Annie and the Wolves by Andromeda Romano-Lax is fictional look at a Annie Oakley and a historical researcher who finds new letters, that will change space and time. Annie and the Wolves is grounded yet really out there. There’s a plot twist that takes this really grounded story linking Annie Oakley and Ruth the woman researching who are linked in their fight against wolves/predators, and then turns it on it’s head. Trigger Warning: sexual abuse of a children. The twist not revealed in any synopsis or press materials materials happens less than halfway, and is used effectively at the end. I was a little confused at the beginning which feels like Ruth has ADHD as subjects get bounced around, the plot twist helped be understand this better and I throughly enjoyed it once I got used to the bouncing around narrative. The book has an exciting yet compelling finish. I was not expecting the book to go where it did but I enjoyed the unexpected ride. Thanks to Netgalley and SOHO press for letting me read Annie and the Wolves before publication. Annie and the Wolves by Andromeda Romano-Lax was published on 2-2-21.

The Plot: Ruth has spent two years recovering from a car wreck, that had her push people and her live in boyfriend away. Ruth spent this time researching Annie Oakley of the wild west from the late 1800’2 to early 1900’s who had her own debilitating train crash. Ruth becomes obsessed and then she is sent letters from a psychiatrist who treated Annie, this is a time when they would just mark women hysterical who had strong feelings, this what Ruth is expecting, but she gets a whole lot more. Annie talks about dealing with her wolf, a sexual predator when she was young, that now wants to confront them. Ruth has her own wolf in a former coach at her old school, will Ruth learn from Annie how to give justice?

What I Liked: Te Annie Oakley scenes with Sitting Bull in the tent. The twist as I mentioned was unexpected but it made this novel so unique, I hate not giving it away but my rule is not to give more than the synopsis. I like the characters of Reece and Caleb, Caleb took a while to like but Reece was immediate. Te ending was pulled off really well with a couple of layers to it. I liked all the connections that Annie and Ruth had, I liked that Ruth questioned if she was giving Annie these characteristics or they were real. That this novel is low key science fiction novel, sort of.

What I Disliked: The twist was great but I still wanted more explanation on how it worked exactly. The Annie Oakley scenes were my favorite I wanted more.

Recommendation: I will recommend this totally unique novel. It is a quarter historical fiction, half a drama with a little mystery element to it and the plot twist takes it to almost science fiction level. I rated Annie and the Wolves by Andromeda Romano-Lax 4 out of 5 stars.