Beverly Hills Book Awards Winner 2018 for Social/Political Change and Northeast Regional Fiction!
Independent Press Award Winner 2018 for Debut Fiction!
<b><i>Peter S. Rush brings the ‘70s to vivid life in his stunning debut novel <.b></i>
Set against the backdrop of the protest era of the early 1970s, Wild World is a gripping novel about one tenacious young man whose fervor for justice bringsunexpected consequences for his own life.
In the spring of 1970, Steve Logan, like thousands of other college students across America, takes to the streets to protest authority and the Vietnam War. Fueled by a strong sense of moral justice, he wants to make the world better—a belief his girlfriend Roxy, a medical student, passionately shares. Weeks before his graduation, Steve’s life is upended when National Guard troops kill four students at Kent State University. Then, he meets a reform-minded cop who convinces Steve that to change the system, he has to get involved.
Eager to make a difference, Steve decides to give up law school and join the city’s police department. While the rookie cop with an Ivy League degree knows that change is difficult, the reality of fighting the establishment soon overwhelms him. His education makes him an outsider, and his honesty makes him a threat to the corrupt cops who use the power of their badge to inflict brutality and extort. His college friends think he’s a traitor to the cause and even Roxy, the woman he loves, has begun to pull away.
But Steve isn’t going to give up. Devising a dangerous plan to radically shake up the system, he begins to collect the evidence to take the corrupt copsdown. . . unless they take him out first.
“A deftly crafted and inherently engaging read from cover to cover, Wild World is an extraordinary and impressively entertaining read from beginning to end -- and showcases author Peter S. Rush as having a genuine flair for originality.” —Midwest Book Review
“Author Peter Rush vividly recreates those times and faithfully captures the mood on campuses around the country during those tumultuous years of protest against the Vietnam War." "Wild World is a crime novel, a love story and a mystery all rolled into one... well written and keeps your attention." —Peace Corps Journal
“(Wild World) is so very pertinent to our time that reading it brings into sharp focus those flaws in our present political condition: change is not only possible, but inevitable. Peter Rush is a sensitive and powerful writer whose future in American literature seems secure with the publication of this debut novel.” —San Francisco Review of Books
“An intricate and captivating read throughout.... with the kind of narrative twists that prove wholly addictive...Wild World proves an extraordinarily powerful debut from Peter Rush.” —BookViral
"A riveting exploration of one man trying to change a corrupt system from within... Rush’s agile writing is impressive." —Clarion Review
“This is a well-written novel, one rich in period detail and dramatically dynamic.” —Blue Ink Review
"Wild World takes us inside the Vietnam era on campus, and the author captures it perfectly. The devastating effects to the innocent are all here, especially upon those who try to set things to right." —Mary Ann Tirone-Smith author of Girls of a Tender Age
"A fascinating read... Interspersed with vivid snapshots of the political, cultural, and social climate, the novel captures the zeitgeist of the 1970s with absolute candor and exhaustive detail." —Brown Daily Herald
“Set in the volatile days of the early 1970s, this superbly-written work is an absorbing story of youthful ambition tempered by real life.” —The BookLife Prize
“Though Wild World is set in the ‘70s, it brings to light parallels between that era’s cultural and political climate and today’s tempestuous climate... Rush’s greatest strength as a writer is his celerity. He is able to transition from scene to scene swiftly, propelling the plot forward at a rapid rate.” —Wiki Lit
“The strength of Wild World is its focus, Steve is unflinching and nearly Job-like as he maneuvers not to just take down the corrupt but raise up the incorruptible.”
—Misanthropester
