I started the book with high hopes—and, friends, it did indeed deliver. If you’re a fan of thrillers, mysteries, complicated families (I mean, which families aren’t complicated? This one is just extra f-ed up) and rugged, dangerous landscapes—this will enthrall you from the get.

Readers expecting a conventional missing-girl thriller may be surprised. It’s a mystery, but it’s also a sprawling family saga. 

Clocking in at over 500 pages in paperback and 14+ hours via audiobook (LibroFM, specifically—support your local bookstores), the book covers a lot of ground. It follows multiple timelines and the points of view of eight characters. Eight. A few chapters in, still fully committed to the book, I realized I was getting Alice, Louise, Tracy, etc., all confused. I had to Google a guide so I could keep track for a bit until I got halfway through and could keep them apart. This is why I made a handy little character list for you below. I got you, readers.

“The God of the Woods” is set in the Adirondacks and centers on the disappearance of 13-year-old Barbara Van Laar from Camp Emerson and the wealthy Van Laar family’s secrets and past traumas.

The book pulls you immediately into the action. It starts in August 1975 with camp counselor Louise Donnadieu, age 23, waking up in her cabin and noticing a bed is empty. As she counts the 13-year-old girls she is in charge of, she realizes in horror that Barbara is missing.

The book continues going back and forth between several points of view—and years. What makes things extra disturbing is that Barbara’s parents own the camp—and 14 years earlier, her 8-year-old brother, Bear, disappeared from the same property.

There are a lot of surprises along the way and, of course, the characters you think you know are a lot more nuanced than they appear. 

We see this through bright, working-class Louise; Alice, Barbara’s sad, rich and heavily medicated mom; insecure but intriguing camper Tracy; and Judyta aka Judy Luptack, one of the first female state investigators in the Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

The female characters are definitely the heart of the story. Much of the book’s power comes from watching women in very different positions navigate a world largely controlled by men. They are wealthy and working class, adults and teenagers, privileged and powerless—but almost all of them are dealing with men who have very specific ideas about who they should be and how they should act.

I don’t want to give anything away, but I will say the twists and turns are not obvious ones. This is a satisfying read that will grab you by your shirt collar and won’t let go. The woods are, of course, practically a character in the book. Camp Emerson specializes in teaching survival in the woods, and all campers get tested on a three-day adventure. 

I am very excited for this adaptation and have high hopes. By the way, you know how Maya Hawke was the first cast member announced in March? Her character doesn’t appear in the book until almost halfway through. That threw me off at first. 

Author Moore is working with screenwriter Liz Hannah as co-showrunners, writers and executive producers. To me, when the author is involved, it is usually a good sign. Of course, not counting “Children of Blood and Bone” and a few other adaptations.

I highly recommend this book if you like dysfunctional wealthy families, summer-camp settings, multiple POVs, complicated women, slow-burn suspense and stories where old secrets matter. I would skip it if you prefer a fast, under-300-page thriller with constant twists and a single narrator and timeline.

Filming is currently underway on the adaptation, so you definitely have time to get started. And don’t forget to take a screenshot of this list or come back to this page to keep the characters straight. 

About the writer

S. Lynn Bonanno loves complicated women, dysfunctional families and mysteries that keep her guessing—but will absolutely Google a character guide when a book gives her eight POVs. EIGHT!