Hostile Territory: A Best Book of 2020

In a year of mostly cancelled book events and shuttered brick & mortar bookstores, I got a little bit of good news regarding my book, Hostile Territory, in the Anchorage Newspaper. It was chosen as a favorite book for 2020.

Below is the text of the article regarding Hostile Territory:

“Hostile Territory”: By Paul Greci. Imprint. 352 pages, 2020. $17.99.

Food is on the minds of the four teenagers who find themselves thrust into a survival situation after an earthquake wipes out the leadership camp they’re attending in Paul Greci’s latest novel “Hostile Territory.” What begins as a survival tale, with the kids trying to reach safety from a remote Alaska location, morphs into a political thriller, as they learn there’s a lot more going on than just a natural disaster. Greci is emerging as the state’s best author of young adult fiction. An educator who targets kids in the age range when many quit reading, he keeps them engrossed with a fast-moving plot and plenty of cliffhangers. It’s a formula that will keep adults turning pages as well.

It has been my life’s work as an educator and a writer to get reluctant readers to open a book and keep turning the pages. My first book, Surviving Bear Island, was a Junior Library Guild Selection in the category that’s guaranteed to engage even the most reluctant of readers.

While I hope that my stories will engage avid as well as reluctant readers, when I write I keep that population of struggling and reluctant teen readers I worked with for much of my teaching career front and center. Here’s a link to a post on my thoughts about engaging struggling and reluctant readers.

Paul Greci is the author of The Wild Lands (Macmillan 2019) and Surviving Bear Island (Move Books 2015), a 2015 Junior Library Guild Selection and a 2016 Scholastic Reading Club Selection and Hostile Territory (Macmillan Jan. 28, 2020), an Anchorage Daily News Best Book of 2020. Forthcoming is Follow the River (Move Books 2021) . You can order all of Paul’s books here.

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Hostile Territory Hits the Shelves

My third novel, Hostile Territory hits the shelves today.

Here’s a couple snippets from reviews, spoilers excluded:

“In Greci’s intense survival tale with a thriller component, four teens endure a harrowing trek across the Alaskan wilderness . . . It’s clear that Greci (The Wild Lands) knows his landscape—Alaska’s beauty and natural hazards become their own vivid character in his handling.” —Publishers Weekly

“Readers will feel like they are in Alaska alongside the characters… Recommended for teenagers who like postapocalyptic adventure or are fans of Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet.” —School Library Journal

Paul Greci is the author of The Wild Lands (Macmillan 2019) and Surviving Bear Island (Move Books 2015), a 2015 Junior Library Guild Selection and a 2016 Scholastic Reading Club Selection and Hostile Territory (Macmillan Jan. 2020). Forthcoming is Follow the River (Move Books April 2020) . You can order all of Paul’s books here.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

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My Latest Novel: Hostile Territory

 

Hostile Territory, the novel I wrote during the last two years of my father’s life, comes out in a couple of months. Not a day goes by where I don’t think of my father. I think he would’ve liked this story. I’m sad that he didn’t get to see the book in print but I have lots of memories of writing it while sitting by his bedside.

Below is a snippet of the latest review, spoilers excluded.

…The writing style and details bring this book to life; readers will feel like they are in Alaska alongside the characters. The challenges the teens undergo are well drawn and believable. VERDICT Recommended for teenagers who like postapocalyptic adventure or are fans of Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet.—School Library Journal

From the Jacket Flap:

In Paul Greci’s Hostile Territory, a catastrophic earthquake strands four teens in the Alaskan wilderness―and leaves them without a civilization to return to.

Josh and three other campers at Simon Lake are high up on a mountain when an earthquake hits. The rest of the camp is wiped out in a moment―leaving Josh, Derrick, Brooke, and Shannon alone, hundreds of miles from the nearest town, with meager supplies, surrounded by dangerous Alaskan wildlife.

After a few days, it’s clear no rescue is coming, and distant military activity in the skies suggests this natural disaster has triggered a political one.

Josh and his fellow campers face a struggle for survival in their hike back home―to an America they might not recognize.

The book pubs. on Jan 29, 2020–It’s available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. You can pre-order it now if you like.

Paul Greci is the author of The Wild Lands (Macmillan 2019) and Surviving Bear Island (Move Books 2015), a 2015 Junior Library Guild Selection and a 2016 Scholastic Reading Club Selection. Forthcoming is Follow the River (Move Books March 2020) and Hostile Territory (Macmillan Jan. 2020). You can order all of Paul’s books here.

Thanks for stopping by.

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Cover Reveal: Hostile Territory

I’m thrilled to share the cover of my forthcoming YA novel (Hostile Territory, Macmillan Jan. 2020). You can pre-order Hostile Territory here.

As it reads on the jacket flap:

In Paul Greci’s Hostile Territory, a catastrophic earthquake strands four teens in the Alaskan wilderness—and leaves them without a civilization to return to.

Josh and three other campers at Simon Lake are high up on a mountain when an earthquake hits. The rest of the camp is wiped out in a moment—leaving Josh, Derrick, Brooke, and Shannon alone, hundreds of miles from the nearest town, with meager supplies, surrounded by dangerous Alaskan wildlife.

After a few days, it’s clear no rescue is coming, and distant military activity in the skies suggests this natural disaster has triggered a political one.

Josh and his fellow campers face a struggle for survival in their hike back home—to an America they might not recognize.

Paul Greci is the author of The Wild Lands (Macmillan 2019) and Surviving Bear Island (Move Books 2015), a 2015 Junior Library Guild Selection and a 2016 Scholastic Reading Club Selection. Forthcoming is Follow the River (Move Books March 2020) and Hostile Territory (Macmillan Jan. 2020). You can order all of Paul’s books here.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

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The Wild Lands Release

The Wild Lands is a pulse-pounding YA thriller full of shocking plot twists. It’s the ultimate survival tale of humanity’s fight against society’s collapse.

The Wild Lands hits bookstore shelves today!! It’s been nine years since I wrote the first draft of this Wilderness Thriller set in a post-oil-era, climate-change-altered Alaska.

Many thanks to friends and family who’ve shown enthusiasm for my writing over the years. Thanks also to Amy Tipton, John Morgan and Erin Stein, and all the other fine folks at Imprint and Macmillan for making The Wild Lands a reality.

To celebrate, I’ll be signing copies on February 1st from 5-8 p.m. at Fly Trampoline Park in my hometown, Fairbanks, Alaska. Fly will be giving away few copies at the event, as well as offering deals on jump time! There will be food and drink, too.

Snippets of reviews, spoilers excluded, are listed below.

“This fast-paced book contains all the hallmarks of a classic wilderness survival novel (deadly terrain, vicious predators, literal cliff-hangers) and the best of the postapocalyptic genre … The author’s decades of Alaskan wilderness experience is evident throughout … A great high-stakes wilderness survival tale.” ―School Library Journal

“Heart-thumping suspense for readers who liked Rick Yancey’s The 5th Wave.” ―Booklist

“This rugged survival story places a group of teens in a dark, burned-out post-apocalyptic nightmare. Your heart will pound for them as they face terrible dangers and impossible odds. Gripping, vivid, and haunting!” ― Emmy Laybourne, international bestselling author of the Monument 14 trilogy

“A compelling story that wouldn’t let me stop reading. Greci has created both a frightening landscape and characters you believe in and want to survive it.” ― Eric Walters, author of the bestselling Rule of Three series

“A brutal vision of things to come. Greci delivers an apocalyptic odyssey that’s honest, relentless, and backed by his firsthand knowledge of the wilderness.” ― Lex Thomas, author of the Quarantine series

“Heart-racing… A rugged wilderness lover’s post-disaster survivalist tale.” ―Kirkus Reviews

“Raw and accessible. Offering hints of Hatchet with markedly more manmade danger.” ―Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“The themes of teamwork, choice and free will are incredibly well done … an intense and thrilling ride.” ―TeenReads.com

Paul Greci is the author of Surviving Bear Island, a 2015 Junior Library Guild Selection and a 2016 Scholastic Reading Club Selection. Forthcoming is Follow the River, a sequel to Surviving Bear Island published by Move Books. In January 2019, Paul’s first young adult novel, The Wild Lands will be published by Macmillan.

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