J. Adams Oaks

Wyatt never knew much, but his uncle saw how he could hit someone. Leaving home with his uncle he travels around fighting in underground bare knuckle boxing matches to make money. A very good book, would recomend.

At 12 ½, Wyatt Reaves goes away with his horrible, grotesque uncle and becomes a bare-knuckle fighter, essentially a human fighting dog. For six years, Wyatt lives an itinerant life of horrific brutality while the demonic Uncle Spade profits off him. Oaks’ novel is not for the faint-hearted, and many of the characters could hold their own with the worst rogues in Dickens. The tough, jabbing prose keeps the reader going, and the story never becomes pat or falsely comforting. Strong stuff.

This is a sad book to read and is about how this kid Wyatt grows up with no parents, having to drift around most of his life. And is the prime example of why kids need parenting. The only person that came even close to being a father the Wyatt was his uncle Spade. Uncle spade decided that Wyatt was old enough to start fighting.