Westlake Soul

By: Rio Youers

Narrated by: Evan Greenberg

"All superheroes get their powers from somewhere. A radioactive spider bite. A science experiment gone awry. I got mine from a surfing accident in Tofino. The ultimate wipeout. I woke up with the most powerful mind on the planet, but a body like a wet paper bag...."

Meet Westlake Soul, a 23-year-old former surfing champion. A loving son and brother. But if you think he’s just a regular dude, think again; Westlake is in a permanent vegetative state. He can’t move, has no response to stimuli, and can only communicate with Hub, the faithful family dog. And like all superheroes, Westlake has an archenemy: Dr. Quietusa, nightmarish embodiment of Death itself. Westlake dreams of a normal life of surfing and loving again. But time is running out; Dr. Quietus is getting closer, and stronger. Can Westlake use his superbrain to recover - to slip his enemy’s cold embrace before it’s too late?

©2012 Rio Youers (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

My new Favorite Book

Loved everything about it. I will remember Westlake Soul always and will definitely return to this story again one day. a new favorite.

A MUST read!

this book is so amazing! I'm sure I will be thinking about it for a long time to come! Yes, you need to read it!

powerful. heart-kicking.

westlake soul is diagnosed as being in a vegetative state on page 1. the adventure begins there, but it is a deeply personal, surreal, charming, romantic, loving, frightening trip with some of the tension hard to bear. really powerful. reminds me of michael chabon's kavalier and clay.

Trapped in your head

This one may pull some heart strings. It is so well written and the characters are deep.
Westlake can not move. Totally dependent on family and a caregiver to feed, bathe, and 100% take care of him. The only thing Wes can do after a surfing accident took everything from him but his life, is think. Think and send out his mind. Wes can telepathically travel wherever he wants and he can speak with his dog.
Wes, his family, his friends, his caregiver, and most importantly, his dog, Hubba-Hubba, try to come to grips and continue with their lives while Wes is trying to even wiggle a finger.
Come keep Wes company while his family debates his future and he communicates in a fun and insightful way with his dog.

Surprising

I went in expecting an action type horror novel and instead got one of the most beautifully written, evocative and heartbreaking books I’ve ever read. Excellent narration brought this complex characters to life in a way that I have found rare. Not what I was expecting nor what I was looking for really, but this book has certainly left a mark on my psyche.

Beautiful

Every word is perfectly placed. This book is masterful, heart wrenching, purest poetry. Easily an all time favorite.

Absolutely Stunning

I first discovered Rio’s writing last year when I was given an ARC of his then newest novel ‘The Forgotten Girl’. It ended up being one of my Top 20 Reads of 2017 and vaulted him to ‘must-read’ status. Westlake Soul further cements that sentiment and puts him as one of my favorite authors today. Emotionally gripping and terrifying, yet breathtakingly beautiful in its execution, Westlake Soul is one of the best novels I have ever read.

Westlake Soul. Twenty-three years old and in the prime of his life, at least until a horrific surfing accident turns him into a vegetable. With his girlfriend moved on and his family trying to cope with the hand they’re dealt, Westlake spends his days talking to the family dog, getting sponge baths from his caretaker, and constantly dueling with his arch-nemesis, Dr. Quietus, who is basically the embodiment of Death itself. Oh, did I mention Westlake is a genius?

“All superheroes get their powers from somewhere. A radioactive spider bite. A science experiment gone awry. I got mine from a surfing accident in Tofino. The ultimate wipeout. I woke up with the most powerful mind on the planet, but a body like a wet paper bag . . .”

Yeah, I wasn’t lying about talking to the family dog, though talking is stretching the truth a bit. It is more of a mind thing, you know, because dogs can’t really talk and Westlake can only grunt every so often. People always say they wish they could understand what their dog is thinking. Truth is, it is probably exactly what you expect.

Also, that thing about dueling Dr. Quietus, again true. Dr. Quietus is the embodiment of all horrors, ready to strike when the time is right but beating Westlake down every chance he gets. These interactions often become quite graphic, always formulating into intense fight scenes between good and evil.

Where Rio really shines is character development. Westlake is one of the most fascinating characters I have ever come across, yet he is just like you and me. He yearns for the day when he can be whole again yet is constrained to a chair with a feeding tube, but he is highly optimistic and humorous enough that the reader isn’t just emotionally drained by his predicament by the end of the novel. I can’t imagine what it is like having a healthy (and powerful) mind but being trapped in a practically dead body, just awaiting the inescapable end, but I would assume it is something like this (minus the super-genius part).

All in all, Westlake Soul is a fantastic piece of literature and will more than likely go on the ‘read again’ shelf. I also have to give props to Evan Greenberg on the narration, for giving Westlake the voice he deserved and providing excellent pacing throughout the novel.

My buddy Westlake…

Westlake…my brother. What can I say? 1st off let me shake the hand of Mr. Youers for writing such a dazzling (I don’t often use that word), beautiful, perfect, complex-yet totally relatable character. How did you do this? You’re not even a young man! How far did you have to swim to find Westlake within you? How were you able to make like all of us?…I’m some way or another right? And HOW were you able to transfer all of this character into the printed word? Amazing. I think it was perfect. As I myself being a middle aged(46)man sometimes close my eyes and recall the absolute beauty, fearlessness, and freedom of being young like our guy Westlake. And isn’t that when you see the world for all the perfection, all it’s wonder, all it’s beauty, hope and possibility?…NOBODY sees all of that clearer than a middle-aged man looking thru the keyhole at himself as a young man. No matter how appreciative that young man is with his place in this world, I know I always was, he STILL can’t know how gorgeous the world he’s living in is. Not until the chapters have all been lived. Until his pages have been turned. His roads traveled can he look back over his shoulder and see the movie he was in and how great it really was.
Ok, so this is where this book “has” me! I’ll never forget Westlake. Neither will you. Every now and again you read a review where the website or whatever says “this book will change your life” and it’s a crock of shit. We all know it going in. That’s not even what we’re even looking for in outlet next book per-se, but they dangle that carrot regardless. This book does that. I’m probably the only way a book really can…just slightly. It gives you a little bump in the hip when you think of it and you feel a little something. You feel a little “better.” It’s hard to explain and I’m rambling about this fact of the book now, but what I’m trying to say is that in the best way possible you will feel closer to Westlake than you do other characters from books. The author, Rio Youers, was able to create a dude that is so complete that we all can’t help but find a way to dig him. I felt as if I was sitting alongside him, just having everyday conversations, visiting, and sometimes going deep like you do at times in a conversation. For me it seems all those conversations happened when I was young. With friends at 4am after a long night. Surrounded by other friend ls fast asleep. Remember those beautiful talks? Special. They can only be had when everything aligns perfectly and suddenly you’re talking about things you didn’t even know you had an opinion on. Or that your forgotten about. They shape you. Westlake is that friend.
This is an incredibly unique book. It’s special. I am going to recommend this book to only certain people in my life. You know the ones I’m talking about. The ones who will understand it’s beauty. It’s not for everyone, I can respect that, but it’s “for” everyone. Enjoy.


……….oh, and tell Westlake I said “hey” please. Thanks.