DFNed at 40%.
After a great start it slows down and I couldn't keep my attention. The book is well written but not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

A lyrically written first novel.a book I was drawn into the characters the human strength to survive the landscape.A-novel that shows human spirit a book that leaves you thinking an author to follow.#netgalley#4thestate

The story is told with lots of warmth and odd humor; I did enjoy the relationship between Cloris and her "angel" and thought that was an interesting story line; however, there seemed to be some acceptance of perversion (you are born how you are and you can't help it when you act on your impulse).

Wow! What a great start to a book! Rye Curtis does not hesitate: 54 years-married, Cloris and Richard Waldrip are no sooner introduced than the sound of the impact of their small plane ploughing into the Montana mountains "fractured all known sound into pieces". And so begin's Mrs Waldrip's quirky first person narrative, describing the aftermath and her determined struggle to survive in spite of her 72 years and no real hope of being found in the wilderness. And, as it transpires, providing ample opportunity for her to reflect on her life; "It does amaze me that a woman can reach the tail end of her life and find that she hardly knows herself at all."

Enter stage right, struggling divorcee Ranger Lewis displaying equal determination, this time to pursue her sixth sense that someone has survived the reported crash. Surrounded by a motley crew of disparate (and frankly odd) characters, she manages her days combining a drip-feed of black coffee and Merlot with an internal monologue of self-loathing and insecurities; "I don't figure I'm a people person, she said. Sometimes I just don't give a goddamn about anyone. I have to work at it. Remind myself everybody else still exists even when I'm not looking at them. You figure sayin somethin like that tells you somethin about me?"

Sadly, the promise of the first section of the book does not carry through into the main body of the tale. In meticulous detail, Curtis charts the daily struggle of both women - slowing the pace and losing momentum to the point that I eventually lost interest. On the eleventh time of Cloris wondering at what she may eat today or perhaps the fourteenth occasion of Lewis pouring her depressing cocktail, I had to admit defeat and so was unable to finish the tale.

Nevertheless, I am grateful to Netgalley and the publisher for sharing an advance copy with me in return for my honest opinion.

This I must admit was not quite the book that I was expecting. It was far more profound and explored some dark and disturbing themes. For a debut novel Rye Curtis has shown he is able to produce a work that is somewhat hard to define being outside the parameters of some of the normally defined genres. Yes as I expected we do have an out in the wild story of survival which in itself is gripping and suspenseful but there is much more as the focus is on two very different women reassessing their lives as they both go through life changing experiences.

The story consists of two corresponding narratives, one is in the first person and is told by Cloris Waldrip who is looking back 20 years to 1986 when she was 72 years old and found herself lost in a deserted mountain wilderness after a plane crash which killed her husband and the pilot. Her struggle for survival will take some unexpected turns and events will certainly take a strange course.

The other narrative is in the third person and focuses on local park ranger Debra Lewis who is an alcoholic trying to come to terms with her past. Debra despite the evidence to the contrary believes Cloris is still alive and is determined to find her. The two narratives are very different in style but both contain humour that is at times ironic, droll and mordant. If you are looking for something a bit different that is nevertheless thoughtful and well written then this may be worth a try.