“A Wolf Called Romeo” by Nick Jans

Before I began reading this novel my expectations started off extremely low. I predicted the book would have a lot of facts with a couple short stories here and there, nothing very interesting, but to my surprise, I became engrossed in a fabulous story that took me on an emotional roller coaster.

Obviously the book follows the story of a wolf, but the story mostly involves the relationship the wolf comes to create with the town of Juneau, Alaska and the impact of that relationship.

Reading about the interactions of the wolf through Jans’ eyes and thoughts turned out more interesting than a usual documentary. He does not have much experience with wolves, except for what he knows from his career in wildlife journalism and photography, so I wound up learning about behavioral habits and trends alongside Jans, making the reading experience more personal and helping me retain more information.

Even though I enjoyed the book, and would recommend it in the future, something about it just did not hold my attention like some of my favorite novels. Part of it relates to the fact that I wanted to read the story the synopsis suggested, but the author’s train of thought quickly derailed. Jans would write pages of only facts, most of which proved irrelevant. I understand sometime facts are needed in order to comprehend a situation, but Jans spewed out facts in excessive amounts, making the novel boring at some points.
Jans used his amazing storytelling capabilities to retell a wonderful life experience and question the human mind. He inquires the instinctive fear of the unknown and human’s tendency to twist a peaceful truth into a frightening fiction. The book used animal-human relations as an eye opener for the reader, and even though it lacked in some fields, I would still recommend the novel to certain audiences looking to expand their usual reading genre, try something new or already have an interest in human behavior or wolves.