Weird Book Quickie: The Hike by Drew Magary

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This is one of those books that’s nearly impossible to talk about with spoiling the whole experience. And that’s what I think this book truly is, it’s an experience. I heard this book recommended on What Should I Read Next? and was instantly intrigued. In The Hike, a man named Ben goes to a remote hotel in the woods for a business meeting. Finding himself with a few extra hours before a business meeting, he asks for directions to the local hiking trails. When the hotel clerk declares that are definitely no hiking trails anywhere near their hotel in the woods, Ben decides to set out and find them himself. After discovering a path leading into the forest, Ben is both smug and delighted to find such a beautiful hiking spot. At the end of the trail, Ben decides he has plenty of time to explore further and takes a chance on some ATV tracks that he hopes will lead to more trails.

What Ben actually finds is a dark, twisted, and life-altering experience where reality seems to bleed away into madness.

I mean, there’s a talking crab at one point and an angry old woman who makes him work in the garden before she’ll provide any help and a giant! It’s wild. Absolutely wild. But it’s also really compelling and an interesting look at what truly ties us to reality and gives us hope in desperate times. It’s a really interesting twist on horror and fantasy and while I’m still struggling to process it all, I loved the adventure of reading this absolutely bonkers novel.

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