The Hike by Drew Magary- Book Review

Have you ever read a book where after reading it, you wanted to kick yourself for not reading it sooner? That was The Hike by Drew Magary for me. This has been sitting on my shelf staring at me since it came out in August of 2016. I am so upset at myself for not reading it sooner, but boy was it a trip!

I will begin by stating this is a weird book involving talking crabs, giants, dog faced people, and one rule- stay on the path. If you go off the path you die instantly. Stay on the path and find the producer. It is a warped Wizard of Oz, but more of a journey of self discovery while fighting fleshless humans.

The wonderful thing is it begins so quickly- Ben has a family and is on his way to a conference in Pennsylvania. He decides to take a small hike behind the hotel and thus begins the book. You are on the hike within two pages.

Ben will walk on the path, guided halfway by a talking crab, will face a giant who wants to eat him, and will have to fight a big monster man at the end. The strange thing is, as he is walking, he has flashbacks to earlier moments in his life. For example, on the path he faces down a dog who bites his face where he receives a scar. Did that happen on the path or did it happen during his childhood where he imagined something else happened? The book is filled with moments like this as Ben begins to lose his grasp on his life the further along he walks. There is an ending that is a bit of a twist ending, but it was quite nice with lots of foreshadowing for it.

I did not want to put this book down. It isn't a deep book, but it is a book that knows itself in that it knows it is a strange trippy adventure, so it stays a strange trippy adventure. It doesn't pretend to be anything else. It is good sci fi.

I will state there is one moment in the book where a reveal happens that eliminated a sense of danger for Ben, at least for me. It is the same problem I have with prequel movies. If it is a prequel filled with danger, we know the ending, so the danger disappears. Something happens in the book that does the same thing. A reveal happens, but we know the ending, so the dangerous parts are no longer a threat.

I loved the endings both the big reveal and the small twist ending. They fit so well with the story and didn't seem out of place at all.

I loved this book and will probably re-read it in the future. It is one that you can go back to, not to find a deeper meaning, but just to have a bit of fun. Great summer read too.

I gave this one 4.5 stars.