I really enjoyed reading this book, it had that thrilling concept and enjoyed the idea of survival. I was hooked from the first page and enjoyed the overall concept of this. Taylor Brown was able to weave that story that I was looking for and had a great time reading this. The characters were so well written and worked with the plot of the book, I was glad I got to read this and am excited for more.

Wolvers by Taylor Brown is a tense, layered thriller that runs on adrenaline, silence, and the howl of something ancient moving just out of sight. It’s not just a survival story or an environmental novel—it’s both, and something more: a study in wildness, in the bloodlines that bind man and beast to the land.

Set in the stark, beautiful sprawl of the Gila Wilderness, the novel follows Trace Temple, a young man caught in a personal and political snare. After tragedy strikes his family following a wolf shooting, he finds himself entangled with a militant group whose idea of “freedom” comes with rifles and blood-stained maps. What begins as a mission to eliminate a she-wolf named One-Eleven becomes something far more complicated—and human—when Trace begins to question the loyalties he’s sold himself to.

One of the most gripping elements here is the way Brown writes the wolves. These chapters aren’t just atmospheric interludes—they are essential. They don’t anthropomorphize the animals but render their lives with such visceral clarity that you feel their hunger, fear, and instinctive brilliance in your bones. It’s this dual lens—man and wolf—that makes the novel resonate beyond its action. The wilderness isn’t just a backdrop; it’s a character, one as unknowable and untamable as any human.

Murdoch, the shadowy hunter who eventually replaces Trace, is perhaps the weakest link. There’s a cold menace to him, but I found myself wishing he’d been more than just the storm on the horizon. Still, the tension he brings adds teeth to the plot.

Brown’s prose is lean, muscular, and unpretentious. It carries the weight of the landscape well, and his respect for the terrain and its inhabitants—human or otherwise—is evident without becoming didactic. While the politics of wolf reintroduction and Western autonomy linger in the margins, the novel wisely avoids soapboxing. Instead, it presents a world of deep divides—between nature and control, loyalty and fear, survival and conscience.

For readers who like:
-Literary thrillers
-Gritty survival narratives
-A backdrop of rural America

Final Verdict
Wolvers is more than a predator-versus-prey tale. It’s a brutal and beautiful confrontation between what we tame and what we choose to leave wild—within ourselves and the world around us. Even if you come for the chase, you’ll stay for the haunting quiet it leaves behind.

Grateful to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Taylor Brown for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.

5 stars Thank you to St Martins Publishing Group for offering me an ARC of this book for an unbiased review. Publishes April 7, 2026

When I find a book like this I just want to savor it for a few days after reading, before I do my review. I don't rate many books a 5 star read, but a few I would give more stars to if they were available - and this book fits that bill. I have always enjoyed Taylor Brown's writing. And he did not disappoint with this, his newest book.

With minimal characters Brown transplants us into the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico. Along with Horn, Murdock and Imogene, Trace is either running from or fighting along side them for literally his life. His life and the life of the main character - One-Eleven - she wolf, leader of the Dark Canyon pack.

This book resonates with nature and the wilderness. Brown has well researched both this land and the reintroduction of the wolf to the Southwest and wove a great story around the two. Once I picked up this book I didn't want to lay it down.

I've read and loved every book by Taylor Brown, and this one was no exception. I loved every minute of reading this, his latest had exactly the right tone and tension as the story continues.

This is one of those books, especially if you're already a fan of his works, that will perhaps pull you in at a slower pace, but that makes it all the sweeter, in the end. There are stories shared by the characters, themselves, and then there are other stories told, and some to come as time passes.

If you're a fan of Taylor Brown, you won't want to miss reading this one.


Pub Date: 07 Apr 2026

Many thanks for the opportunity to read 'Wolvers'