get me wrong, I love those sorts of narrators, but as a teacher I can't tell you how often I hear from parents of sons the lament, "He used to love to read until he [graduated from middle grades]." This is the type of book so many of those kids would love and that I have already started to recommend to some of my students.
Josh, the narrator, is tough and confident, a traditionally "masculine" hero, but he is not toxically masculine. He respects the abilities of female friends, who are, in fact, every bit as tough and competent as the two boys. He pines after one of the girls but wants to get to know her better as a person long before he even thinks of kissing her. The little romance there is (and there is very little) is wholesome and it never even occurs to Josh to kiss Brooke (or anything else) without asking for consent. (There is no LGBTQIA+ representation, nor of any groups other than White and indigenous Alaskans.)
As a teacher I read lots of YA and always try to look at it from the point of view of the teens for whom it is (or should be) written. Often that means reading teen romances that have no appeal to me as a reader personally, but that I can enthusiastically endorse on their own terms. In the same spirit, I highly recommend this for boys looking for old fashioned adventure stories. For everyone else, we are fortunate to live at a time when there are lots of other great choices.
January 15, 2022
I decided to read this book mainly because it was a bit out of my comfort zone. I don’t usually read survival stories, but I do enjoy suspense so I wanted to give this type of text a try. Yes I did read the brief description of what to expect from this book before I decided to read,but the book was so focused on the survival itself for the first half of the book which seemed to go on forever, that I truthfully forget there was going to be more to the story. Now like I said , I do not usually read stories about survival . I tend to stick to young adult fiction, or romance,even some mystery here and there, however I do not enjoy reading about political things or books that involve political issues. Not that this was a bad book, but I read to get my brain out of today’s modern world, and the fact that the second half heavily relied on politics and government issues, just made my what would’ve been 4 star review , be a 3 star review. I feel as though maybe it could’ve been one book but part one and then part two to see how the situation and aspect of things truly shifts.
On top of the way the story went , I did seem to realize some things that just didn’t make sense in the aspect of reality. How would all of the unfortunate events happen to Josh (written in his POV) in the same time? How did they not have the ability or access to fish or hunt ? What were the bears/ moose eating that the kids did not have access too? Why didn’t they build more fires? How did nobody end up getting sick or severely injured from all the risks they took ? one less shoe , unsanitary water drinking , moose attacks , anaphylactic shock , just to name a few.
Overall , maybe not something I would recommend to someone trying to branch out like i was, but would recommend to someone interested in survival stories and books of similar nature!
On top of the way the story went , I did seem to realize some things that just didn’t make sense in the aspect of reality. How would all of the unfortunate events happen to Josh (written in his POV) in the same time? How did they not have the ability or access to fish or hunt ? What were the bears/ moose eating that the kids did not have access too? Why didn’t they build more fires? How did nobody end up getting sick or severely injured from all the risks they took ? one less shoe , unsanitary water drinking , moose attacks , anaphylactic shock , just to name a few.
Overall , maybe not something I would recommend to someone trying to branch out like i was, but would recommend to someone interested in survival stories and books of similar nature!
February 29, 2020
Having read and enjoyed this author's The Wild Lands, I was eager to see what this one had in store for me. While I wasn't exactly disappointed, I'll have to admit that I liked the first half of this one much more than the last half, and it didn't satisfy me as much as the previous book by this author did. The narrator, Josh, is at a leadership camp in the Alaskan wilderness when an earthquake kills the staff and campers, all except Josh and three others who were soloing and away from the main camp. Although the youngsters search for survivors and hope for rescue, eventually they realize that no one's coming and set off for civilization. Thank goodness for Shannon, who has abundant survival skills and an awareness of the wilderness because the rest of the crew, Derrick, Brooke, and Josh, are pretty clueless. They make mistakes, run out of food, deal with a grizzly, wolves, a moose or two, and pesky mosquitoes, but keep moving forward as fast as they can. Most of that part of the book is riveting although I did wonder why they didn't make some efforts to trap animals for food. But when they spot signs of human habitation and stumble upon a structure housing a man with plenty of secrets. Once he shares with them the nature of his job and how the United States and Russia are at odds and a complicated scenario involving doomsday missiles, he enlists the youngsters' help. Their involvement and the luck or skills that allow them to survive seemed unlikely to me, but I still read on because I wanted to see how things would turn out. I would have been more satisfied if the opportunistic conflict on the part of the Russians had been omitted because the last part of the book was just too outlandish to me. But maybe not, for some readers.
January 14, 2022
I read the book “Hostile Territory” . It was written by Paul Greci. The book's hostile territory is dangerous, exciting and adventurous. It’s about four kids who go to a survival camp in Alaska. Unfortunately there is a humongous earthquake that kills everyone but Josh, Brooke, Shannon and Derrick. They have to travel hundreds of miles to try to get to the nearest town. On their journey they encounter bears, moose and forest fires. They cross plains, rocky mountains and quagmires. They stumble upon a secret government base and become part of the United States government. They learn that the United States is under attack by Russia. They agree to help Sam, the leader of this operation. Their mission is simply to blow up three major bridges in Russian territory. The only problem is that none of the kids are trained in the military and they don’t know how to protect themselves. Derrick and Josh have to place a bomb in the river Shannon and break, have to put two bombs on land and get out of there before they blow up and kill them all.
The author really makes this story interesting because of the suspense he puts in detail into the settings. Also he sells all of the characters roles in the story. The setting sounds really realistic and you can tell he put a lot of time and thought into this story. The story took a turn at the end and I was really not expecting there to be any sort of government involved.
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves daring adventures and doesn't mind some language there are a lot of great things in this book and personally my favorite part was tord the end of the book when everyone was happy to be alive and appreciating what they have and not what they are losing or what they have lost.
The author really makes this story interesting because of the suspense he puts in detail into the settings. Also he sells all of the characters roles in the story. The setting sounds really realistic and you can tell he put a lot of time and thought into this story. The story took a turn at the end and I was really not expecting there to be any sort of government involved.
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves daring adventures and doesn't mind some language there are a lot of great things in this book and personally my favorite part was tord the end of the book when everyone was happy to be alive and appreciating what they have and not what they are losing or what they have lost.
March 11, 2020
This is basically the American version of "Tommorow When The War Began". Now this wasn't a terrible book but it felt a little incomplete. The natural disaster that Josh, Derrick, Shannon, Brooke survived was interesting and how they were going to make through the wilderness to survive was interesting. While I didn't believe that every step they took ended up with them in some dangerous situation that might just be that I don't know what Alaska is like. I can get past all of that, what I can't get passed is the other main story line of how they got to stop the Russians from nuking the lower 48, this was such a shift from the survival book we were just reading that it just felt off. There wasn't enough time put into the Russian section it seemed that everything just happened quickly for no reason that made sense. And finally the last problem with the book is how underdeveloped the main characters were. If your book focuses on 4 characters 90% of the time they should be pretty developed and good right? No. Josh's development was half hearted and Brooke was just cookie cutter expected for the most part. And Derrick and Shannon well let's see Derrick is funny and can swim and Shannon is smart and it's learned half way through the story is a native. That is literally all they are in the story, nothing else and it's annoying to read and pretend to care for them. This book has two decent ideas in it but the way they were combined didn't go well and the characters didn't help the story float. Sadly a disappointment overall
December 30, 2022
It seems that I share the same views with many of the other comments on this book. It feels like I read two different stories mashed into one, lined with unsubtle political views that derailed what could have been an okay survival story. The shift in plot was so bizarre that this will be a novel I will never forget it, but not necessarily in a good way.
What Greci does well is dialogue. None of the dialogue seemed over the top and the interjections of many of the characters seemed like real conversations. Additionally, at least for the central four characters, all possessed their own distinct traits and personalities that made them seem unique. I struggled with gaining any attachment to them, but at least they were different.
Greci also clearly possesses a deep understanding of survival issues and the Alaskan wilderness, but much of the novel read more like a list of survival tips than well, a novel, which was frustrating. This was more predominant in the first half, but I at least preferred it to The book may have gotten two stars if not for that second half, but alas.
What Greci does well is dialogue. None of the dialogue seemed over the top and the interjections of many of the characters seemed like real conversations. Additionally, at least for the central four characters, all possessed their own distinct traits and personalities that made them seem unique. I struggled with gaining any attachment to them, but at least they were different.
Greci also clearly possesses a deep understanding of survival issues and the Alaskan wilderness, but much of the novel read more like a list of survival tips than well, a novel, which was frustrating. This was more predominant in the first half, but I at least preferred it to The book may have gotten two stars if not for that second half, but alas.
September 11, 2023
A group of high school students are at a leadership camp in the wilderness of Alaska when an earthquake strikes. For some reason (there is a reason, but I'm not going to tell you what it is), no one comes to rescue them and they end up having to walk toward civilization. So, the first part of the story is a survival story with the added twist of the mystery of what is going on in the outside world. The second part is another situation with the same cast of characters.
I have to admit that I liked the main character and his love-interest less than the other characters. As a high school student, I was pretty "into" and almost obsessed with cross-country skiing, but I still found it a bit unrealistic and even annoying that the main character seemed to bring EVERYTHING back to cross-country running.
I listened to this book, rather than reading it, and I would give it a high grade on pronouncing local place names correctly, something that an amazing number of audiobooks don't seem to bother with.
I have to admit that I liked the main character and his love-interest less than the other characters. As a high school student, I was pretty "into" and almost obsessed with cross-country skiing, but I still found it a bit unrealistic and even annoying that the main character seemed to bring EVERYTHING back to cross-country running.
I listened to this book, rather than reading it, and I would give it a high grade on pronouncing local place names correctly, something that an amazing number of audiobooks don't seem to bother with.
January 28, 2020
“For the good of Alaska and all its people, let’s go do this or die trying.”
Four high school sophomores are away at a leadership camp in their home state of Alaska when a terrible earthquake hits. When they realize, after a few days, that help is not on its way, they decide to hike to the nearest town, through wilderness, which is hundreds of miles away. They find out on their journey that it's not only the aftereffects of the earthquake they need to deal with.
I read this author's book THE WILD LANDS, enjoyed it, and thought this was a sequel. It's not. THE WILD LANDS, while being a YA book, felt that it could be enjoyed by any age group. This book is also a YA book but feels targeted to maybe middle school readers.
I enjoyed the first part of the book which focused on survival in a harsh environment but the second part (and I won't go into spoiler details) felt contrived and unbelievable.
While THE WILD LANDS takes place towards the end of this century, this book could conceivably happen now.
The characters, especially the girls, were shallow and one-dimensional.
It's too bad. I was looking forward to reading this book.
I received this book from Imprint Reads through Edelweiss in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.
Four high school sophomores are away at a leadership camp in their home state of Alaska when a terrible earthquake hits. When they realize, after a few days, that help is not on its way, they decide to hike to the nearest town, through wilderness, which is hundreds of miles away. They find out on their journey that it's not only the aftereffects of the earthquake they need to deal with.
I read this author's book THE WILD LANDS, enjoyed it, and thought this was a sequel. It's not. THE WILD LANDS, while being a YA book, felt that it could be enjoyed by any age group. This book is also a YA book but feels targeted to maybe middle school readers.
I enjoyed the first part of the book which focused on survival in a harsh environment but the second part (and I won't go into spoiler details) felt contrived and unbelievable.
While THE WILD LANDS takes place towards the end of this century, this book could conceivably happen now.
The characters, especially the girls, were shallow and one-dimensional.
It's too bad. I was looking forward to reading this book.
I received this book from Imprint Reads through Edelweiss in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.
August 2, 2020
I can't say I enjoyed or didn't enjoy this novel for the fact that I have no particular feelings about it. The plot was mildly interesting if not a bit busy with the opening portion about them surviving in the wilderness to quickly flipping into a national conspiracy plot almost out of no where. It was fine to read through but somewhat unrealistic and rather odd.
Besides that I found the characters to be pretty two dimension with the representation being very much so the generic teenage bunch who randomly finds themselves together surviving in the woods (the smart one, the funny one, the kind of jock, and the one with an attitude). There was very mild character growth but a lot of it felt rather forced (much like the romance), and quite honestly I wasn't even attached enough to have cared if any of them would actually end up hurt or dying in the book.
Overall it was fine, but nothing particularly special and not something I'd majorly recommend.
Besides that I found the characters to be pretty two dimension with the representation being very much so the generic teenage bunch who randomly finds themselves together surviving in the woods (the smart one, the funny one, the kind of jock, and the one with an attitude). There was very mild character growth but a lot of it felt rather forced (much like the romance), and quite honestly I wasn't even attached enough to have cared if any of them would actually end up hurt or dying in the book.
Overall it was fine, but nothing particularly special and not something I'd majorly recommend.
May 10, 2022
Hostile Territory is about a group of kids that are staying at camp in the wilderness of Alaska. These 4 kids are all on solo camps right now which if they pass, the camp rewards them with a certificate. But all of a sudden when the main character Josh is sitting at his camp site and an earthquake occurs...then a rock slide...then destruction.
I like this book because it's fast paced action and adventurous. It has the four teenagers go through challenges and obstacles they couldn't even think of. It portrays what it would be like a lone out in the Alaskan wilderness with just 4 people and enough food for 3 days.
There is only one thing I don't like about the book and it's the transitions into chapters. Some of the chapters will leave you on cliff hangers and then the next chapter will just move to the future in the book and it doesn't go back to re-kindle the topic or event.
I like this book because it's fast paced action and adventurous. It has the four teenagers go through challenges and obstacles they couldn't even think of. It portrays what it would be like a lone out in the Alaskan wilderness with just 4 people and enough food for 3 days.
There is only one thing I don't like about the book and it's the transitions into chapters. Some of the chapters will leave you on cliff hangers and then the next chapter will just move to the future in the book and it doesn't go back to re-kindle the topic or event.
March 12, 2024
I honestly feel like this book needs two entirely separate reviews because the first half and the second half feel so far away from each other. The first half is kids surviving a not so ideal situation which lead other kids in their camp to their death. It’s about surviving. Teamwork. Then the second half is somehow about saving the world? And the characters? Their personalities are basically just walking talking survivalists guides. Little bits of humor. No fear or insecurity. I’m sorry in this situation everyone is just completely Herculean?? Not trying to be realistic, are we? No one is sad? No one feels the emotional impact burying their dead campmates??? It was interesting in the first half and ever ended on a semi cliffhanger, which is cool.
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