Reviews for The way
Library Journal
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This epic journey through a near-future, postapocalyptic landscape blends extreme suspense with serene meditation. Will has survived a brutal pandemic by isolating at his Tibetan Buddhist retreat center after the death of most of the populace. With the devastated country in ruins, he is tasked with delivering a potential cure for the plague from Colorado to California. He and his companions—a raven, a cat, and two mules pulling a Ford pickup—journey across the Western United States. An intriguing facet is that Will has developed the ability to converse with the cat and the raven, adding an extra dimension to the narrative. The tale unfolds in a series of high-stakes encounters with dangerous wildlife and humans, including an enigmatic militia leader intent on stealing the plague cure. Due to Will's thoughtful preparation and good luck, the company survives numerous deadly encounters. Along the way they pick up several traveling companions and make a series of surprising discoveries. VERDICT Groner (Exiles) offers a contemplative take on the postapocalyptic genre that leaves room for hope but doesn't stint on realism. This novel reads like Cormac McCarthy's The Road meets Robert M. Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance; highly recommended.—Henry Bankhead
Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
In a postapocalyptic America ravaged by disease, 52-year-old Will Collins is one of the few remaining adults older than 30 left in the world. The illness, known as Disease X, lies dormant in bodies until it activates, leading to violence and madness. Faced with an unraveling world and being tormented by memories of his lost love, Will has spent his time in isolation living in an abandoned dharma center in Colorado with two companions, a raven named Peau and a Maine Coon cat named Cassie, whom he can unexpectedly communicate with. When he is tasked with transporting a potential cure for Disease X to California, Will sets out on a thousand-mile journey hoping to find answers about the woman he lost fourteen years prior. Later joined by a resourceful orphan named Sophie, Will navigates a transformed landscape where extinct species have reemerged and dangers lurk around every corner. The novel blends action with deep philosophical reflections, offering a hopeful perspective on life after disaster. Perfect for fans of Station Eleven and Oryx and Crake, Groner’s latest (Exiles, 2011) is a triumphant success.
Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
A pensive, dystopian Western set in the wake of a devastating pandemic stars a reluctant Buddhist hero with an ability to talk to animals. In 2048, 52-year-old Will Collins is one of the oldest surviving members of a human society that consists mostly of those 30 and under. Living as a hermit for a year when Disease X struck, he got sick but didn't die. Now the sole caretaker of the Colorado Buddhist community where he has spent decades, he receives a message from California-based scientist Lars, father of his old flame Eva, who, Will has been told, died when the pandemic spread 14 years earlier. Lars instructs him to go to a local veterinarian and get an ampoule, which may contain an antidote, implanted in his body, and then make his way to the Sovereign Republic of California. Will calls together his two best friends, the raven Peau and the cat Casse, and uses a team of mules to pull an old truck across the deserted roads, pursued by the vicious Flynn and his militia. Along the way, he reluctantly assumes custody of bright, mouthy 14-year-old orphan Sophie, who is at risk of being forced into prostitution. Groner is at his best in describing the changed landscape, where passenger pigeons and bison have returned in full force and mutant crocodiles make river crossings dangerous, and the many settlements his little troupe encounters, some welcoming and others very much not. The novel sometimes bogs down in discussions of religion, philosophy, and the history of the series of pandemics that led the world into its present situation, and its final chapters are loaded with unlikely twists. But as long as the narrator is on the road, his exploits and observations provide an engaging window into a strange new world. An ultimately hopeful vision of the aftermath of disaster. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Publishers Weekly
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Groner (Exiles) sets this clever postapocalyptic novel in the aftermath of a deadly near-future avian flu epidemic. By 2048, 80% of the world’s population has been decimated, causing civilization to collapse into isolated communities as nature runs wild. Will Collins, caretaker at a Buddhist retreat in Colorado, still mourns the lover who died from the virus years earlier. When a friend asks him to deliver a chemical compound to California, where scientists are working on a cure for the mysterious Disease X, which threatens madness and death for survivors in their late 30s and older, he obliges. Will travels west in a rusted-out pickup truck pulled by two mules, accompanied by a raven and a cat, both preternaturally communicative. Along the way, he picks up a 14-year-old orphan girl, who turns out to be a crack shot—a good thing, too, considering Will is being pursued by a gang of neo-Nazis who want the cure for themselves. A series of last-minute plot twists feels a bit contrived, but Groner paints a persuasive picture of his dystopian world, peopled with strong characters and driven by cinematic action. This reinvigorates an overworked genre. (Dec.)
