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Wolf Point
Not yet published
Expected 1 Dec 26Win a free print copy of this book!
7 days and 01:31:24
20 copies available
U.S. and Canada only
For fans of Tana French and Mare of Easttown, a wonderfully atmospheric debut in which a newly promoted police officer is thrust into an investigation to find a teenage girl who disappears as a crushing storm descends, in a race against time and the harsh Alaskan elements.
In the remote Alaskan town of Wolf Point—a melting-pot community built on the bones of a once-thriving whaling industry—police officer Terril Black is unexpectedly thrust into the position of sergeant under brutal circumstances. On her first night in charge, a teenage girl disappears from a desolate motel, plunging Terril into a desperate race against time and the onset of Endless night, 100 days without sunlight.
With only a rookie officer flown in from Miami and a hostile fellow officer that’s she’s now in charge of by her side, Terril faces a town on the wary locals, distrust within her own department, and a vicious winter storm that cuts Wolf Point off from the outside world.
A local strike fuels hostility as unsettling clues point Terril towards something sinister lurking within the town. Old secrets begin to claw their way to the surface as she tries to bring the missing girl home before Wolf Point’s dark history shatters the community forever. With shades of Mare of Easttown and Ruth Ware’s One by One, this is a gripping, complicated story that is based on true events.
In the remote Alaskan town of Wolf Point—a melting-pot community built on the bones of a once-thriving whaling industry—police officer Terril Black is unexpectedly thrust into the position of sergeant under brutal circumstances. On her first night in charge, a teenage girl disappears from a desolate motel, plunging Terril into a desperate race against time and the onset of Endless night, 100 days without sunlight.
With only a rookie officer flown in from Miami and a hostile fellow officer that’s she’s now in charge of by her side, Terril faces a town on the wary locals, distrust within her own department, and a vicious winter storm that cuts Wolf Point off from the outside world.
A local strike fuels hostility as unsettling clues point Terril towards something sinister lurking within the town. Old secrets begin to claw their way to the surface as she tries to bring the missing girl home before Wolf Point’s dark history shatters the community forever. With shades of Mare of Easttown and Ruth Ware’s One by One, this is a gripping, complicated story that is based on true events.
400 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication December 1, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Intrigue shadows every character before page one of Wolf Point, for what sane human would willingly be plunged into sub-freezing darkness for a solid five months each year? Those who are hiding or running from something.
Angela Stone, a teenager working late at the Comfort Inn one blizzard-plagued night, hears a screeching noise outside the hotel and ends a phone call with her best friend and coworker, Casey Benson. Angela goes missing without a trace.
Twenty-four hours previous, a bear is shredding police Sergeant Cormack Shephard to pieces, but Officer Terril Black saves him in an intensely dramatic scene. As “Mack” recovers from critical injuries, Officer Black is upgraded to Sergeant, now head of the small police force. Staffing shake-ups also include young and tanned Damian Burns being shipped in from Miami as the new junior deputy/fresh meat of the small community. We are also introduced to hulking Officer Eli Ash, a mountain of a man dripping with chewing tobacco, who is generally a prick and has a thing against women in power. If your cliché sensor has activated, have no fear as expectations are subverted immediately by this small band of cops. Wolf Point present a refreshingly innovative and creative dynamic as the apparent "good guys" search for missing Angela Stone.
Wolf Point’s major employer is a massive fish cannery, but the workers are on strike. This attracts out-of-town strikebreakers who are tougher, rawer, and more unfamiliar to the community than the already physically-formidable cannery workers. A powder keg sets the foundation of what becomes an excellent police procedural involving missing people, perhaps drug dealing, and all sorts of conspiratorial criminal possibilities. Secret hang around everyone's neck and the timing of when they are revealed is masterfully choreographed.
The structure, tone, pacing, atmosphere, and prose (“the wind screamed in their face like a hungry baby”) keeps the story punching and twisting. Character's possess distinct arcs and smaller mysteries pop up like violent whack-a-moles as the officers must stay focused on the main case at hand, even despite personal issues.
Lisa Howells tapped storytelling magic in this powerful debut. Imaginative and inspired plotting never relents, and an nuanced feminist theme works effectively. Grisly content is at the heart of Wolf Point, and there are truly ruthless men (and women) in the novel who savor evil. The finale lands smoothly, and with surprises aplenty, easily making this one of the better conclusions from a recently published murder mystery. Luckily for us, another book featuring some of the same characters is on the way.
Highly recommended to fans of the prickly police procedural, or the shows True Detective and Twin Peaks.
Thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for a review copy.
Angela Stone, a teenager working late at the Comfort Inn one blizzard-plagued night, hears a screeching noise outside the hotel and ends a phone call with her best friend and coworker, Casey Benson. Angela goes missing without a trace.
Twenty-four hours previous, a bear is shredding police Sergeant Cormack Shephard to pieces, but Officer Terril Black saves him in an intensely dramatic scene. As “Mack” recovers from critical injuries, Officer Black is upgraded to Sergeant, now head of the small police force. Staffing shake-ups also include young and tanned Damian Burns being shipped in from Miami as the new junior deputy/fresh meat of the small community. We are also introduced to hulking Officer Eli Ash, a mountain of a man dripping with chewing tobacco, who is generally a prick and has a thing against women in power. If your cliché sensor has activated, have no fear as expectations are subverted immediately by this small band of cops. Wolf Point present a refreshingly innovative and creative dynamic as the apparent "good guys" search for missing Angela Stone.
Wolf Point’s major employer is a massive fish cannery, but the workers are on strike. This attracts out-of-town strikebreakers who are tougher, rawer, and more unfamiliar to the community than the already physically-formidable cannery workers. A powder keg sets the foundation of what becomes an excellent police procedural involving missing people, perhaps drug dealing, and all sorts of conspiratorial criminal possibilities. Secret hang around everyone's neck and the timing of when they are revealed is masterfully choreographed.
The structure, tone, pacing, atmosphere, and prose (“the wind screamed in their face like a hungry baby”) keeps the story punching and twisting. Character's possess distinct arcs and smaller mysteries pop up like violent whack-a-moles as the officers must stay focused on the main case at hand, even despite personal issues.
Lisa Howells tapped storytelling magic in this powerful debut. Imaginative and inspired plotting never relents, and an nuanced feminist theme works effectively. Grisly content is at the heart of Wolf Point, and there are truly ruthless men (and women) in the novel who savor evil. The finale lands smoothly, and with surprises aplenty, easily making this one of the better conclusions from a recently published murder mystery. Luckily for us, another book featuring some of the same characters is on the way.
Highly recommended to fans of the prickly police procedural, or the shows True Detective and Twin Peaks.
Thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for a review copy.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and to Grand Central Publishing for the ARC of Wolf Point by Lisa Howells.
Wow. Just wow. This is one of the best, if not the best, book I have read this year. I devoured it one day. Howells is brilliant -- this is GIllian Flynn, Jane Harper, Stieg Larson, S.A. Cosby level bingeable. Comparing it to the intensity of Mare of Easttown and the season of True Detective based in Alaska is completely on point as well. Seriously, I just finished reading it and I know I'm going to be thinking about it for the next several days because the plotting is immaculate. I loved everything about it.
The description is accurate to the main plot of the book -- a lot happens, but when it comes to mysteries/thrillers, if the description is solid I try not to write too much more to avoid spoilers and this one readers will want every first glimpse at to be on their own. I will say this is very much a plot driven book, and while we learn a lot about the characters, there are aspects to them that are still a bit shrouded and contained while the plot and the setting do a lot of the talking. I think this really works for the story, especially because so much of the setting is devoted to the fact that people come to Wolf Point to escape something, so feeling like their pasts or personalities is guarded is part of the dark charm.
The novel is violent and does involve off-page descriptions of sexual assault and drug use and alcohol abuse and on-page violence, and attempted sexual assault, which sensitive readers may wish to know prior to committing to this book. I will say Howells uses every scene for the plot, so nothing is gratuitous and is with the acknowledgement of crime rates and crimes against women which do occur at a higher frequency in remote Alaskan towns. The people in Wolf Point have rough pasts and layered traumas and there is not really any character who is unscathed from the harsh realities of life and the choices they've made to survive.
The mystery and the thriller aspect of this are just phenomenal. I want to say more but won't, but Howells ties up loose ends I wasn't even aware were going to be relevant while also tying up the entire story in a perfect bow where every motivation and motive is an absolute gut punch. I was thrilled to read in the author's note that there is a planned sequel because I am already seated for it.
Wow. Just wow. This is one of the best, if not the best, book I have read this year. I devoured it one day. Howells is brilliant -- this is GIllian Flynn, Jane Harper, Stieg Larson, S.A. Cosby level bingeable. Comparing it to the intensity of Mare of Easttown and the season of True Detective based in Alaska is completely on point as well. Seriously, I just finished reading it and I know I'm going to be thinking about it for the next several days because the plotting is immaculate. I loved everything about it.
The description is accurate to the main plot of the book -- a lot happens, but when it comes to mysteries/thrillers, if the description is solid I try not to write too much more to avoid spoilers and this one readers will want every first glimpse at to be on their own. I will say this is very much a plot driven book, and while we learn a lot about the characters, there are aspects to them that are still a bit shrouded and contained while the plot and the setting do a lot of the talking. I think this really works for the story, especially because so much of the setting is devoted to the fact that people come to Wolf Point to escape something, so feeling like their pasts or personalities is guarded is part of the dark charm.
The novel is violent and does involve off-page descriptions of sexual assault and drug use and alcohol abuse and on-page violence, and attempted sexual assault, which sensitive readers may wish to know prior to committing to this book. I will say Howells uses every scene for the plot, so nothing is gratuitous and is with the acknowledgement of crime rates and crimes against women which do occur at a higher frequency in remote Alaskan towns. The people in Wolf Point have rough pasts and layered traumas and there is not really any character who is unscathed from the harsh realities of life and the choices they've made to survive.
The mystery and the thriller aspect of this are just phenomenal. I want to say more but won't, but Howells ties up loose ends I wasn't even aware were going to be relevant while also tying up the entire story in a perfect bow where every motivation and motive is an absolute gut punch. I was thrilled to read in the author's note that there is a planned sequel because I am already seated for it.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Terril Black is a police officer of Wolf Point who gets a case about a missing teenager. Soon, one missing person turns into two, and then more follow. As she races to find the teenagers she starts unraveling a thread leading all the way back to the killing of indigenous people. What she finds out will shock her, and the people she's closest to may be her greatest threat.
Phenomenal is the only word I can use to describe this book. I devoured every page and had a very hard time trying to get back to reality. I like that this book was connected to real history. The pacing was fantastic, the characters were well developed, the plot was believable, and I didn't see the plot twists. The ending was fantastic. I teared up at the ending a little. In a lot of novels, the main lead seems to be indestructible. They don't get hurt, and if they do, they never feel pain. It's almost always emotional damage without physical scars. I appreciate that Terril Black feels pain and is slowed down by it. She's not a machine and she feels real. She makes human decisions and I think she shows a lot of growth throughout this book.
The author did such a great job with this book. I was instantly hooked. There were so many unexpected twists that really added to the story. I liked the slow unraveling and appreciated that while this isn't a romance book, we did get a few glimpses that made the journey more emotional.
Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for providing this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Phenomenal is the only word I can use to describe this book. I devoured every page and had a very hard time trying to get back to reality. I like that this book was connected to real history. The pacing was fantastic, the characters were well developed, the plot was believable, and I didn't see the plot twists. The ending was fantastic. I teared up at the ending a little. In a lot of novels, the main lead seems to be indestructible. They don't get hurt, and if they do, they never feel pain. It's almost always emotional damage without physical scars. I appreciate that Terril Black feels pain and is slowed down by it. She's not a machine and she feels real. She makes human decisions and I think she shows a lot of growth throughout this book.
The author did such a great job with this book. I was instantly hooked. There were so many unexpected twists that really added to the story. I liked the slow unraveling and appreciated that while this isn't a romance book, we did get a few glimpses that made the journey more emotional.
Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for providing this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This was a very dark novel based in a unique fictional community in Alaska. Wolf Point is isolated from all surrounding towns by a long, single lane tunnel that is sometimes closed completely by law enforcement or by the weather. Terril Black has just been promoted to sergeant when a teenage girl goes missing. In this small, remote town, everyone knows everyone and Terril has deep connections to the missing girl. There was a lot going on in this story, and it did seem a little bit over-complicated in places - But I liked the main characters and was engaged with the fast-paced story. The afterword indicates that there is another book set in Wolf Point in the works, and I'll be looking for it!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews