Wick

Wick #1

by Michael Bunker

Clay just wants to get home. Six years ago, he moved to New York City after his wife and daughters were killed in a horrible automobile accident, and now, the day after Hurricane Sandy devastates the city and the tri-state area, Clay sets out on foot to escape both the city, and the prison of his old life there. What Clay discovers on his epic walk to freedom, will change everything... for everyone... forever.

W1CK is a stand-alone pre-apocalyptic thriller that sets the stage for the apocalyptic social, economic, and structural collapse of Western Civilization that leads us, 20 years later, into the events of Michael Bunker's thriller - The Last Pilgrims.

The Cold War is about to get Hot, and sometimes just saying 'NO' is a revolutionary act...

Genres: Dystopia, Fiction, Science Fiction, Post Apocalyptic, Apocalyptic, Thriller, Amazon

197 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 25, 2012

Reviews

[Robert Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an ambitious book. It, and the whole Wick project is a fascinating artifact. It is also decent science fiction. Not great science fiction but decent. Many of the ideas are fantastic. This book could only be self-published, and not just because of the sometimes clunky and amateurish writing. The author is clearly going for a Tolstoyan style. He often misses, but occasionally he hits it quite well. What is most impressive about this series of books is that he just went for it. This is the only one of the four books that includes passages that are actually embarassing. He improves as he goes on. The author improves because he has the courage to try it.

This book follows a man as he reacts to Hurricane Sandy by walking out of New York City. Natural and unnatural disasters continue, and society falls apart as he continues on his walk. This is a great idea, though one that is unevenly executed. The author spends a lot of time telling rather than showing. Nonetheless I liked it. I can respect ambition.

[Susan Tydings · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled with a 4 vs 3 star rating. This novel caught my attention initially, then lost me frequently with proselytizing political rants. The plot & protagonist are interesting, and the story line plausible, however, using this as a way to promote his political views, takes away from the narrative. His writing style changes when on these rants, and it constantly distracted my attention from enjoying the story and became very boring. I do plan to read additional novels of his.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Thoreau had knocked on his cabin door at Walden Pond and discovered a foreign conspiracy waiting for him, Walden might've read something like Wick (Part 1).

This first installment in the Wick series finds Clay, the protagonist, on a journey away from New York City, recently devastated by Hurricane Sandy. More than just property damage, though, Clay has suffered the destruction of his complacency--some might term it an awakening. Discontent with the cultural norms of being comfortably numb, as Pink Floyd might call it, he sets out to simplify his life upstate. And that's all the plot I'll give away.

Bunker's narrative style is engaging but challenging in this series. Self-disclaimed as a fan of Russian writers like Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy, Bunker engages some pretty heavy issues in a style reminiscent of Russian literature. It's engaging reading but not "easy" reading, if you're looking for eye candy in the form of narrative style. The trip is worth it, though, since Clay is an engaging, sympathetic protagonist coming up against events shocking both in their composition and their outcome. As is typical of his Russian models, Bunker uses plot elements to present important issues for the reader to consider, and characters don't always take precedence in that approach.

I enjoyed Clay's process of self-discovery, but be prepared for some critiques of modern society. If that doesn't scare you off, this first episode of Wick is a journey worth taking with Clay. Be sure and read the foreword before beginning the main narrative, though; else, you might take the unique, fictional weaving together of various elements (some from the realm of conspiracy theory) as a manifesto. Bunker presents some weighty, sometimes unpopular, viewpoints through character, but never in a "thou must believest as me" kind of way. Fun, thought-provoking, and engaging, Wick (Part 1) is a good read for someone interested in thinking about what they've read later.

[Allan Ashinoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to think long and hard for something to say about this book. Frightening comes to mind. As a history buff, a sci-fi buff, and a speculative fiction author myself, W1ck is a page from what I believed was happening when the USSR fell. It explains clearly the slow and deliberate migration away from freedom as both political dominant parties in the United States work toward the same ends: more control over us and consolidating more power for themselves. I've asked myself "to what end" more times than I can recall. What happens after the power mongers obtain all their power? While my novel is a look at could occur in decades to come, W1ck could happen next week, next month, or later this year. Frightening.

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story starts out with Clay Richter, a wander-poet. He has a tragic past and decides to leave everything behind during the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The world is on the eve of an economic/political apocalypse and I really enjoyed the story of Clay's efforts to get out of the city, his struggle with dealing the tragedy of his past and his journey back to his real home in the woods.

But then, a Sam Elliot-ish cowboy-philosopher-right-winger appears and from there the story (as well as my enjoyment) took a radical and absurd downturn.

I would have happily bought an alternative future/history tale of how our "house of cards" financial and political structure here in the United States basically implodes after the final straw of Hurricane Sandy (actually seems unavoidable to me, at some future point). But to hang it on the idea that the Soviet Union "faked" it's demise in 1992 and has been secretly plotting to bring down the United States for the last 25 years is ridiculous. Where the story goes from there is basically a Religious-Right-Wing-Guns-n-Ammo-Hording-Commie-Hater's wet dream. The characters start to spout political screed (presumably the author's) whenever possible. The story loses credibility and any connection to a "true" story for me after that.

Which is a shame, because, like I say, I really enjoyed the beginning of Clay's journey.

Politics aside, I have a couple major realism niggles - when Clay is taken prisoner by Russians, he's graciously provided with a Russian translator so he (and the reader) can keep on top of the arguments for executing him (or not). Ugh. "Hey, we just beat this potential spy nearly to death and we're probably going to execute him, but let's give him a translator so he can hear all of our plottings in his native language." Completely ludicrous. And when Clay makes his final escape attempt, he exits to find the fence, previously broken down by the storm, is now repaired, stopping his escape. But just how would they repair the fence during a blizzard (the worst blizzard in history)? Especially when all repair persons were in the mandatory political rally/execution along with Clay? Cripes that's frustrating.

[Stefano · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished reading this first volume and luckily the other parts are already available or I will not stand the wait.
As many other reviews have already said much better than me, when you think you can know in advance what's going to happen, the plot will surprise you.
This is a book destined to become a classic.

[Alexander Batrakov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Silent Hill fans, rejoice. Keiichiro Toyama would have a special place in his heart for this story and so should you. The way Michael Bunker creates the atmosphere is a work of art. The ominous tone will never slap you in the face but will instead hold your hand throughout the read. Thank you, Michael Bunker. I am now a huge fan and have thoroughly enjoyed your several works.

[Mat Soole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cracking book, kept me hooked the entire way through, a different style of apocalyptic novel in its early stages of the pending social collapse.

[RJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

We enter the scene as Hurricane Sandy has devastated the city of New York and the surrounding area. Clay is an ordinary guy who hiked out of the city, into the mountains, intending to make his way back to his farmhouse in Ithaca some 150 miles, and finds himself in an utterly unreal situation. A fierce nor’easter develops, nearly fatal to Clay as he is unprepared for such conditions. He literally stumbles into a government security area that happens to be located in Warwick, which saves his life but may have been better off avoiding it. The unbelievable situation Clay finds himself entangled in begins to take shape as information slowly comes to light. The description of Warwick and what has taken place there is the focus of the story. In the beginning, it’s quite a bewildering tale. I found myself in Clay’s place, just as confused and anxious for information as was he. In the same vein, eventually, all was made clear. At first, I wasn’t sure how to rate this tale but in retrospect, I feel it was cleverly presented with great skill. Thought-provoking, as I am still thinking about it hours later. Suffice to say I enjoyed the writing and the story. As mentioned in the summary; This tale leads us, 20 years later, into the events of Michael Bunker's thriller, The Last Pilgrims. I shall look for that book, which will be even nicer if I can get the omnibus version.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a fairly short book, and it had its ups and downs - the first 24% (according to the status bar on my Kindle) was pretty darn slow and I almost quit reading it. Without having a spoiler in my review, the action and plot heat up fast for the next75% of the book and I found it enjoyable, if a bit far-fetched from a believability standpoint. While the author is an excellent writer the ending, well, was a little disappointing and when I finished I felt like I had wasted my time as it left the story incomplete. With the ending the way it was, I'm not too sure how this can truly be a series and I'm not going to stick around to see what happens in episode 2.

I originally picked this up for 99 cents in the Kindle store and, as I type this review, wouldn't you know it's free. For free, certainly grab it - if it goes back to paid status, unless you like a bad ending in your thriller novels I would give this one a pass.

[P Henderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not for me

I don't want to assume the worst. Really, it's possible the book has many redeeming features, but honestly, if that's so then I simply didn't understand it.

I definitely didn't understand it. I understand normal "stories" - where the protagonist has some sort of goal and in the end either he perseveres and eventually succeeds, or perhaps he learns a valuable lesson and changes to a better version of himself, or some character flaw becomes dominant and overwhelms him, leading eventually either to his downfall (tragedy) or him overcoming it (redemption). But this story wasn't any of those things. It's just an unfinished idea disguised with some wishy-washy political hackery ultimately leading nowhere.

As I said, maybe there's something literary in there, but I didn't understand it. Maybe I need the Cliff Notes version.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

W1CK book 1. Wow.

It began as a story but segued into yesterdays news headlines.
I got this book a couple years ago and it languished on my TBR list until yesterday.
It sounds trite but having read this book has changed my life.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Started out kind of weird, and was strange all thru the book, but, the last of the book was a bit scary in that it tells what is going on in our Country right now..The fall Of the United States..

[Damelza · Rating 5 out of 5]

great reading..

[Graham Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely has its strengths and weaknesses. Fascinating concepts abound, but the soapbox moments appear less as conversations between characters and more as didactics from the author to the reader. Even so, the premise seems highly plausible, even probable, in the real world, especially with recent events surrounding Putin's Russia.

The first half was less action and more reflection, with lots of beautiful human moments throughout. Those moments were a little more sparse in the second half, which focused on the tense and exciting premise that is the true meat and potatoes of the story.

I'll probably read more in this series sometime.

[Daniel J. Weber · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the mind of Michael Bunker and the political excellence of Chris Awalt comes this nice piece of dystopian fiction. It is not often evident what an author is all about simply by reading their art, but Wick is a pleasant exception. Not only do you get to know the characters and world being build, but also are afforded a unique opportunity to enter the mind of the author(s). Science fiction with Amish and political leanings makes this a wonderful piece of art that is hard to compare with. If you are the type of reader that likes lots of action and little thought, this may not be your thing, but if you like to think, there is no better piece of art. Throughout Wick there a wonderful amount of matter-of-fact life philosophising build into the prose which make for a delightful ride that feels dense. No, not dense because it is hard to get through, but like a pit of tar: once entered, it will suck your mind right in, and you may have trouble getting out. Because of this, the point of view taken feels reserved, almost making the narrator/author a character of their own, allowing for wonderfully crafted observatory world building.

There is a sense of separation between the protagonist and his world that makes for great characterisation. Much of the book is a lone traveller tale, which doesn't allow for a lot of dialogue or action, but getting inside the traveller's head and watching him survive is a treat of its own. The book has a few pacing issues near the beginning even for me who enjoys slower books. Perhaps more foreshadowing into future event would have built the story better in the slower parts, while still keeping that reserved POV that is artfully employed.

Now that the plot has been well introduced and the reader has more of a handle on the world, I can see the rest of this series mounting from four stars to five. This first instalment just gets things going, and I hope to see how things turn out (for better or worse) as the story progresses.

[Shelli Black Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took a little bit for me to get into the story, but I read book 1 in only two days. At first, the story felt like it was going to be boring, then it got a little more interesting at the end of the first day. After that, it went back to boring again, then really jumped into exciting, with a twist I could have never seen coming.

There is a lot of political commentary, and one can never quite figure out exactly which side of the aisle the author was trying to proselytize. It became annoying after a while, but not nearly as annoying as the author's verbiage. I wish I had thought to count how many times he used the word "dialectic"; I thought the one time was enough, but he used it many more times, so I had to assume that was his new favorite word of the week when he was writing this story.

I will probably buy the omnibus, just to see how the story ends, since it's only 99¢ (at the time of this writing).

[Shilpi Goel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the Wick series after I got a recommendation to read TLP. Since Wick is the prequel to TLP, I figured I should read this series first.

I liked the book. It made a sudden jump in the middle, which in retrospect, should have been predictable but wasn't really. I'd call that the writer's skill. The book didn't really seem like a book to me --- at least, the first few chapters looked as though they were taken from an intense conversation that ensued among friends over drinks and dinner. However, it was... charming (for the lack of a more appropriate word here) to read.

However, one complaint I do have from Wick 1 is that it left me dangling a bit. There was too much of "the unexplained" in it. I'm a firm believer that no book, not even one part of a series, should do that to a hapless reader. However, here's to hoping for answers from Wick 2 & 3.

[Chad Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book in a prequel series to Michael Bunker's The Last Pilgrims. I'm not sure what genre to put this particular series into. I guess if I had to pick one, I would say it is "dystopian." WICK begins in the wake of super storm Sandy and takes us into the beginning of what will be the collapse of the power grid.

The story begins with the main character leaving New York City on foot on a journey to his former upstate New York home. Along the way, he meets various interesting characters that help him along his way.

Some people have really enjoyed the story, others have found it to be outrageously unrealistic. Personally, I found it quite interesting. Whether unrealistic or not, Bunker's command of history and wordsmithing is fantastic.

I won't spoil the ending, but you will not see it coming.

[Maggie Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obviously this didn't end. This is the first of a series. The problem with writing with an eye on the series, rather than clearly ending the book as if it were the only one is that one cannot read it as a one-off in an effective manner. I have no intention of reading Wick 2 at this time. I have 500 books to read. #2 is not one of them at this time. In any case, while the book was well written, and I have felt this could and would be true since the advent of the Cold War, if not before then, I can't give it 5 stars because of the way it ended. I caught several editing mistakes, as well. Michael would be well advised to have yet am additional set of eyes check out all of his books. Good reading, however, if you are a conspiracy theorist, a survivalist and want just something REALLY good to read.

[B.C. Kowalski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wick is beautiful, and sad, and a prequel to another series of his. Wick is a short read, and it's fantastic.

The story takes place on the eastern seaboard, right after Hurricane Sandy wipes out everything in its wake (in Wick the destruction was even more severe and permanent than the real storm). After losing his family, Clay decides its time to return to his farmhouse in Ithaca. But what he runs into in the middle of the wilderness is something going on that's much bigger than a simple journey...

Wick isn't perfect. There's a few grammar issues and some poor word choice on occasion (though it's pretty clean for an independent ebook). Michael Bunker is a talented writer and Wick really picks up steam after Clay stumbles into a strange compound to escape the cold. Overall, this is a great quick read, and will whet the appetite for more Bunker.

[Timothy Coplin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book one of an epic prequel, WICK feels complete in and of itself if one chooses not to continue with the series.

WICK reads almost like a diary; Clay Richter has entered a cross land journey from post-Hurricane Sandy Manhattan to his Ithaca, NY farmhouse he'd shared with his wife and children. In a story of physical and metaphysical imprisonment, WICK offers sharp insight into pre-apocalyptic society. Chillingly surreal in account to 2016 America, WICK could very well be this generation's 1984.

'We are enslaved by our possessions, and imprisoned by our wants.'

'America is more divided than it was before the Civil War...Why" Because the third side has presided over a century's long plan to dumb down the people and colonize them into thinking that the only answer to ever problem must come from government.'

[Shorel · Rating 3 out of 5]

You ever play the story game with friends? Where one person starts a story and another continues that story. You get things like:
One day a man is at work, finishing his project and worrying when his boss will discover the discrepancies in the data. He stands up just as he hears the boss' office door open and then...a flock of carnivorous penguins swarm his cubicle in ravenous hunger!!!

This book is like that.

It's interesting, but preachy with a major non-sequitur. Like the author was trying to get all the prequel clues to fit in a short story. Perhaps it all makes sense of one has read The Last Pilgrims, which I have not.

[Marlene · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book started out very interesting, lots of descriptions, lots of thoughts and thought-provoking situations. Then it started spiraling down, very fast. I don't rightly know what to say about the last part of the book. Some things just didn't add up at all. Even though this is a story, some things should still remain "real" to follow a believable line, or else it becomes something like Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother being posed by the wolf.

[Nicole Pagel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I certainly wouldn't call this "post apocalyptic nonsense"...denial of the endless possibilities of the downfall of a wealthy industrialized country are scary and real. Believing we are invincible is nonsense. This book really opened my mind to thinking about the unthinkable, and preparing both mentally and logistically for an "event". I couldn't put it down until I was done with WICK 4.

[Julie Baswell · Rating 2 out of 5]

The main character should have died way before he did.  What survival instincts he had did not make up for the ones he didn't have.  The basics.  His journey seemed to take forever just getting out of the city.  To me, this is because the author had to tell every road name that he took.  Having never been there, this just made it boring to me.  Just get him out of the city already!

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book will be reviewed on the Books, Beer and Bullshit Podcast. A written review will be available after the release of that podcast review. Please visit http://booksbeerbullshit.podbean.com to listen to other great book reviews, beer tastings and outrageous talk on the Books, Beer and Bullshit podcast.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

The beginning was a bit slow as the main character navigated through NYC, but the pace picked up when he met a gentlemen who shared his concerns for the future of our society. I just downloaded the rest of the books in the Wick series, The Last Pilgrims, and Pennsylvania by these authors to read over the Christmas holiday.

[Jay Batson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a new (to-me) author that has a series I like.

Having been hooked on great new authors like Hugh Howey, & many others that hook me on a free or cheap intro book, I'm loving the new wave of independent publishers.

Looks like this guys is the next one to have hooked me. Don't have a lot to say - other than "On to the next one, happily."

[Teri Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

So well written you don't read this one, you ride it.

I felt the protagonists' name, Clay, was astute. He has been molded by events, and indeed is still being shaped. I enjoyed the writing so much that at times I forgot to look for the storyline. I will be reading the rest of this series.