The God of the Woods: A Novel – Kindle Edition

This novel was a captivating read from beginning to end. It was well written with several dated entries that pieced together the completed story in an interesting way.
This is a worthy read.

An entertaining who done it with realistic characters and plot twists to match. It’s great to read something without gratuitous violence and sex that still generates suspense and keeps the reader guessing. The setting is interesting and unique and took me to a world I have never experienced. Overall, an enjoyable read with an ending that made sense and satisfied.

Uniquely framed, the story is told in alternating non-chronological segments. Yet the many characters and slightly complex actions are always clear and lucid. Definitely a page turner. There is also a degree of depth in the diverse personas reflected in their moral, social and economic strata. It’s an enjoyable read, albeit not too profound.

I really enjoyed this novel. This is a compelling story set in upstate New York in the 60s and 70s. There are many characters that the author details beautifully. There is deep history between many of the families in the local community.

There are two mysteries that are being solved during this novel. The author takes you back to the 60s and then back into the 70s with many different characters, painting the complex mystery.

The main setting of this novel is Camp Emerson. A small rustic camp where young kids from well to do families learn to appreciate and navigate the wilderness. I especially loved this environment is I went to a camp very similar to this growing up in northern Minnesota. The cabins even sounded similar with similar names. The kids in this camp had many urban legends and one of them was of scary Mary. Which is funny because at our camp there was an urban legend about hateful Hannah. The author does such an amazing job writing that you feel like you are at camp Emerson.

There are so many “good” guys and “bad” guys and and lots of redemption. You will have to read it to find out more.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone that likes a good story, psychological suspense, thrillers, historical fiction or just likes a good story.

Recommended by Stephen King. It was really a page-turner. The story is about the missing boy and girl in the period between ‘60 and ‘70. I am of the same generation as the girl and I particularly felt empathy with the girl, and also with the woman investigator.

This was the best crime and mystery book that I have read in a long time. The story is different than the run-of-the-mill genre, and the book manages to provide substantial interest and background for all the principal characters. There will be a fair number of them that most readers will really care about. The book has multiple mysteries or crimes going on, and yet they are all related and relevant to the main theme. Most readers will be wondering about how the book will end until . . . yes, until the end. The author starts to unravel various of the mysterious circumstances over the last 10-15% of the book; yet, there still are things to maintain interest right through the last page. The quality of writing is excellent. Although the phrase is over-used, this book is a page turner for all of its 480 or so pages. I alternated reading the book and listening to the audiobook. The book narrator is excellent--she has a different voice for all the characters, and her voices are appropriate and believable. She's an interesting story teller with a fantastic book to read.

This was a good multi-generational story about a rich family. Because of the multigenerational storylines, it does jump back and forth in the timeline a lot. But they mark the jumps with years to help you know where the story is in time. The characters are complex and well developed. But because it’s a mystery and there are sooooo many characters, I did struggle keeping track of who was who and how they were interconnected. Because of this, I made the character list below. I’m including it here in the review in case it helps others. Don’t worry. No spoilers here:

Alice Van Laar (Ward)- from affluent family in NY. sister is Delphine. Married Peter Van Laar. Barbara & Bear’s mother

Annabelle Southworth- CIT in Barbara’s cabin. Southworth family is friends with the Van Laar’s

Barbara - daughter of the Van Laar family (family that owns the camp.)

Bear- (Peter Van Laar IV) - son. Disappeared from camp in 1961.

Bob Alcott - owns the Alcott Family in near the Van Laar house. Is also a history teacher.

Carl Stoddard- gardener at the Van Laar preserve. Also a volunteer firefighter who helped search for Bear. Wife is Maryanne.

Christopher Muldauer- camper

Crandall - camper. Girls liked him

Delphine Ward- Alice’s sister. Married George Barlow

Denny Hayes- state trooper / Judy’s partner. Helps search for Barbara.

Dick Shattuck — volunteer firefighter. Helped search for Bear. Wife is Georgette.

Donna Romano- cocktail waitress at Adelphi Hotel. Tracy’s father’s girlfriend.

George Barlow - husband of Delphine, Alice’s sister.

Goldman - one of the investigators who worked on both Bear & Barbara’s cases

Jacob Sluiter - escaped from prison. Lives in woods. Breaks into rich houses at night to eat.

Jeannie Clute - temporary cook at the Van Laar house. Carl Stoddard’s daughter

John Paul McLellan Sr.(father)- Friend & legal counsel of the Van Laar’s. Married to Nancy

John Paul McLellan (son)- Louise’s boyfriend/fiancé. Family friend of the Van Laar’s.

Judyta (Judy) Luptack- state trooper / investigator. Helps search for Barbara.

LaRochelle- lead investigator on both Bear & Barbara’s cases.

Lee Towson- cook at the camp

Louise Donnadieu - camp counselor in charge of Barbara’s cabin. Comes from a poor family. Bad home life.

Lowell Cargill- camper. Popular boy.

Maryanne Stoddard - Carl Stoddard’s wife. Sunday school teacher.

Marnie McLellan - family friend & Goddaughter of the Van Laar family. Staying at the Van Laar house when Barbara disappears

McLellans - Van Laar family friends & business associates across 2 generations

Nancy McLellan - Van Laar family friend. Wife of John Paul McLellan Sr.

Peter Van Laar III- wealthy camp owner. Husband to Alice. Father of Bear & Barbera.

Peter Van Laar II - Patriarch of the Van Laar family/ grandfather of Bear & Barbara. Wife is Helen.

Ron Shattuck - has a hunting dog that helped search for Bear.

T.J. (Tessie Jo) Hewitt- camp director woman. Lives there year round

Tracy Jewell- shy camp girl. Barbara’s bunk mate.

Vic Hewitt - Van Laar butler or groundskeeper. TJ (Tessie Jo)’s dad. Family background Adirondack guides.

Walter - Lowell Cargill’s friend at camp

I read this book in less than 3 days, it was a page turner with a large caste of characters, I enjoyed every word and loved the unfolding of the thriller,

Las hijas son gruesa, la tipografía es linda. El diseño de la portada es espectacular y tiene un forro de papel rico al tacto que te puede servir de separador. Me gustó mucho los acabados de hot stamping en la portada del libro. Me chifló!