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Mary Crow #1
In The Forest Of Harm
Newcomer Sallie Bissell ushers you into a labyrinth of psychological terror in an electrifying debut, a novel of survival and friendship as three women embark on a hellish journey through a treacherous wilderness.
Assistant D.A. Mary Crow has come a long way from a tiny cabin in Little Jump Off, North Carolina. The toughest young prosecutor in Georgia, "Killer Crow" is going home, to visit her mother's grave and then to hike with her two closest friends on the wilderness trail she loved as a child.
Mary knows well the dangers these beautiful mountains rugged climbs, treacherous precipices, dense fog, and acres of impenetrable brambles. But there are greater threats here, ones she never anticipated.
Her most recent courtroom victory made more than headlines -- it made Mary a deadly enemy. He's tracking Mary into the mountains to wreak vengeance -- and to bury a shattering secret. But he will not be the only predator who stalks the women through this merciless terrain.
Here Mary and her friends will find a will to survive they never knew they possessed. Here they will find a capacity for loyalty -- and for violence -- they never dreamed possible...deep within themselves and in the forest of harm.
Assistant D.A. Mary Crow has come a long way from a tiny cabin in Little Jump Off, North Carolina. The toughest young prosecutor in Georgia, "Killer Crow" is going home, to visit her mother's grave and then to hike with her two closest friends on the wilderness trail she loved as a child.
Mary knows well the dangers these beautiful mountains rugged climbs, treacherous precipices, dense fog, and acres of impenetrable brambles. But there are greater threats here, ones she never anticipated.
Her most recent courtroom victory made more than headlines -- it made Mary a deadly enemy. He's tracking Mary into the mountains to wreak vengeance -- and to bury a shattering secret. But he will not be the only predator who stalks the women through this merciless terrain.
Here Mary and her friends will find a will to survive they never knew they possessed. Here they will find a capacity for loyalty -- and for violence -- they never dreamed possible...deep within themselves and in the forest of harm.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2001
21 people are currently reading
495 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
May 7, 2018
DNF 28pp
Three winks in 28pp. That plus the Internet Archive "loan" being for 14 days, plus requiring Adobe Digital Editions software that can't be installed on my Chromebook, plus the nyah-nyah-nyah of not providing a Kindle edition, all combines to make this a big ol' DNF.
Three winks in 28pp. That plus the Internet Archive "loan" being for 14 days, plus requiring Adobe Digital Editions software that can't be installed on my Chromebook, plus the nyah-nyah-nyah of not providing a Kindle edition, all combines to make this a big ol' DNF.
July 20, 2014
This review and others posted over at my blog
Mary Crow and her friends Alex and Joan are taking a long weekend in the mountains of North Carolina, near where Mary grew up. Mary is a young prosecutor in Georgia and after a particularly popular trial she’s hoping to escape into the wilderness with her friends, and also confront her haunted past. Along the way they run into more than just wildlife - they are pursued by a deranged hunter who gets a thrill from hunting humans and a man obsessed with getting revenge on Mary. “[The women] will be pushed to the limits of their endurance – and beyond – as they discover their own chilling capacity for loyalty and violence.”
What I liked:
This book.
…………………….yep. Review done!
Just kidding, I have more to say than that. I’ve mentioned before that I’m a big fantasy nut, so for the most part the thriller/crime genres are uncharted waters for me. (Apologies if I ever miss-categorize a book, I’m not good at that either). But after reading Into The Darkest Corner and discussing it with a friend on Instagram, she recommended Bissell’s book to me – something a little less traumatic, but no less scary, especially for a female reader.
So I could tell from the title (and my discussion on Instagram) that this wasn’t a romance novel. I knew bad things were going to happen to Mary and company, so from page one I had this little cloud hanging over my head. The real “action” didn’t start until about 140 pages in, but Bissell built up the scenario from the very beginning, so it was like slow torture (this is a compliment). Once the first attack started, I could hardly put the book down. Actually, that’s not true – after the first attack, I put the book down for a few hours, simply because I was afraid of what was going to happen and almost didn’t want to read the book. But Bissell’s writing is good and I wanted to read the book, so I put on my big girl pants and kept reading.
I’m not sorry I did. The pacing in the book was excellent – kept me on my toes and squirming. It didn’t affect me the way Darkest Corner did, but I was uncomfortable, excited and scared – I kept darting ahead a few sentences trying to see if the women would be okay. I was totally invested in the story and couldn’t wait to get to the end, just praying that Mary and her friends would survive.
Bissell’s descriptions of the mountains made me feel like I was there with her characters – it’s clear she’s familiar with the area, but I didn’t feel bogged down by too many details. Her descriptions of the violent scenes were well written too – I felt uncomfortable, scared for the women, mad this was happening – but she never went too far. I find sometimes that writers can go overboard – I don’t need to know about the tearing of each muscle, etc. Please, let me leave some of those details out.
What I didn’t like:
I was worried Mary’s friends would be little more than accessories to her story, but that wasn’t the case at all. They were fleshed out with their own personalities and experiences. In fact, Mary was maybe a little more wooden than I expected. She went through a lot of trauma and I think maybe she would have felt more realistic if she’d had a bit of a breakdown. This is really a minor flaw – I still enjoyed Mary’s strength, determination and resilience.
My other nitpick would be Bissell’s reference to Mary’s past with her ex, Jonathan. The writing was a little flowery now and then and it threw me off. An example of their lovemaking: “The second time she figures out to rise and meet him and together they ride away on a velvet horse of their own invention.” Again, a minor issue.
~
If you’re into thriller/crime novels, or you’re looking to get into them, this could be a great place to start. It does have some explicit scenes, but I never felt that Bissell went overboard. It’s not gory, and as I said, once the action picked up, I hardly put the book down. It’s so hard for me to prioritize the books I want to read next, but I’ll definitely be continuing on with the Mary Crow books – can’t wait to get my hands on book two!
Mary Crow and her friends Alex and Joan are taking a long weekend in the mountains of North Carolina, near where Mary grew up. Mary is a young prosecutor in Georgia and after a particularly popular trial she’s hoping to escape into the wilderness with her friends, and also confront her haunted past. Along the way they run into more than just wildlife - they are pursued by a deranged hunter who gets a thrill from hunting humans and a man obsessed with getting revenge on Mary. “[The women] will be pushed to the limits of their endurance – and beyond – as they discover their own chilling capacity for loyalty and violence.”
What I liked:
This book.
…………………….yep. Review done!
Just kidding, I have more to say than that. I’ve mentioned before that I’m a big fantasy nut, so for the most part the thriller/crime genres are uncharted waters for me. (Apologies if I ever miss-categorize a book, I’m not good at that either). But after reading Into The Darkest Corner and discussing it with a friend on Instagram, she recommended Bissell’s book to me – something a little less traumatic, but no less scary, especially for a female reader.
So I could tell from the title (and my discussion on Instagram) that this wasn’t a romance novel. I knew bad things were going to happen to Mary and company, so from page one I had this little cloud hanging over my head. The real “action” didn’t start until about 140 pages in, but Bissell built up the scenario from the very beginning, so it was like slow torture (this is a compliment). Once the first attack started, I could hardly put the book down. Actually, that’s not true – after the first attack, I put the book down for a few hours, simply because I was afraid of what was going to happen and almost didn’t want to read the book. But Bissell’s writing is good and I wanted to read the book, so I put on my big girl pants and kept reading.
I’m not sorry I did. The pacing in the book was excellent – kept me on my toes and squirming. It didn’t affect me the way Darkest Corner did, but I was uncomfortable, excited and scared – I kept darting ahead a few sentences trying to see if the women would be okay. I was totally invested in the story and couldn’t wait to get to the end, just praying that Mary and her friends would survive.
Bissell’s descriptions of the mountains made me feel like I was there with her characters – it’s clear she’s familiar with the area, but I didn’t feel bogged down by too many details. Her descriptions of the violent scenes were well written too – I felt uncomfortable, scared for the women, mad this was happening – but she never went too far. I find sometimes that writers can go overboard – I don’t need to know about the tearing of each muscle, etc. Please, let me leave some of those details out.
What I didn’t like:
I was worried Mary’s friends would be little more than accessories to her story, but that wasn’t the case at all. They were fleshed out with their own personalities and experiences. In fact, Mary was maybe a little more wooden than I expected. She went through a lot of trauma and I think maybe she would have felt more realistic if she’d had a bit of a breakdown. This is really a minor flaw – I still enjoyed Mary’s strength, determination and resilience.
My other nitpick would be Bissell’s reference to Mary’s past with her ex, Jonathan. The writing was a little flowery now and then and it threw me off. An example of their lovemaking: “The second time she figures out to rise and meet him and together they ride away on a velvet horse of their own invention.” Again, a minor issue.
~
If you’re into thriller/crime novels, or you’re looking to get into them, this could be a great place to start. It does have some explicit scenes, but I never felt that Bissell went overboard. It’s not gory, and as I said, once the action picked up, I hardly put the book down. It’s so hard for me to prioritize the books I want to read next, but I’ll definitely be continuing on with the Mary Crow books – can’t wait to get my hands on book two!
November 15, 2015
I'm not sure why I finished this one, except that the premise was so intriguing. I loved the plot: three strong women camping, and then running from a vicious murderer, using their wits and their bond to escape. But the violence was so out of control. If there's going to be graphic brutality, there needs to be spot-on, excellent writing and character development (think Gillian Flynn). Without a near perfect portrayal of those, I can't get past the violence. For me, Mary was not a strongly drawn character, Joan was not believable, and I forget the other one's name, didn't get enough "screen time." The idea of being chased through the mountains by not one, but two, totally unrelated psychopaths, was a little hard to believe as well. Mary's lack of sympathy after Joan's rape and her breakdown (which was weird and a little too over the top to buy into) was a real point of dislike for me. I won't be reading the rest in the series.
July 9, 2017
Grabbed at a used book sale. I had not read a psychological thriller for awhile and the premise of this one was interesting. But alas it just fell flat. Over the top brutality, flat characters that offered no connection, unbelievable story, and pretty lack luster writing. I started skimming halfway through just to finish. I think the premise was a strong one but the author just wasn't able to pull it off.
March 7, 2021
This is a “man’s” book. Not the type of book that I enjoy reading. My book club chose it.
I hated the descriptions the author had for women and their body parts.I read on the author’s webpage that she was self editing her books to rerelease them. I hope she realizes how awful she depicted women - that we aren’t objects to be lusted at. I was suspicious that Sallie was really a man but her webpage showed a woman.
I hated the descriptions the author had for women and their body parts.I read on the author’s webpage that she was self editing her books to rerelease them. I hope she realizes how awful she depicted women - that we aren’t objects to be lusted at. I was suspicious that Sallie was really a man but her webpage showed a woman.
November 12, 2013
Fantatic read; but not for the faint of heart! Strong main character named Mary Crow. Wonderful backdrop in the mountains; amazing depiction of the area & circumstances for these women. I will definitely read all of the books in this series if they are as good as the first one.
September 16, 2017
It was a good book but something about it kept me from fully getting into the book.
May 29, 2017
What I liked A LOT: this is a very taut mystery that I read in only a couple of days because I did not want to put it down. Attorney Mary Crow takes two friends into the Appalachian Mountains for a weekend of hiking but, unbeknownst to them, not one, but two killers are on their trail. This brings me to what I did not like: totally improbable scenario. One killer, ok. Two completely unrelated killers makes for a story that is just too farfetched. I recently read the 6th Mary Crow novel (my first time reading Bissell) and I liked it a lot and the story was not improbable. This one, however, was, and still there is an even bigger issue that I had with the book. Yes, three women and a deranged, armed lunatic in the woods makes for a story in which very bad things are most likely going to happen to the women, but I do not want to read long passages of a woman being raped. Sorry if that is a spoiler but frankly, I would have passed on this if I had known about it. Of course I have read other novels with this kind of violation happening but good authors usually do not bog it down with so much detail. Disturbing, to say the least, and it took away from an otherwise good novel.
March 2, 2018
Mooi verhaal met goede plot en goede beschrijving van de karakters. Vernieuwend is ook dat in dit verhaal twee personen achter de drie juristen vrouwen zitten. Elk afzonderlijk met totaal verschillende reden. Af en toe leuke humor, vooral van de bushman met zijn primitieve gedachten. Maar wel een beetje dom dat drie jonge vrouwelijke juristen een weekendje gaan kamperen in de bush; dat is natuurlijk vragen om moeilijkheden. Geeft gelijk een andere kijk op vrouwelijke advocaten (lol). De tweede achtervolger, waar eigenlijk het hele boek over gaat, kwam pas de laatste paar bladzijden goed aan het licht en werd nogal eenvoudig overmeesterd. Dat kon volgens mij wel wat spectactulairder.
April 27, 2025
3.5 is what I am actually giving it. It was a good book but it had some parts that were utterly pointless and had nothing to do with the story line at all. Kind of felt like page fillers. Other than that, though, it was decent.
January 18, 2018
Fast-paced page turner with strong women characters. Can't wait to read the next book
April 27, 2019
Interesting premises, crude awkward writing, unbelievable plot. On the whole I found the book judgemental and biased, reading it was unpleasant.
January 7, 2023
Wild ride
June 25, 2023
Crazy ass plot but not much character arc? Very intense read!
May 10, 2024
Kept me up reading waaay past my bedtime with adrenaline pumping.
May 25, 2024
Very disturbing book book good thriller.
December 23, 2025
Great story
February 18, 2017
A good thriller. Three women go on a camping trip and are hunted by a luncatic, but also find out later a hit man is also on their trail. Mary and Jonathan are both Native American and this gives them the skills to survive. A little bit thriller, a little bit love story, a little bit courtroom. I liked it.
January 6, 2014
Having read the newest entry in the series first, I'm now working my way through the Mary Crow novels in the correct order. This was Sallie Bissell's debut novel, and it shows, as she does fall into some of the first novel pitfalls. However, it's still a good read (and much better than the Twilight books.)
Mary Crow's world was shattered when her mother was viciously raped and murdered twelve years ago. Since then, Mary has been to college and law school far from her mountain roots. Along the way she picked up two best friends, Alex and Joan, also attorneys. Mary, assistant DA, has been winning in the courtroom lately, putting away scum in hopes of atoning for being unable to save her mother from her attacker.
The last conviction involved a high-profile, wealthy family's son. Mary is ready to leave the courtroom drama behind for a few days, so she invites her best friends on a camping trip back home. Unfortunately, the brother of the convicted killer is out for revenge. On top of that, there is a mountain man who find the girls just too tasty to pass up.
In order for me to discuss the issues I have with the storyline, I need to put on a SPOILER ALERT warning!
1. I don't care who you are or how safe you believe yourself to be, you NEVER go into the woods without telling someone exactly where you'll be. You also need to take as many safety precautions as possible.
2. When the girls thought it was all over, but Mitch Whitman showed up and they ended up tied up again? It is like a movie where the director doesn't know how to end it.
3. And now I can't remember, but there was something that was brought up and then never dealt with again. I hate that.
Still a decent debut and a good start to the series.
Mary Crow's world was shattered when her mother was viciously raped and murdered twelve years ago. Since then, Mary has been to college and law school far from her mountain roots. Along the way she picked up two best friends, Alex and Joan, also attorneys. Mary, assistant DA, has been winning in the courtroom lately, putting away scum in hopes of atoning for being unable to save her mother from her attacker.
The last conviction involved a high-profile, wealthy family's son. Mary is ready to leave the courtroom drama behind for a few days, so she invites her best friends on a camping trip back home. Unfortunately, the brother of the convicted killer is out for revenge. On top of that, there is a mountain man who find the girls just too tasty to pass up.
In order for me to discuss the issues I have with the storyline, I need to put on a SPOILER ALERT warning!
1. I don't care who you are or how safe you believe yourself to be, you NEVER go into the woods without telling someone exactly where you'll be. You also need to take as many safety precautions as possible.
2. When the girls thought it was all over, but Mitch Whitman showed up and they ended up tied up again? It is like a movie where the director doesn't know how to end it.
3. And now I can't remember, but there was something that was brought up and then never dealt with again. I hate that.
Still a decent debut and a good start to the series.
May 28, 2014
If you like James Patterson's Women's Murder Club mysteries or if you like P.T. Deutermann's Cam Richter series, you will like the resourceful Asst. D.A. Mary Crow. After winning a messy murder trial, Mary and her two friends decide to go on a camping trip, but as usual nothing goes as planned. Mary meets a love from her past, a crazy-scary trapper who continuously kills his sister Trudy and the crazy-smart brother of the man she just put in jail. There is also an ongoing sub-plot of a cold-case mystery of who killed Mary's mother when Mary was a teenager. Her two friends, Alexandra and Trudy, are just as smart as Mary but totally out of their depth in the wild mountains. These women are tough and resilient and their struggles to stay alive with both hunters after them is a page-turner. I stayed up until late finishing it and now I have to read the rest in the Mary Crow series because this one was published in 2001 so I have something great to look forward to.
July 14, 2012
Mary ist eine erfolgreiche Staatsanwältin die nach einer erfolgreichen Verurteilung mit ihren beiden Freundinnen ein Campingwochenende in ihrer alten Heimat verbringen möchte.
Im Laufe des Buches erfährt man einiges aus der Vergangenheit von Mary, der Fokus liegt aber immer auf dem aktuellen Geschehen. Was als harmloser Wochenendtrip begann endet in einer Hetzjagd die selbst als sie zu Ende zu sein scheint nochmal richtig an Fahrt aufnimmt. Mary und ihre beiden Freundinnen müssen trotz schrecklicher Erlebnisse über sich selbst hinauswachsen um einander eine Rückkehr in ihr eigentliches Leben zu ermöglichen.
Ein wirklich gutes Buch, das sich kurzweilig lesen lässt und eine gute Mischung aus Spannung und Charaktertiefe bietet. Wer auf Thriller steht kann hiermit nichts falsch machen.
Im Laufe des Buches erfährt man einiges aus der Vergangenheit von Mary, der Fokus liegt aber immer auf dem aktuellen Geschehen. Was als harmloser Wochenendtrip begann endet in einer Hetzjagd die selbst als sie zu Ende zu sein scheint nochmal richtig an Fahrt aufnimmt. Mary und ihre beiden Freundinnen müssen trotz schrecklicher Erlebnisse über sich selbst hinauswachsen um einander eine Rückkehr in ihr eigentliches Leben zu ermöglichen.
Ein wirklich gutes Buch, das sich kurzweilig lesen lässt und eine gute Mischung aus Spannung und Charaktertiefe bietet. Wer auf Thriller steht kann hiermit nichts falsch machen.
March 10, 2011
I fell in love with Mary Crow in this riveting series opener. I also developed an online tourism guide for the book at the Southeastern Literary Tourism Initiative that includes an excerpt, photos of the area, and tourism links for readers who want to visit the real Nantahala National Forest. Check it out here: http://southeasternliterarytourismini...
Is it possible to actually be in love with a fictional character? While Sallie writes the fifth installment, I continue to pine away for Mary. The opener led me to read all four books in the series.
Is it possible to actually be in love with a fictional character? While Sallie writes the fifth installment, I continue to pine away for Mary. The opener led me to read all four books in the series.
June 16, 2013
I read a review of this book in the Our State magazine (North Carolina) and hesitated picking it up. But am I glad I did! I don't usually read murder adventure-type mysteries and now I know why. #1 I can't put them down, #2 I can't sleep after I put them down and #3 I get all riled up thinking about how I would take care of the stinkin' monsters who creep through the book and who do awful things to good people. So....my next book will be a juvenile fiction book full of happy people, fairies and puppies....absolutely NO monsters!
July 18, 2016
This is the second book I have read in the Mary Crow Series as I picked up another title and read it without realizing that "In the Forest of Harm was actually the first in the series. However, this really was a nail-biting, edge of your seat thriller and I had NO idea how the situation would be resolved. It was impossible to believe that two people would hunt Mary and her friends, adding to the danger that nature itself provided. Mary Crow is a wonderful intricate character and I love her with Jonathan Walkingstick. Please do give this series a try- it is very exciting, and distracting!
April 24, 2007
This is the book before A Darker Justice, which I read last year. In this one, Atlanta assistant DA Mary Crowe is returning to the scene of her mother's murder for the first time in fourteen years. In the North Carolina mountains, she and her friends come across unexpected danger. I picked this author because she sets the stories in an area not far from here, but I've grown attached to the main character (Mary) and how her upbringing contrasts with her current life.
October 26, 2008
This is the first of 4 books in the Mary Crow series. I was looking for something different, but didn't know quite what I wanted, so another row back I found a clearance section of the book store. At a bargain basement price, the jacket struck my interest and figured "why not". I'm so glad I bought this book! I was in the mood for a "nail biter" kind of book, and I sure got one. I'm not one for spoilers, so you'll not find one here.
April 16, 2009
Mary Crowe, half Cherokee, Atlanta ADA. Mary, a descendent of Cherokee Indians, returns to the TN mountains of her childhood and revisits the scene where her mother was raped and murdered. Mary and her 2 best friends head to the hills to get away from the tension of convicting a young man from a prominent Atlanta family of murder. The brother of the convicted murderer and a crazed mountain man hunt down the girls. Extremely intense read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 5, 2009
OMG, this was a book that sent shivers up my spine. It would definitely come to mind while I hiked but, fortunately I don’t have the sort of background Mary Crow has of generating revengeful enemies. This would make a great Hollywood movie because of the thriller quality of two ruthless trackers working indepently of each other. Their dark sides would look so good on the big screen compared to Mary's self-assured one.
July 22, 2013
If you want an adventure story this is it. It took me awhile to get into the story, but once I did, the tale did not let me go. Mary Crow is a Cherokee daughter. She is also a successful prosecutor in Atlanta. She goes camping with her two best girl friends in the North Carolina-Tennessee mountains for a long weekend. From then on the action doesn't stop. I liked this book because of its North Carolina mountain setting.
December 18, 2014
I've read three of Sallie Bissell's novels in the Mary Crow series so far. In the Forest of Harm was the first and it grabbed me immediately and didn't let go. I've since read the two latest - Music of Ghosts and Deadliest of Sins, and have the others in the series high up on my "to read" list. Mary Crow is captivating -- strong, accomplished, a bit damaged, resilient . . . everything you could want in a heroine. In the Forest of Harm is scary and compelling. A truly good read!
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