GO HOME, RICKY! by Gene Kwak will be released October 19th 2021 by The Overlook Press.
Richard Powell is a high school janitor by day and a semi-professional wrestlers known as Ricky Twohatchet by night. He is on the brink of being called up to the pro wrestling big leagues when an in-ring injury puts him on the bench with a broken neck. Not only is Ricky's wrestling career over, his long-term girlfriend breaks up with him and he's out of a job. While recovering, Ricky goes on a search for his absentee father. Ricky has based his entire life--and his wrestling character--on his father's Native American identity. While searching for his biological father, Ricky is forced to grow up and face the changes that his neck injury is making to his life.
When I saw GO HOME, RICKY! on NetGalley, I was excited. A novel about professional wrestling? Tag me in! As a lifelong wrestling fan, this was a must read. I love pro wrestling so much that I'm working on a cozy mystery series staring a pro wrestler. But that is another story.
I have to admit, I was a little disappointed by the novel. The majority of the pro wrestling takes place early in the novel. There are multiple references of wrestling throughout the novel--some of those references are ones that only true wrestling fans will understand--but I was hoping for some more in-ring action. Ricky has a very unique voice, and his journey is out of the ordinary. But I found him to be a mostly unlikable character. He is a self, overgrown man-child who oddly wants to befriend some of the kids at the high school where he is a janitor. The novel is a coming of age story of a young man who is finally forced to grow up and confront reality. It was an interesting story, but I'm not sure how much Ricky grows by the end. The timeline is also very confusing. Either is takes Ricky a very long time to heal, or a lot of things happen in a very short span of time--some of which are impossible. Honestly, it was just really hard to keep track of time in the novel and that ruined some of my enjoyment.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.