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The Woods Are Waiting
In the tradition of Lisa Jewell and Ruth Ware, Katherine Greene’s debut thriller is a dark descent into the sinister traditions and customs of a small town in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Yet no superstition will prepare childhood friends Cheyenne and Natalie for the macabre truth that awaits them.
Cheyenne Ashby knows the dark and disturbing history of her hometown of Blue Cliff, Virginia, all too well. It’s why she left. Growing up deep within the woods with her eccentric mother, Constance, she was raised on the unusual customs and generational superstitions linked to the local legend of an evil entity that haunts the forest.
Five years ago, the bodies of three children were found in the woods. It was a man—not a mythical beast—named Jasper Clinton who was convicted of these heinous crimes. For five years the town breathed just a bit easier with a real-life monster behind bars.
But when another child goes missing, Cheyenne and Natalie are determined to discover the truth and uncover the town’s dangerous secrets rooted in its terrifying past.
The two women must confront the reality of the superstitions they always believed in and their town’s complicated connection with who—or what—lives in the woods.
Cheyenne Ashby knows the dark and disturbing history of her hometown of Blue Cliff, Virginia, all too well. It’s why she left. Growing up deep within the woods with her eccentric mother, Constance, she was raised on the unusual customs and generational superstitions linked to the local legend of an evil entity that haunts the forest.
Five years ago, the bodies of three children were found in the woods. It was a man—not a mythical beast—named Jasper Clinton who was convicted of these heinous crimes. For five years the town breathed just a bit easier with a real-life monster behind bars.
But when another child goes missing, Cheyenne and Natalie are determined to discover the truth and uncover the town’s dangerous secrets rooted in its terrifying past.
The two women must confront the reality of the superstitions they always believed in and their town’s complicated connection with who—or what—lives in the woods.
278 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 11, 2023
176 people are currently reading
16419 people want to read
About the author
Katherine Greene
3 books617 followersKatherine Greene is the pen name of bestselling authors A. Meredith Walters and Claire C. Riley. They each cut their teeth on spine-tingling thrillers and true crime and their love of dark, twisted tales with a strong female voice led them to create stories that leave you guessing. Both currently live in the United Kingdom with their families.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 609 reviews
December 14, 2022
Creepy, claustrophobic, dark, eerie: I’m not talking about my soul, I’m talking about this book that absolutely matches with my bleak mood!
The opening of the story literally made the little hairs of my neck stand on! I shivered and barely restrained my inner screams! That nursery rhyme and bleak description of lost boys scared the living daylights out of me!
The dark atmosphere, slow burn pacing, well built characterization piqued my interest. I didn’t want to put it down! Absolutely a solid read for lovers of slow burn, scary, mysteries with supernatural vibes!
Let’s take a quick look at the plot: Imagine a small town in the foothills of Appalachian mountains.
Cheyenne Ashby left her town Blue Cliff, Virginia, trying to forget the town’s dark history and haunted past. Growing up with mentally not stable mother who performs unusual and eccentric customs related with the evil entity lurking in the woods where their house has been built already ruined her childhood memories.
Five years ago, three missing children’s bodies were found in the woods and a man named Jasper Clifton was arrested for brutal murders. But is he the perpetrator of those bloody crimes or the real reason about brutal deaths of children was linked with a supernatural entity!
Cheyenne returns back to town when another child gets missing. She needs to dig out the harsh truth to find out what is really going on at her small town!
Conclusion of the story was solid. I still feel like some of my questions were still not answered. But overall it is good, slow burn, atmospheric thriller that you don’t want to miss!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.
The opening of the story literally made the little hairs of my neck stand on! I shivered and barely restrained my inner screams! That nursery rhyme and bleak description of lost boys scared the living daylights out of me!
The dark atmosphere, slow burn pacing, well built characterization piqued my interest. I didn’t want to put it down! Absolutely a solid read for lovers of slow burn, scary, mysteries with supernatural vibes!
Let’s take a quick look at the plot: Imagine a small town in the foothills of Appalachian mountains.
Cheyenne Ashby left her town Blue Cliff, Virginia, trying to forget the town’s dark history and haunted past. Growing up with mentally not stable mother who performs unusual and eccentric customs related with the evil entity lurking in the woods where their house has been built already ruined her childhood memories.
Five years ago, three missing children’s bodies were found in the woods and a man named Jasper Clifton was arrested for brutal murders. But is he the perpetrator of those bloody crimes or the real reason about brutal deaths of children was linked with a supernatural entity!
Cheyenne returns back to town when another child gets missing. She needs to dig out the harsh truth to find out what is really going on at her small town!
Conclusion of the story was solid. I still feel like some of my questions were still not answered. But overall it is good, slow burn, atmospheric thriller that you don’t want to miss!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.
May 11, 2025
In a Nutshell: A slowburn mystery set in the Appalachian region of Virginia. Great atmosphere, poorly-sketched characters, repetitive writing, below-average suspense, disappointing resolution.
Story Synopsis:
Bookish Yays:
💐 Loved the use of the location. The hickory woods create a nice atmospheric setting, further enhanced by the small town culture.
💐 Enjoyed the way superstitions were used to amp up the tension.
💐 A gorgeous cover with a matching title. Loved the vibes generated by the cover pic.
Bookish Mixed Bags:
🌹 The character sketching of Cheyenne and Natalie. I liked how they were strong women who didn’t shy away from tough talk or tough decisions or even tough actions. It was a refreshing change to see such women at the helm of a contemporary mystery rather than the usual whiny protagonists we encounter. At the same time, there were certain things in their situation that were impossible to accept. Natalie’s blindness to her fiancé’s attitude towards her was too farfetched to believe. Then again, her pov is mostly useless and more focussed on her personal issues than on the central mystery. Her character development had a lot of wasted potential.
Bookish Nays:
🌵 Sloooooooooow. Nothing much happens until the second half. And even then, only a little happens. Basically, the book contains a whole load of talk and hardly any action.
🌵 The above-mentioned talk is also quite repetitive, with the same situations and comments being brought up again and again in the first half.
🌵 Several characters were infuriating, chief of whom being Natalie’s fiancé Hunter. Unlikeable characters aren’t a problem, but when they are unlikeable as well as unidimensional, it’s tough to enjoy the book.
🌵 Cheyenne and Natalie are both given first person voices, but there is nothing to distinguish them by as the writing in both perspectives sounds the same. It would have been better if Natalie had been written in third person to create a distinction between the two leads.
🌵 Several events in the plot feel quite flat and brushed aside without proper resolution. The reason for Cheyenne’s rushing away from Blue Cliff five years ago seems flimsy, and her return is almost instant without much stress. The resolution of her broken relationship with Natalie is also pretty conflict-free. The silence of some townspeople over certain key events is also unrealistic.
🌵 Even worse than the above half-baked portrayals is the lack of logic in the people and the plot. Kids have disappeared in threes for centuries and yet there is no deeper investigation by any higher authority? A suspect has been convicted for the latest triple murder five years back, and this relaxes everyone, without wondering how the earlier kids died? So many deaths of little ones, and people still willingly stay in this nondescript place with their families carrying just cornhusk dolls and silver coins for protection? There seems to be not an iota of common sense in the townspeople.
🌵 The final 20% of the book comprises mostly of an extended infodump scene with the villain and some other characters. It killed the little enjoyment I had had until that point. I know cozy mysteries often end with an infodump full of reveals, but 20% is just too much. It didn’t help that the reveal was utterly disappointing and farfetched.
🌵 Guessing the villain’s identity is a cakewalk. Honestly, you don’t even need to be an avid mystery reader. If you pay careful attention to the character names, you will guess the identity of the culprit instantaneously. This is the biggest shortcoming of the book because no mystery should be so easy to resolve.
🌵 What was the point of the last sentence of the book? A cliffhanger just for the sake of it? To disprove everything that occurred till then?
🎧 The Audiobook Experience:
The audiobook, clocking at almost 10 hrs, is narrated by Angie Hickman. Mixed feelings about the experience. While I appreciate her attempt at providing a different voice/accent for each character, some of the accents just got on my nerves. I couldn’t accept how characters from the same small town (and the same racial background) had such different accents from each other. Her voices were good, but the accents went overboard. On the pro side, the only reason I could distinguish between Cheyenne’s and Natalie’s first person povs is the distinct accent Hickman used for them, as they were written almost like a single character in different situations. As this is a slowburn story, the audiobook is still the better way of experiencing it if you want to give it a go.
All in all, I had high hopes from this one because of that interesting premise. But the poor pacing and the repetition were dampeners. Atmosphere alone can’t sustain a book. Moreover, a mystery novel is only as good as its ending, and the ending of this one is so tiresome that my rating, which was around 3 stars until the 80% mark, slid down by a whole star.
This is a debut work, and jointly written by two authors under a combined pen name. Their imagination is certainly in the right place, and more writing experience will hopefully help iron out plot holes as were present this one.
Well, whom do I recommend this book to? I don’t know. Maybe you will like it better if you have more patience with slow and action-free and somewhat predictable cozy mysteries set in a small town.
2 stars.
My thanks to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books for the DRC, and Dreamscape Media for the ALC of “The Woods are Waiting”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. Sorry this didn’t work out better.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
Story Synopsis:
Blue Cliff is a town steeped in superstition, as residents believe that the local hickory woods are haunted. It is also infamous as the town where three children were found dead in the woods five years ago. Jasper Clinton was convicted for his crimes almost immediately, but now another child has gone missing.
Cheyenne Ashby left her hometown of Blue Cliff to escape its dark history and her superstitious mother. But with her mother’s health on the decline, their old family friend and police chief asks Cheyenne to return.
Her childhood friend Natalie is no longer on speaking terms with her. But when reality starts becoming more bizarre, Cheyenne and Natalie realise that they must team up to save the missing boy, even if it means confronting the being who lives in the woods.
The story comes to us in the first person perspectives of Cheyenne and Natalie.
Bookish Yays:
💐 Loved the use of the location. The hickory woods create a nice atmospheric setting, further enhanced by the small town culture.
💐 Enjoyed the way superstitions were used to amp up the tension.
💐 A gorgeous cover with a matching title. Loved the vibes generated by the cover pic.
Bookish Mixed Bags:
🌹 The character sketching of Cheyenne and Natalie. I liked how they were strong women who didn’t shy away from tough talk or tough decisions or even tough actions. It was a refreshing change to see such women at the helm of a contemporary mystery rather than the usual whiny protagonists we encounter. At the same time, there were certain things in their situation that were impossible to accept. Natalie’s blindness to her fiancé’s attitude towards her was too farfetched to believe. Then again, her pov is mostly useless and more focussed on her personal issues than on the central mystery. Her character development had a lot of wasted potential.
Bookish Nays:
🌵 Sloooooooooow. Nothing much happens until the second half. And even then, only a little happens. Basically, the book contains a whole load of talk and hardly any action.
🌵 The above-mentioned talk is also quite repetitive, with the same situations and comments being brought up again and again in the first half.
🌵 Several characters were infuriating, chief of whom being Natalie’s fiancé Hunter. Unlikeable characters aren’t a problem, but when they are unlikeable as well as unidimensional, it’s tough to enjoy the book.
🌵 Cheyenne and Natalie are both given first person voices, but there is nothing to distinguish them by as the writing in both perspectives sounds the same. It would have been better if Natalie had been written in third person to create a distinction between the two leads.
🌵 Several events in the plot feel quite flat and brushed aside without proper resolution. The reason for Cheyenne’s rushing away from Blue Cliff five years ago seems flimsy, and her return is almost instant without much stress. The resolution of her broken relationship with Natalie is also pretty conflict-free. The silence of some townspeople over certain key events is also unrealistic.
🌵 Even worse than the above half-baked portrayals is the lack of logic in the people and the plot. Kids have disappeared in threes for centuries and yet there is no deeper investigation by any higher authority? A suspect has been convicted for the latest triple murder five years back, and this relaxes everyone, without wondering how the earlier kids died? So many deaths of little ones, and people still willingly stay in this nondescript place with their families carrying just cornhusk dolls and silver coins for protection? There seems to be not an iota of common sense in the townspeople.
🌵 The final 20% of the book comprises mostly of an extended infodump scene with the villain and some other characters. It killed the little enjoyment I had had until that point. I know cozy mysteries often end with an infodump full of reveals, but 20% is just too much. It didn’t help that the reveal was utterly disappointing and farfetched.
🌵 Guessing the villain’s identity is a cakewalk. Honestly, you don’t even need to be an avid mystery reader. If you pay careful attention to the character names, you will guess the identity of the culprit instantaneously. This is the biggest shortcoming of the book because no mystery should be so easy to resolve.
🌵 What was the point of the last sentence of the book? A cliffhanger just for the sake of it? To disprove everything that occurred till then?
🎧 The Audiobook Experience:
The audiobook, clocking at almost 10 hrs, is narrated by Angie Hickman. Mixed feelings about the experience. While I appreciate her attempt at providing a different voice/accent for each character, some of the accents just got on my nerves. I couldn’t accept how characters from the same small town (and the same racial background) had such different accents from each other. Her voices were good, but the accents went overboard. On the pro side, the only reason I could distinguish between Cheyenne’s and Natalie’s first person povs is the distinct accent Hickman used for them, as they were written almost like a single character in different situations. As this is a slowburn story, the audiobook is still the better way of experiencing it if you want to give it a go.
All in all, I had high hopes from this one because of that interesting premise. But the poor pacing and the repetition were dampeners. Atmosphere alone can’t sustain a book. Moreover, a mystery novel is only as good as its ending, and the ending of this one is so tiresome that my rating, which was around 3 stars until the 80% mark, slid down by a whole star.
This is a debut work, and jointly written by two authors under a combined pen name. Their imagination is certainly in the right place, and more writing experience will hopefully help iron out plot holes as were present this one.
Well, whom do I recommend this book to? I don’t know. Maybe you will like it better if you have more patience with slow and action-free and somewhat predictable cozy mysteries set in a small town.
2 stars.
My thanks to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books for the DRC, and Dreamscape Media for the ALC of “The Woods are Waiting”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. Sorry this didn’t work out better.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
May 26, 2024
The Woods Are Waiting is a solid debut. It is a fairly simplistic story, but was easy to understand and I enjoyed the overall tone of Greene's writing.
To be honest, I'm not sure how long the story and characters will stick in my mind, but I would absolutely pick up future work from this author.
In this story we're following two women, Cheyenne and Natalie. They were childhood best friends, but after Cheyenne moved away suddenly, they lost touch.
Both born and raised in Blue Cliff, Virginia, the women are well versed in the local town lore and superstitions.
Cheyenne, who was raised in the mountains by her single-eccentric mother, in part fled the town to be done with all that stuff. She couldn't take it anymore.
When a child disappears in Blue Cliff though, Cheyenne receives a call that the event has put her mother in a tailspin and she needs to return home.
The missing boy is all too reminiscent of the three children who were kidnapped and murdered five years before. A man named Jasper went to jail for those killings, but was recently released on a technicality, now another boy is gone.
Nat never left Blue Cliff and she's surprised when Cheyenne returns. Will the two women being able to repair their relationship long enough to figure out this new disappearance before it's too late?
As mentioned above, I particularly enjoyed the feel of this. Set in a small town in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, this narrative had a sort of Hillbilly Noir quality to it that I have enjoyed previously in Crime Fiction books such as The Familiar Dark and Out of the Ashes.
It was gritty and I enjoyed all the local lore that the main plot points revolved around. The characters as well were easy to follow, learn about and were mostly likable.
There's a lot of drama in the town and I think Cheyenne is fairly quickly reminded about why she left. I also tend to love the trope of someone returning to their hometown after many years and investigating some sort of mystery, so this one checked that box as well.
I didn't really enjoy the pace though. By the time I got to the 50%-point, I still felt like nothing happened. Not like in a slow-burn sort of way either, more in a hum-drum, there's no action-way.
I think maybe the construction of the story was just slightly too simplistic, so it didn't really have a chance to build any good suspense, in my opinion. Because of this, I also don't feel this story is particularly memorable.
With this being said, this is a debut and I do think it is a great effort. I will definitely pick up whatever this author chooses to write next. I think there is a lot of potential here for growth and I am happy to go along for the ride.
Thank you to the publisher, Crooked Lane Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I'm looking forward to seeing where Greene's work goes from here.
To be honest, I'm not sure how long the story and characters will stick in my mind, but I would absolutely pick up future work from this author.
In this story we're following two women, Cheyenne and Natalie. They were childhood best friends, but after Cheyenne moved away suddenly, they lost touch.
Both born and raised in Blue Cliff, Virginia, the women are well versed in the local town lore and superstitions.
Cheyenne, who was raised in the mountains by her single-eccentric mother, in part fled the town to be done with all that stuff. She couldn't take it anymore.
When a child disappears in Blue Cliff though, Cheyenne receives a call that the event has put her mother in a tailspin and she needs to return home.
The missing boy is all too reminiscent of the three children who were kidnapped and murdered five years before. A man named Jasper went to jail for those killings, but was recently released on a technicality, now another boy is gone.
Nat never left Blue Cliff and she's surprised when Cheyenne returns. Will the two women being able to repair their relationship long enough to figure out this new disappearance before it's too late?
As mentioned above, I particularly enjoyed the feel of this. Set in a small town in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, this narrative had a sort of Hillbilly Noir quality to it that I have enjoyed previously in Crime Fiction books such as The Familiar Dark and Out of the Ashes.
It was gritty and I enjoyed all the local lore that the main plot points revolved around. The characters as well were easy to follow, learn about and were mostly likable.
There's a lot of drama in the town and I think Cheyenne is fairly quickly reminded about why she left. I also tend to love the trope of someone returning to their hometown after many years and investigating some sort of mystery, so this one checked that box as well.
I didn't really enjoy the pace though. By the time I got to the 50%-point, I still felt like nothing happened. Not like in a slow-burn sort of way either, more in a hum-drum, there's no action-way.
I think maybe the construction of the story was just slightly too simplistic, so it didn't really have a chance to build any good suspense, in my opinion. Because of this, I also don't feel this story is particularly memorable.
With this being said, this is a debut and I do think it is a great effort. I will definitely pick up whatever this author chooses to write next. I think there is a lot of potential here for growth and I am happy to go along for the ride.
Thank you to the publisher, Crooked Lane Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I'm looking forward to seeing where Greene's work goes from here.
April 25, 2023
First, Stephen King made the world afraid of clowns and now we are going to be really scared of nursery rhymes!
Get ready for it when the book comes out next year!
The writing! Chef’s kiss! I stayed up whole night reading the book and it’s we all need when we read a thriller suspense book.
The writing is so good. It’s haunting. It’s lyrical (wasn’t expecting it of course!). It’s memorable. It’s playful. It’s almost sinful.
It’s the story of two women who seems to know the darkest stories of their hometown. Someone or possibly a monster is killing children in the woods. Now they are going to find out some ugly truths behind these disturbing crimes.
The execution is so well done you will see. Short chapters. Interesting characters. Atmospheric feels during the entire read. A much welcome read for murder mystery thriller lovers.
If you love We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, definitely go for this book.
Thank you, Crooked Lane Books, for the advance reading copy.
Get ready for it when the book comes out next year!
The writing! Chef’s kiss! I stayed up whole night reading the book and it’s we all need when we read a thriller suspense book.
The writing is so good. It’s haunting. It’s lyrical (wasn’t expecting it of course!). It’s memorable. It’s playful. It’s almost sinful.
It’s the story of two women who seems to know the darkest stories of their hometown. Someone or possibly a monster is killing children in the woods. Now they are going to find out some ugly truths behind these disturbing crimes.
The execution is so well done you will see. Short chapters. Interesting characters. Atmospheric feels during the entire read. A much welcome read for murder mystery thriller lovers.
If you love We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, definitely go for this book.
Thank you, Crooked Lane Books, for the advance reading copy.
July 14, 2023
Actual Rating 1.5
Cheyenne hoped to never go back to her small Appalachian hometown again, but when she receives a letter stating that her mother is endangering herself and others, she quickly returns. While there, she runs into her ex-best friend Natalie, who chose to stay in their hometown and is currently engaged. The two reunite over the recent missing child, one in a long string of missing children over the last centuries. When the man who was convicted of some of the murders is released from prison, Cheyenne and Natalie find themselves determined to find the truth of what has really been happening to these children.
This story is told from the dual POV of Cheyenne and Natalie. Unfortunately, their characterizations were quite similar. This made it difficult to find either of them engaging. It also meant when I set the book down in the middle of a chapter, I would often not know whose POV I was reading for quite some time. The character development was severely lacking, making this read lack any emotional connection to the characters. Between that and the too-similar characters, I found myself not caring what happened to anyone in this story.
The villain wasn’t compelling, and the red herring was obvious and didn’t add any tension or stress to the story like it normally would. Unfortunately, every antagonist in this book was poorly written, making them feel like caricatures rather than menacing figures. There was also no tension in the final conflict or its resolution because there was so much dialogue and explanation of the villain’s actions that it slowed down and became repetitive.
The atmosphere just wasn’t there. This entire book is centered around dark, oppressive woods where a monstrous/supernatural being is rumored to live. So why didn’t the setting or atmosphere feel dark, oppressive, or like anything at all? We were told time and time again how spooky everything was in this town, but that never came through in the actual writing. Part of this is due to how repetitive the first half of the book is. We were cycled through a loop of the characters rehashing their feelings towards each other and the town, and it was especially bad with Cheyenne’s POV since she kept going over her feelings about coming back home. But then there was a lack of focus and information regarding the superstitions and mystery of the town. While we did have the nursery quoted many, many times, there was no real exploration of what people thought of this aspect of their town’s mythology, making the entire thing lack any compelling emotion. There were also many glaringly obvious plot holes that severely detracted from my enjoyment of the read.
Unfortunately, this book relied on familiar tropes without adding anything new or engaging to them and I can’t recommend this read. My thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Cheyenne hoped to never go back to her small Appalachian hometown again, but when she receives a letter stating that her mother is endangering herself and others, she quickly returns. While there, she runs into her ex-best friend Natalie, who chose to stay in their hometown and is currently engaged. The two reunite over the recent missing child, one in a long string of missing children over the last centuries. When the man who was convicted of some of the murders is released from prison, Cheyenne and Natalie find themselves determined to find the truth of what has really been happening to these children.
This story is told from the dual POV of Cheyenne and Natalie. Unfortunately, their characterizations were quite similar. This made it difficult to find either of them engaging. It also meant when I set the book down in the middle of a chapter, I would often not know whose POV I was reading for quite some time. The character development was severely lacking, making this read lack any emotional connection to the characters. Between that and the too-similar characters, I found myself not caring what happened to anyone in this story.
The villain wasn’t compelling, and the red herring was obvious and didn’t add any tension or stress to the story like it normally would. Unfortunately, every antagonist in this book was poorly written, making them feel like caricatures rather than menacing figures. There was also no tension in the final conflict or its resolution because there was so much dialogue and explanation of the villain’s actions that it slowed down and became repetitive.
The atmosphere just wasn’t there. This entire book is centered around dark, oppressive woods where a monstrous/supernatural being is rumored to live. So why didn’t the setting or atmosphere feel dark, oppressive, or like anything at all? We were told time and time again how spooky everything was in this town, but that never came through in the actual writing. Part of this is due to how repetitive the first half of the book is. We were cycled through a loop of the characters rehashing their feelings towards each other and the town, and it was especially bad with Cheyenne’s POV since she kept going over her feelings about coming back home. But then there was a lack of focus and information regarding the superstitions and mystery of the town. While we did have the nursery quoted many, many times, there was no real exploration of what people thought of this aspect of their town’s mythology, making the entire thing lack any compelling emotion. There were also many glaringly obvious plot holes that severely detracted from my enjoyment of the read.
Unfortunately, this book relied on familiar tropes without adding anything new or engaging to them and I can’t recommend this read. My thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
June 27, 2023
Children in Blue Cliff, Virginia, know about the Hickory Man, the one who takes children. For generations those in Blue Cliff have heard the warnings about the Hickory Man and the children who went missing. Hushed whispers and fear surround the legend and the woods. They don't feel quite right....
Cheyenne Ashby grew up deep in the woods and her mother, Constance, often told her how to be safe, i.e. put dirt in your shoes to stay grounded to the land, and other customs to keep danger at bay.
When three children were found dead, a local man was blamed for their deaths and the town slept better after that. But another child has gone missing, and Cheyeanne has come back and along with her friend, Natalie, is determined to learn the truth!
Will the truth set them free? Is there danger in them thar woods? Is the Hickory Man real. Were the superstitions and unusual customs helpful? Why three children killed?
This was a slow burn and I struggle with slow burns. No amount of dirt in my shoes would save me from that. But don't you worry, there is a payoff in the end! This book is creepy, and the woods are not Robert Frost's woods ('lovely, dark and deep'), they are creepy, deadly, and unsettling.
The author did a good job setting the stage and making the woods creepy and atmospheric. The superstitions and customs surrounding the legend were interesting and intriguing. I kept wondering if the legend had any merit. Was there something sinister and dangerous lurking in the woods?
I had both the book and the audiobook which made for an enjoyable reading experience. This was an enjoyable book, but it started a little slowly for me. I do appreciate that the author was building the story and introducing readers to the legend and customs of the town, but I wanted things to hurry up a little at the beginning.
I enjoyed trying to figure out where the book was going and enjoyed the mounting tension and sense of danger as the book got closer to the finish line.
Well written, creepy, and atmospheric.
#TheWoodsareWaiting #NetGalley #KatherineGreene, #Crookedlanebooks, #DreamscapeMedia
Thank you to Crooked Lane Books, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com
Cheyenne Ashby grew up deep in the woods and her mother, Constance, often told her how to be safe, i.e. put dirt in your shoes to stay grounded to the land, and other customs to keep danger at bay.
When three children were found dead, a local man was blamed for their deaths and the town slept better after that. But another child has gone missing, and Cheyeanne has come back and along with her friend, Natalie, is determined to learn the truth!
Will the truth set them free? Is there danger in them thar woods? Is the Hickory Man real. Were the superstitions and unusual customs helpful? Why three children killed?
This was a slow burn and I struggle with slow burns. No amount of dirt in my shoes would save me from that. But don't you worry, there is a payoff in the end! This book is creepy, and the woods are not Robert Frost's woods ('lovely, dark and deep'), they are creepy, deadly, and unsettling.
The author did a good job setting the stage and making the woods creepy and atmospheric. The superstitions and customs surrounding the legend were interesting and intriguing. I kept wondering if the legend had any merit. Was there something sinister and dangerous lurking in the woods?
I had both the book and the audiobook which made for an enjoyable reading experience. This was an enjoyable book, but it started a little slowly for me. I do appreciate that the author was building the story and introducing readers to the legend and customs of the town, but I wanted things to hurry up a little at the beginning.
I enjoyed trying to figure out where the book was going and enjoyed the mounting tension and sense of danger as the book got closer to the finish line.
Well written, creepy, and atmospheric.
#TheWoodsareWaiting #NetGalley #KatherineGreene, #Crookedlanebooks, #DreamscapeMedia
Thank you to Crooked Lane Books, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com
December 27, 2022
Cheyenne Ashby returns home to Blue Cliff, Virginia after suddenly leaving 5 years ago after children were murdered. She comes back when her highly superstitious mother falls ill and another child is murdered. She and her friend Natalie begin investigating the myths and superstitions surrounding Ashby Woods. The woods are dark and creepy with things that go bump in the night. Is it the Hickory Man?
This was a great debut and highly thrilling. I stayed up late into the night flipping pages. I’d like to thank NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC! It will be released July 11, 2023.
This was a great debut and highly thrilling. I stayed up late into the night flipping pages. I’d like to thank NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC! It will be released July 11, 2023.
June 14, 2023
If you love a slow burning spooky read, this one is great. The setting is both claustrophobic and damning, and would be a fantastic addition to anyone’s fall TBR. The narrative started to feel very repetitive over time, as we’re hearing similar things from both POVs, but the pacing really takes off at about 60% in. I found the villain to be predictable, and the monologue they go on seems a little disjointed and off balance with the flow of the rest of the text, but overall I would consider this one a win. I’ll be on the lookout for the author’s next book to see what she comes up with!
*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy.
*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy.
October 4, 2023
Aren’t all woods brimming with secrets?
The Woods are Waiting unfolds with unsettling darkness as it delves into crimes against children, exposing the darkest facets of human nature. It’s unsettling, and I questioned why I was immersing myself in it. Yet, it’s precisely this exploration of the darker aspects of our psyche that kept me walking and listening, along with the incorporation of superstitions and customs surrounding the legend of the Hickory Man, who lurks in the woods waiting for children. While a whodunit, the author interweaves doubt through the story, hinting at something sinister and menacing lurking amidst the trees.
The constant sense of danger and the ever-present fear of the unknown propel the story forward, making this a spine-tingling read. The woods conceal far more than meets the eye, and the final reveal is satisfying. I was happily surprised despite feeling like I should have seen it coming.
BUT
The pace is slow to start, and the narratives started to feel repetitive the more I got into the story, as we were hearing similar things from both POVs. I switched to the audiobook because I prefer to listen to stories when this happens. I find my busy mind wandering too much when I listen, so when the pace is slow and repetitive, I find I don’t miss much and can still keep up with the story.
I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley.
The Woods are Waiting unfolds with unsettling darkness as it delves into crimes against children, exposing the darkest facets of human nature. It’s unsettling, and I questioned why I was immersing myself in it. Yet, it’s precisely this exploration of the darker aspects of our psyche that kept me walking and listening, along with the incorporation of superstitions and customs surrounding the legend of the Hickory Man, who lurks in the woods waiting for children. While a whodunit, the author interweaves doubt through the story, hinting at something sinister and menacing lurking amidst the trees.
The constant sense of danger and the ever-present fear of the unknown propel the story forward, making this a spine-tingling read. The woods conceal far more than meets the eye, and the final reveal is satisfying. I was happily surprised despite feeling like I should have seen it coming.
BUT
The pace is slow to start, and the narratives started to feel repetitive the more I got into the story, as we were hearing similar things from both POVs. I switched to the audiobook because I prefer to listen to stories when this happens. I find my busy mind wandering too much when I listen, so when the pace is slow and repetitive, I find I don’t miss much and can still keep up with the story.
I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley.
December 6, 2022
I really liked this book! It was creepy and unpredictable. I love stories set in the woods or having to do with woods and that is where the majority of the action takes place here. The supernatural element was spooky and the twist was great!
Nestled at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains, the small town of Blue Cliff Virginia has a deep, dark history. Children have been going missing for years. Five years prior, three children were found in the woods. Cheyenne grew up in those woods with her eccentric mother. She was raised to believe there was an evil entity that stalks the woods.
Jasper Clinton, a stranger to the town was convicted of the crimes. The town breathed a sigh of relief with the monster behind bars, that is until another child goes missing. Cheyenne and her friends are determined to figure out what is going on. They are not prepared for what they uncover.
The Woods Are Waiting is available July 11,2023.
Thank you to netgalley and crookedlanebooks for this arc in exchange for my honest review.
Nestled at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains, the small town of Blue Cliff Virginia has a deep, dark history. Children have been going missing for years. Five years prior, three children were found in the woods. Cheyenne grew up in those woods with her eccentric mother. She was raised to believe there was an evil entity that stalks the woods.
Jasper Clinton, a stranger to the town was convicted of the crimes. The town breathed a sigh of relief with the monster behind bars, that is until another child goes missing. Cheyenne and her friends are determined to figure out what is going on. They are not prepared for what they uncover.
The Woods Are Waiting is available July 11,2023.
Thank you to netgalley and crookedlanebooks for this arc in exchange for my honest review.
June 21, 2023
Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: July 11, 2023
Five years ago, the bodies of three children were found in the woods in Blue Cliff, Virginia. Cheyenne Ashby discovered one of the bodies herself. Some of the townspeople believed the town drunk, Jasper, was behind the murders, and were happy to see him jailed. However, still others believe in the legend of the Hickory Man, who waits in the woods to take children, a tale that has been haunting the small town almost since the Dawn of the town itself. Now, another boy has disappeared and the townspeople are once again on edge, none more than Cheyenne’s eccentric mother, Constance, believed to be a witch by some. Returning home to care for Constance, Cheyenne faces her own personal demons while trying to help the town see that it is not an urban legend who is taking the children- or is it?
Katherine Greene’s debut novel, “The Woods Are Waiting”, is more than just an urban legend. Not only is the “Hickory Man” utterly creepy and terrifying, but the story of the missing children itself has enough teeth to carry the pulse-pounding plot. A suspenseful horror novel, “Woods” has a delicious twist that, albeit not that hard to figure out, brought ample thrills and chills.
Cheyenne narrates the story, as does Natalie, Cheyenne’s high school best friend. Cheyenne left Blue Cliff as fast as she could as soon as she was able, while Natalie stayed behind. Although mostly told in present tense, there are portions of the novel (in italics) where Cheyenne or Natalie remembers their past and the horrors that the Hickory Man wreaked on their neighbourhood. It is obvious that the past had to be told in some way, but I’m not sure if italicized memories was the way to do it. I would have liked to see a dual timeline, maybe, to help with plot flow and create even more character development.
This is a debut novel and I finished it in a day. Obviously, Greene knows what they’re doing (Greene is in fact a pseudonym for two co-authors) and I can’t wait to see if the next novel is just as chilling as the first. I’m a sucker for urban legend tales, and this one checked all the boxes!
Expected publication date: July 11, 2023
Five years ago, the bodies of three children were found in the woods in Blue Cliff, Virginia. Cheyenne Ashby discovered one of the bodies herself. Some of the townspeople believed the town drunk, Jasper, was behind the murders, and were happy to see him jailed. However, still others believe in the legend of the Hickory Man, who waits in the woods to take children, a tale that has been haunting the small town almost since the Dawn of the town itself. Now, another boy has disappeared and the townspeople are once again on edge, none more than Cheyenne’s eccentric mother, Constance, believed to be a witch by some. Returning home to care for Constance, Cheyenne faces her own personal demons while trying to help the town see that it is not an urban legend who is taking the children- or is it?
Katherine Greene’s debut novel, “The Woods Are Waiting”, is more than just an urban legend. Not only is the “Hickory Man” utterly creepy and terrifying, but the story of the missing children itself has enough teeth to carry the pulse-pounding plot. A suspenseful horror novel, “Woods” has a delicious twist that, albeit not that hard to figure out, brought ample thrills and chills.
Cheyenne narrates the story, as does Natalie, Cheyenne’s high school best friend. Cheyenne left Blue Cliff as fast as she could as soon as she was able, while Natalie stayed behind. Although mostly told in present tense, there are portions of the novel (in italics) where Cheyenne or Natalie remembers their past and the horrors that the Hickory Man wreaked on their neighbourhood. It is obvious that the past had to be told in some way, but I’m not sure if italicized memories was the way to do it. I would have liked to see a dual timeline, maybe, to help with plot flow and create even more character development.
This is a debut novel and I finished it in a day. Obviously, Greene knows what they’re doing (Greene is in fact a pseudonym for two co-authors) and I can’t wait to see if the next novel is just as chilling as the first. I’m a sucker for urban legend tales, and this one checked all the boxes!
September 7, 2025
Round up to 3.5.
July 15, 2023
What a delightful spooky-forest-of-doom read!! Seriously you guys, this is brilliant. And a debut novel too? I'm amazed.
I love books that are mostly or partially set in forests because that will never not be creepy. There's so many things that go bump in the night so it's easy to imagine how living next to something like that might make people feel. And especially with the Hickory Man legends they all grew up with.
So basically this is a town where kids go missing, always, seemingly in threes. It's been happening for hundreds of years and no one really knows why, except of course that it must be because of the Hickory Man.
Cheyenne's family has always lived in the woods, and they're sort of the town's protectors. She gets called home when another kid goes missing and gets wrapped up in a mystery for the ages.
We follow her PoV, but also her former best friend Natalie's as well. The two PoVs balanced each other out. I initially wasn't sure if I wanted anyone other than Cheyenne to tell the story, but Natalie won me over pretty fast. Her PoV was just as interesting as Cheyenne's.
What I liked most about this book is the atmosphere and the small town superstitions that got passed down from generation to generation. Why do they carry silver coins or put dirt in their shoes? To protect them from the evil lurking in the trees, duh. I love that.
And the salt, herbs, poppets, crystals, rituals, all of that was interesting to read about and helped build up the spook factor.
There was even a little romance thrown in, with Cheyenne and her first boyfriend Jack. He's very much like a puppy, and I liked the two of them together.
I did guess some things, but I didn't let myself speculate too much, I just went with the flow and it worked well for me. I had a good time.
Until the very end I wasn't sure if the Hickory Man was real or not and after finishing this...ALL I'M GONNA SAY IS THAT THERE ARE ABSOLUTELY SPOOKY THINGS IN THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS OKAY. AND IF YOU HEAR ANYTHING CALLING OUT YOUR NAME FROM THE FOREST NO, YOU DO NOT.
I can't wait to see what these authors (yes, there's 2) put out next. And if they set it in Appalachia again, well, I'll come running.
*Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review*
I love books that are mostly or partially set in forests because that will never not be creepy. There's so many things that go bump in the night so it's easy to imagine how living next to something like that might make people feel. And especially with the Hickory Man legends they all grew up with.
So basically this is a town where kids go missing, always, seemingly in threes. It's been happening for hundreds of years and no one really knows why, except of course that it must be because of the Hickory Man.
Cheyenne's family has always lived in the woods, and they're sort of the town's protectors. She gets called home when another kid goes missing and gets wrapped up in a mystery for the ages.
We follow her PoV, but also her former best friend Natalie's as well. The two PoVs balanced each other out. I initially wasn't sure if I wanted anyone other than Cheyenne to tell the story, but Natalie won me over pretty fast. Her PoV was just as interesting as Cheyenne's.
What I liked most about this book is the atmosphere and the small town superstitions that got passed down from generation to generation. Why do they carry silver coins or put dirt in their shoes? To protect them from the evil lurking in the trees, duh. I love that.
And the salt, herbs, poppets, crystals, rituals, all of that was interesting to read about and helped build up the spook factor.
There was even a little romance thrown in, with Cheyenne and her first boyfriend Jack. He's very much like a puppy, and I liked the two of them together.
I did guess some things, but I didn't let myself speculate too much, I just went with the flow and it worked well for me. I had a good time.
Until the very end I wasn't sure if the Hickory Man was real or not and after finishing this...ALL I'M GONNA SAY IS THAT THERE ARE ABSOLUTELY SPOOKY THINGS IN THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS OKAY. AND IF YOU HEAR ANYTHING CALLING OUT YOUR NAME FROM THE FOREST NO, YOU DO NOT.
I can't wait to see what these authors (yes, there's 2) put out next. And if they set it in Appalachia again, well, I'll come running.
*Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review*
May 26, 2023
Oh this was creepy!! Kids have been going missing for years in this small town in Virginia, the woods are a dangerous place to be. The locals all know this and believe in the Hickory Man, who lives there and preys in the young. They follow certain rules to try to keep themselves safe….but another child has gone missing.
5 years ago, Chey Ashby left town, vowing to never return. But this latest missing child has the town freaking out again and her mother needs her. So she heads back and is thrown into the madness once again. Along with her best friend Natalie, they begin to uncover the towns secrets.
This was such a fast read for me. It was atmospheric and gave me goosebumps reading about the creepy woods. Evil lurked there and people kept going in!! It was making me nervous!
A fantastic debut that I couldn’t stop reading.
Thanks to Crooked Lane Books for the early copy to read. Highly recommend.
5 years ago, Chey Ashby left town, vowing to never return. But this latest missing child has the town freaking out again and her mother needs her. So she heads back and is thrown into the madness once again. Along with her best friend Natalie, they begin to uncover the towns secrets.
This was such a fast read for me. It was atmospheric and gave me goosebumps reading about the creepy woods. Evil lurked there and people kept going in!! It was making me nervous!
A fantastic debut that I couldn’t stop reading.
Thanks to Crooked Lane Books for the early copy to read. Highly recommend.
March 12, 2023
So....
I guessed who the murderer was in the very first chapter.
Seriously!
The author created lots of creepy atmosphere: the Bogeyman is out to get you, no matter how far you run.
Everyone was a suspect.
The story is told from several points of view and no one trusts anyone in that town. They all seemed a bit unhinged. Something in the water? Well, definitely something or SOMEONE evil was in those woods!
No one seemed to have the sense of one-winged fly as far as I was concerned. (Instead of fleeing for their lives, everyone stayed put like sitting ducks in that literal "dead end town." After the first few chapters, I must confess that, despite the author's best efforts, my interest in the characters and their sorry plight was fast disintegrating. In fact, I was overjoyed at one point when my Ereader alerted me that I was nearing the end of this macabre tale.
Oh, I should mention that there was a cliff hanger of sorts...
which was resolved in the very next chapter - phew, no sequel!
I'm rating this rather long, involved and tangled tale of murder and mayhem a 3.4 out of 5. My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
I guessed who the murderer was in the very first chapter.
Seriously!
The author created lots of creepy atmosphere: the Bogeyman is out to get you, no matter how far you run.
Everyone was a suspect.
The story is told from several points of view and no one trusts anyone in that town. They all seemed a bit unhinged. Something in the water? Well, definitely something or SOMEONE evil was in those woods!
No one seemed to have the sense of one-winged fly as far as I was concerned. (Instead of fleeing for their lives, everyone stayed put like sitting ducks in that literal "dead end town." After the first few chapters, I must confess that, despite the author's best efforts, my interest in the characters and their sorry plight was fast disintegrating. In fact, I was overjoyed at one point when my Ereader alerted me that I was nearing the end of this macabre tale.
Oh, I should mention that there was a cliff hanger of sorts...
which was resolved in the very next chapter - phew, no sequel!
I'm rating this rather long, involved and tangled tale of murder and mayhem a 3.4 out of 5. My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
January 3, 2023
This was a creepy read, centered primarily on Cheyenne, who returns to her home in a backwoods city in VA after a 5 year absence after she hears her mother needs help. You also get some chapters told in the POV of Natalie, Cheyenne’s former best friend who has never left the town. Children in their small town have gone missing for decades and Cheyenne’s arrival is aligned with yet another child gone missing; rumor has it that the woods around the town are cursed.
The story is definitely creepy with the unknown boogeyman, the nursery rhymes, and town lore. That being said, I found it somewhat difficult to believe that children have been going missing for decades and no one (except Cheyenne) chooses to leave town. Maybe I just don’t understand the culture of a small town like this. I thought Cheyenne and Natalie were both mostly likable characters but I couldn’t get a sense of how old they were or what Cheyenne did while she was gone for 5 years- I felt like a little more background info would’ve further endeared me to them.
As for the mystery, I did figure out what was really going on but it wasn’t exactly like I had envisioned (which was actually even more horrible than what happened) but I thought the end of the book was rather slow- a lot of time was spent tying up the loose ends that I thought was unnecessary.
Overall, I found this to be an enjoyable read that was suitably creepy. I’d recommend it to those who like mysteries. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The story is definitely creepy with the unknown boogeyman, the nursery rhymes, and town lore. That being said, I found it somewhat difficult to believe that children have been going missing for decades and no one (except Cheyenne) chooses to leave town. Maybe I just don’t understand the culture of a small town like this. I thought Cheyenne and Natalie were both mostly likable characters but I couldn’t get a sense of how old they were or what Cheyenne did while she was gone for 5 years- I felt like a little more background info would’ve further endeared me to them.
As for the mystery, I did figure out what was really going on but it wasn’t exactly like I had envisioned (which was actually even more horrible than what happened) but I thought the end of the book was rather slow- a lot of time was spent tying up the loose ends that I thought was unnecessary.
Overall, I found this to be an enjoyable read that was suitably creepy. I’d recommend it to those who like mysteries. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
August 8, 2023
“Keep silver in your pockets,
Walk with dirt in your shoes,
Or he’ll poke your eyeballs from their sockets,
And boil your bones in stew.
Stay away from the hickories,
Stay away from the trees,
Don’t sing, don’t shout, don’t run about,
Or he’ll never let you leave.
Watch out for his rough fingers,
His eyes as red as blood,
Whisper a prayer, you’ll need them there,
As he pulls you into the mud.”
Reading the book I had a hunch pretty early on who the 'Hickory Man' could be (which turned out to be correct) and then it was all about finding out the 'why' aspect and the actual backstory of the legend that had the town of Blue Cliff, Virginia in grips for generations. When that mystery was solved, one thing became clear--the scariest part of Blue Cliff wasn't the creepy and atmospheric woods or the monster, it was the people living in the town (past and present). People who, as a result of their own generational superstitions, beliefs and customs, were responsible for creating the legend and the monster in the first place.
Overall, this was a decent debut and the book had its share of suspenseful and atmospheric moments; however, I would have liked a bit more character development of the main characters, especially Cheyeanne. Cheyeanne Ashby is shown to return to Blue Cliff from Ranoake after 5 years but we are never told what she did in those years away from her hometown. To me, she gave vibes of someone who might be in law enforcement but it was never made clear what she did.
My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher Crooked Lane Books and the author duo Katherine Greene for the free widget of the book. I had finished reading the book before the publication date but got delayed in writing a review.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐✨💫
Walk with dirt in your shoes,
Or he’ll poke your eyeballs from their sockets,
And boil your bones in stew.
Stay away from the hickories,
Stay away from the trees,
Don’t sing, don’t shout, don’t run about,
Or he’ll never let you leave.
Watch out for his rough fingers,
His eyes as red as blood,
Whisper a prayer, you’ll need them there,
As he pulls you into the mud.”
Reading the book I had a hunch pretty early on who the 'Hickory Man' could be (which turned out to be correct) and then it was all about finding out the 'why' aspect and the actual backstory of the legend that had the town of Blue Cliff, Virginia in grips for generations. When that mystery was solved, one thing became clear--the scariest part of Blue Cliff wasn't the creepy and atmospheric woods or the monster, it was the people living in the town (past and present). People who, as a result of their own generational superstitions, beliefs and customs, were responsible for creating the legend and the monster in the first place.
Overall, this was a decent debut and the book had its share of suspenseful and atmospheric moments; however, I would have liked a bit more character development of the main characters, especially Cheyeanne. Cheyeanne Ashby is shown to return to Blue Cliff from Ranoake after 5 years but we are never told what she did in those years away from her hometown. To me, she gave vibes of someone who might be in law enforcement but it was never made clear what she did.
My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher Crooked Lane Books and the author duo Katherine Greene for the free widget of the book. I had finished reading the book before the publication date but got delayed in writing a review.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐✨💫
January 7, 2023
I think I’ve grown weary of this particular trope - The one where someone returns to their small town several years after escaping; a town known for some unsolved crime that is now happening again. I used to really look forward to books like this, but they’re no longer exciting me. That’s not the author’s fault. It is simply that I’m not a reader who longs for the reliable. I want new, different, and utterly surprising.
This novel, following the footsteps of others like it, spends a lot of time reacquainting the newly returned character with old friends and enemies and the drama that stayed behind. There is upset over the returning character previously abandoning her best friend and boyfriend, but the bad blood between them all is repaired quickly and without any meaningful resolution. Even if my view of the trope wasn’t jaded, this would have still frustrated me.
The most irritating aspect, however, was the way a villain monologue was spread out over several chapters. I realize that it can be difficult to figure out how to explain the dynamics of a tainted and murderous history, but having your bad guy map it all out for the reader never appeals to me. It’s even more unappealing when it drags on for as long as it did in this one.
And while I’m on the topic of the villain, I must say that I found it very easy to identify the culprit. I even realized that a side aspect (not the main mystery) was not what it seemed to be and that the villain was to blame for that, as well. This doesn’t necessarily make the story predictable, as I think this circles back to what I touched upon in the beginning: I’ve read books like this too many times. I recognize certain bits of information as important details revealing something more and that’s what happened here. I wouldn’t say it’s obvious, but it wasn’t a challenge for me and I prefer to struggle a bit more when I try to determine which character to throw my daggers at.
I do think most of the story warranted 3 stars but that ending was so poorly executed that it ruined what little I enjoyed. Still, much of my perspective is the reflection of a seasoned thriller reader. If you’re a novice, inexperienced with this particular trope, or simply too blinded by your love for the trope to care, I’m willing to bet you’ll enjoy this a lot more than I did.
I am immensely grateful to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for my review copy. All opinions are my own.
This novel, following the footsteps of others like it, spends a lot of time reacquainting the newly returned character with old friends and enemies and the drama that stayed behind. There is upset over the returning character previously abandoning her best friend and boyfriend, but the bad blood between them all is repaired quickly and without any meaningful resolution. Even if my view of the trope wasn’t jaded, this would have still frustrated me.
The most irritating aspect, however, was the way a villain monologue was spread out over several chapters. I realize that it can be difficult to figure out how to explain the dynamics of a tainted and murderous history, but having your bad guy map it all out for the reader never appeals to me. It’s even more unappealing when it drags on for as long as it did in this one.
And while I’m on the topic of the villain, I must say that I found it very easy to identify the culprit. I even realized that a side aspect (not the main mystery) was not what it seemed to be and that the villain was to blame for that, as well. This doesn’t necessarily make the story predictable, as I think this circles back to what I touched upon in the beginning: I’ve read books like this too many times. I recognize certain bits of information as important details revealing something more and that’s what happened here. I wouldn’t say it’s obvious, but it wasn’t a challenge for me and I prefer to struggle a bit more when I try to determine which character to throw my daggers at.
I do think most of the story warranted 3 stars but that ending was so poorly executed that it ruined what little I enjoyed. Still, much of my perspective is the reflection of a seasoned thriller reader. If you’re a novice, inexperienced with this particular trope, or simply too blinded by your love for the trope to care, I’m willing to bet you’ll enjoy this a lot more than I did.
I am immensely grateful to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for my review copy. All opinions are my own.
January 9, 2023
I had very high hopes for this book, the concept sounded great, and it could have been this really scary read, but it just wasn't it. I really struggled to continue reading, simply because the story didn't motivate me to read more. Let me explain why:
First of all the characters weren't developed very well. They felt flat, and I wasn't interested in them. There should have been more told about them, to create this connection with the characters. But this wasn't the worst thing.
What really bothered me was that the story moved so very slow. And slow moving stories are totally fine, but something needs to happen in it in order to feel like I want to continue reading. Now nothing happened until like the 60% mark, and then suddenly it moved way to fast, and almost out of nowhere the killer was revealed. Then it was explained why they did it, and this was told very quickly skipping over the details. I feel like some steps were skipped in the revealing of the actual story.
And the lost sentence of the book was just ugh, because it somehow did not fit the ending of the story, and I feel like it did not add anything. It just fel very cliche.
First of all the characters weren't developed very well. They felt flat, and I wasn't interested in them. There should have been more told about them, to create this connection with the characters. But this wasn't the worst thing.
What really bothered me was that the story moved so very slow. And slow moving stories are totally fine, but something needs to happen in it in order to feel like I want to continue reading. Now nothing happened until like the 60% mark, and then suddenly it moved way to fast, and almost out of nowhere the killer was revealed. Then it was explained why they did it, and this was told very quickly skipping over the details. I feel like some steps were skipped in the revealing of the actual story.
And the lost sentence of the book was just ugh, because it somehow did not fit the ending of the story, and I feel like it did not add anything. It just fel very cliche.
December 27, 2022
Cheyenne Ashby returns home to Blue Cliff, Virginia after suddenly leaving 5 years ago after children were murdered. She comes back when her highly superstitious mother falls ill and another child is murdered. She and her friend Natalie begin investigating the myths and superstitions surrounding Ashby Woods. The woods are dark and creepy with things that go bump in the night. Is it the Hickory Man?
This was a great debut and highly thrilling. I stayed up late into the night flipping pages. I’d like to thank NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC! It will be released July 11, 2023.
This was a great debut and highly thrilling. I stayed up late into the night flipping pages. I’d like to thank NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC! It will be released July 11, 2023.
April 29, 2023
For decades superstition has held the small town of Blue Cliff in its grip. Children disappear after being lured into the Hickory Woods. What force is at play here?
The Woods Are Waiting is a captivating murder mystery, with a decent amount of witchcraft thrown in. Dark, eery, unpredictable. Well written and perfectly paced. The ending a twist I didn't see coming. A chilling read.
Thank you Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC.
The Woods Are Waiting is a captivating murder mystery, with a decent amount of witchcraft thrown in. Dark, eery, unpredictable. Well written and perfectly paced. The ending a twist I didn't see coming. A chilling read.
Thank you Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC.
February 14, 2023
I can't imagine living in a small town with a history of missing kids that are found dead. Dead in a forest that has it's own boogeyman with a creepy rhyme, dolls and rituals. That was Cheyenne's childhood. And she ran from that world as soon as she could and never looked back. But she's been called back because a new round has begun - another young boy is missing and her mom is known for going off the deep end a bit, when kids go missing.
Nat is the 2nd POV. She was one of Cheyenne's best friends (along with Jack) but Nat stayed behind, took care of Cheyenne's mom and has lived in the town full of superstition. But this most recent kid going missing is starting to set the town in an uproar. The guy, put away for being the child murderer, has been released because his conviction was overturned on appeal.
I liked the twists and turns. I never took the time to try to figure out who was doing what, I just rode the story to the conclusion. I did find it compelling, I wanted to know more. I found the dolls and the myths creepy and the woods were definitely spooky. I liked both MC's and found the two perspectives rounded out the story well. I'll definitely look for more from this author. I liked this one.
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
Nat is the 2nd POV. She was one of Cheyenne's best friends (along with Jack) but Nat stayed behind, took care of Cheyenne's mom and has lived in the town full of superstition. But this most recent kid going missing is starting to set the town in an uproar. The guy, put away for being the child murderer, has been released because his conviction was overturned on appeal.
I liked the twists and turns. I never took the time to try to figure out who was doing what, I just rode the story to the conclusion. I did find it compelling, I wanted to know more. I found the dolls and the myths creepy and the woods were definitely spooky. I liked both MC's and found the two perspectives rounded out the story well. I'll definitely look for more from this author. I liked this one.
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
June 2, 2023
Blue Cliff is a small Appalachian town known as the town that “gobbles up” children because of the number of them who have gone missing in the woods and been found dead over the years. When she graduated high school, Cheyanne couldn’t wait to leave the town and her eccentric mother who believed in the legend of the Hickory Man who stalked the woods and perpetuated a number of superstitions to keep him away. Natalie had been Chey’s best friend and Jack her boyfriend. When she left Blue Cliff, she also abandoned them. Now, five years later when yet another child has gone missing after the assumed killer had been set free because found evidence exonerated him, Chey is called home by the police chief, a family friend, to tend to her mother who is getting more and more bizarre. The town is boiling over in anger at the release of the presumed killer, yet Chey and her two friends believe him to be innocent. Will they put their own lives in danger trying to seek the truth?
This is a great thriller debut by author Katherine Greene. The story is told from two POVs and takes place mostly in the present, although there is some going back in time as characters reflect on their earlier history. It is a slow burn that is atmospheric and spooky. The rituals that some of residents of the small town follow to keep their children safe from the Hickory Man are no different from superstitious practices that many people preserve. Chey’s mother’s belief in herbs, poppets, and other practices have foundations in so many cultures. Some may think they know the truth early in the read, but that doesn’t take away from an engrossing read and it may not be the entire story!
This is a great thriller debut by author Katherine Greene. The story is told from two POVs and takes place mostly in the present, although there is some going back in time as characters reflect on their earlier history. It is a slow burn that is atmospheric and spooky. The rituals that some of residents of the small town follow to keep their children safe from the Hickory Man are no different from superstitious practices that many people preserve. Chey’s mother’s belief in herbs, poppets, and other practices have foundations in so many cultures. Some may think they know the truth early in the read, but that doesn’t take away from an engrossing read and it may not be the entire story!
May 31, 2023
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Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing this title in exchange for an honest review!
“The woods are waiting” (2023) is an upcoming mystery thriller with horror elements by Katherine Greene. Set in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, there’s Blue Cliff, a town that seems to gobble up children, where the Hickory Man lives and people look after one another. It’s been five years since Cheyenne left home, after the bodies of three children were found in the woods and a flesh-and-bone murderer was convicted. But when her mother’s mental health seems to deteriorate following the disappearance of another child, Cheyenne comes back to take care of her and face once again the gruesome history and sinister superstitions of her town.
I picked this book for the eerie vibe - woods, mountains, superstitions, mysterious deaths? Hell yeah. Told in a dual, first person POV, we follow Cheyenne and her former best friend, Nathalie - so we get the perspective of someone who left and someone who stayed in town.
There’s this constant push and pull about whether the town believes in the Hickory Man or not that keeps you second-guessing about the nature of the book, and I really enjoyed that aspect. The author mentions that she incorporated superstitions based on her own experiences growing up by the Appalachians, and she managed to create something creepy and mythical, while also incorporating real human horror.
I love it when a book keeps me guessing, and this one definitely did. But I also love it when I can actually predict the ending, and I look back and the hints were there, which again, this one did. And yet it still got an "Oh!" from me at the end. By comparison, though, it felt like the characters had a delayed reaction to some revelations, which was maybe not helped by the use of flashbacks in the middle of the chapters.
Without spoiling it, I will say that the Big Bad’s speech was a little too self-aware, too much like “the patriarchy made me do it!”, which is not a bad conclusion for the reader to walk away with, but the way it was delivered felt clunky, and there was too much exposition.
The tight friendship between Cheyenne, Nathalie and Jack, as well as the theme of found family, was a really nice aspect of the book. One thing that I didn’t love in this sense, however, was that there is a (fade-to-black) sex scene: I can guess at what the author was trying to show with it, but it felt very out of place at that point in the story, for those characters in particular.
I would also have liked to see more of Nathalie’s insight about her relationship with Hunter. She lets him walk all over her, and it’s explained as she was raised like that, and it’s her personality… but since it’s told in the first person, once again it feels like too much unearned self-awareness.
Overall, this was a surprising, slow-burn mystery that will make me wary of entering any woods for a while!
Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing this title in exchange for an honest review!
“The woods are waiting” (2023) is an upcoming mystery thriller with horror elements by Katherine Greene. Set in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, there’s Blue Cliff, a town that seems to gobble up children, where the Hickory Man lives and people look after one another. It’s been five years since Cheyenne left home, after the bodies of three children were found in the woods and a flesh-and-bone murderer was convicted. But when her mother’s mental health seems to deteriorate following the disappearance of another child, Cheyenne comes back to take care of her and face once again the gruesome history and sinister superstitions of her town.
I picked this book for the eerie vibe - woods, mountains, superstitions, mysterious deaths? Hell yeah. Told in a dual, first person POV, we follow Cheyenne and her former best friend, Nathalie - so we get the perspective of someone who left and someone who stayed in town.
There’s this constant push and pull about whether the town believes in the Hickory Man or not that keeps you second-guessing about the nature of the book, and I really enjoyed that aspect. The author mentions that she incorporated superstitions based on her own experiences growing up by the Appalachians, and she managed to create something creepy and mythical, while also incorporating real human horror.
I love it when a book keeps me guessing, and this one definitely did. But I also love it when I can actually predict the ending, and I look back and the hints were there, which again, this one did. And yet it still got an "Oh!" from me at the end. By comparison, though, it felt like the characters had a delayed reaction to some revelations, which was maybe not helped by the use of flashbacks in the middle of the chapters.
Without spoiling it, I will say that the Big Bad’s speech was a little too self-aware, too much like “the patriarchy made me do it!”, which is not a bad conclusion for the reader to walk away with, but the way it was delivered felt clunky, and there was too much exposition.
The tight friendship between Cheyenne, Nathalie and Jack, as well as the theme of found family, was a really nice aspect of the book. One thing that I didn’t love in this sense, however, was that there is a (fade-to-black) sex scene: I can guess at what the author was trying to show with it, but it felt very out of place at that point in the story, for those characters in particular.
I would also have liked to see more of Nathalie’s insight about her relationship with Hunter. She lets him walk all over her, and it’s explained as she was raised like that, and it’s her personality… but since it’s told in the first person, once again it feels like too much unearned self-awareness.
Overall, this was a surprising, slow-burn mystery that will make me wary of entering any woods for a while!
July 12, 2023
Katherine Greene's (pen name of two friends in the UK) debut, THE WOODS ARE WAITING, is a creepy dark, strange twisted suspense whodunit set in rural Blue Cliff, Virginia.
Discover more about the town at the center of their upcoming book by visiting: Blue Cliff, Virginia
Set in a small rural town in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains, Cheyenne Ashby left her hometown of Blue Cliff, Virginia, to escape the town's dark history and haunted past years ago. The Ashbys took care of the town, and in turn, the town took care of the Ashbys.
Her eccentric mother, Constance Ashby, had always been a force to be reckoned with. She scared her to death most of the time. The town calls her a witch and always performs unusual customs to keep away the evil spirits lurking in the woods.
There are childhood rhymes of killings, kidnappings, and how to stay safe near the woods. Children are innocent, beautiful, and carefree. They are loved by their parents, neighbors, and friends, with their lives full of promise and endless possibilities.
Their mothers warned them to stay away from the woods. However, children are eager to discover for themselves the evil that lay outside their homes, no matter the consequences.
Five years earlier, three missing children's bodies were found in the woods, and a man named Jasper was arrested for their brutal murders. The police chief Donald Hickman called her to let her know her mom was not doing well after a boy went missing. Cheyenne does not want to return home. She has a life, but she returns reluctantly.
Like the ones before him, Dakota Mason had ventured into the woods and never came out. Like Olivia, Michael, and Danielle, it was as if he had vanished into thin air. There were legends, superstitions, and supernatural.
However, something sinister was happening, and Cheyenne and Natalie are determined to discover the truth and uncover the town’s dangerous secrets rooted in its terrifying past.
I am not a fan of supernatural, creepy, or ghoulish. THE WOODS ARE WAITING is dark, weird, depressing, and eerie—this book was not for me.
I listened to the audio version and did not care for Angie Hickman, the narrator with the country accent, which ground on my nerves, and I could not listen past the first chapter—I had to stop and try and get through the e-book. I do not recommend the audio.
A whodunit, but I guessed the murderer straightaway. This book may be for some but not my cup of tea. In my opinion, this book was nothing like Lisa Jewell and Ruth Ware which the book description compared to.
Thanks to Crooked Lane Books for an ARC and Dreamscape Media for an ALC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Blog Review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 3 Stars
Pub Date: July 11, 2023
Discover more about the town at the center of their upcoming book by visiting: Blue Cliff, Virginia
Set in a small rural town in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains, Cheyenne Ashby left her hometown of Blue Cliff, Virginia, to escape the town's dark history and haunted past years ago. The Ashbys took care of the town, and in turn, the town took care of the Ashbys.
Her eccentric mother, Constance Ashby, had always been a force to be reckoned with. She scared her to death most of the time. The town calls her a witch and always performs unusual customs to keep away the evil spirits lurking in the woods.
There are childhood rhymes of killings, kidnappings, and how to stay safe near the woods. Children are innocent, beautiful, and carefree. They are loved by their parents, neighbors, and friends, with their lives full of promise and endless possibilities.
Their mothers warned them to stay away from the woods. However, children are eager to discover for themselves the evil that lay outside their homes, no matter the consequences.
Five years earlier, three missing children's bodies were found in the woods, and a man named Jasper was arrested for their brutal murders. The police chief Donald Hickman called her to let her know her mom was not doing well after a boy went missing. Cheyenne does not want to return home. She has a life, but she returns reluctantly.
Like the ones before him, Dakota Mason had ventured into the woods and never came out. Like Olivia, Michael, and Danielle, it was as if he had vanished into thin air. There were legends, superstitions, and supernatural.
However, something sinister was happening, and Cheyenne and Natalie are determined to discover the truth and uncover the town’s dangerous secrets rooted in its terrifying past.
I am not a fan of supernatural, creepy, or ghoulish. THE WOODS ARE WAITING is dark, weird, depressing, and eerie—this book was not for me.
I listened to the audio version and did not care for Angie Hickman, the narrator with the country accent, which ground on my nerves, and I could not listen past the first chapter—I had to stop and try and get through the e-book. I do not recommend the audio.
A whodunit, but I guessed the murderer straightaway. This book may be for some but not my cup of tea. In my opinion, this book was nothing like Lisa Jewell and Ruth Ware which the book description compared to.
Thanks to Crooked Lane Books for an ARC and Dreamscape Media for an ALC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Blog Review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 3 Stars
Pub Date: July 11, 2023
March 2, 2023
UGHHHH in the time it took me to write this review, NetGalley logged me out for inactivity and I lost everything. I am now even more annoyed at the time this book as taken off my life. Let’s see if I can remember my rant…
This book was a disappointment, to say the least. To start, it was both incredibly repetitive and extremely slow-paced. This is not a good combination. I feel like the book should’ve been half as long. The first 60% of the book is spent on the same topics over and over, including: Cheyenne, why did you skip town? Cheyenne, your kooky mother needs you to take care of her. Oh no! Another child is missing? Let’s assume the best for now, despite the fact that our town has hundreds of years of history of children being murdered in 3s. The author really beats you over the head with themes, which is not an enjoyable experience, also it is boring.
The book has a lot of factual issues. It was clearly very poorly researched? Edited? Fact-checked? I don’t know who’s to blame, but as a reader with half a brain, it was frustrating as hell. Some examples (this is certainly not an exhaustive list): children have been murdered in groups of 3 for the entire existence of the town with the same MO, and nobody has put this together? The FBI (or some other organization) would be all over this ish. It would certainly not be left to the bumbling sheriff who does next to nothing - and if it were, the town would be up in arms over his inaction. Speaking of MO - the entire town is shocked and confused that the murdered children all had silver coins in their possession and dirt in their shoes, because that’s supposed to protect them. DOES IT OCCUR TO NO ONE THAT THE KILLER IS THE ONE PLACING THE TOKENS???? This would’ve been figured out day 1 upon interviewing the parents regarding what their children were wearing and what they had in their possession when they disappeared. Speaking of interviewing people: Cheyenne and Jack barely chat with the sheriff (are there other police officers? Or just him??) after FINDING A BODY. In fact, they’re told to go into town to take some time to themselves. Is this a joke? This would NEVER fly in a real investigation. Next, there’s the fact that the original suspect was exonerated due to new DNA evidence that proved him innocent. Ok, great. That DNA would’ve been run through the system and the fabric they found would’ve been tested. I’m certain that it would’ve pointed towards the killer. Instead, these pieces of evidence are not even used. Also, the fact that “nobody can figure out” where the children are being drowned but they have testing showing the exact type of water they’re being drowned in, even though they’ve searched for miles? Are you kidding me? They would’ve found the location in a hot second. Suffice it to say, all these gaping holes were mighty frustrating.
The writing itself was also a major issue. The repetition, as previously mentioned, was mind numbing. Furthermore, the sentences themselves were stilted, conversations were unnatural, and the whole thing just felt really novice. The characters were poorly fleshed out and I didn’t care about any of them (though I was confused why Natalie stays with Hunter for so long when he’s actively treating her like hot garbage). The romance was blah (we just keep being told that everything is so natural between them because they’ve been in love since high school)…ok how about you DESCRIBE TO ME what that feels/looks like instead of just TELLING ME.
Lastly, WHY are there two points of view? A dual POV did not benefit his novel whatsoever. In fact, it added to the repetitiousness and ultimately detracted from the book.
Frankly, I am confused how this is so near publication with so many blatant issues.
Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review - I wish it were a better one.
1.5 stars rounded up to 2 because there was some plot to speak of.
This book was a disappointment, to say the least. To start, it was both incredibly repetitive and extremely slow-paced. This is not a good combination. I feel like the book should’ve been half as long. The first 60% of the book is spent on the same topics over and over, including: Cheyenne, why did you skip town? Cheyenne, your kooky mother needs you to take care of her. Oh no! Another child is missing? Let’s assume the best for now, despite the fact that our town has hundreds of years of history of children being murdered in 3s. The author really beats you over the head with themes, which is not an enjoyable experience, also it is boring.
The book has a lot of factual issues. It was clearly very poorly researched? Edited? Fact-checked? I don’t know who’s to blame, but as a reader with half a brain, it was frustrating as hell. Some examples (this is certainly not an exhaustive list): children have been murdered in groups of 3 for the entire existence of the town with the same MO, and nobody has put this together? The FBI (or some other organization) would be all over this ish. It would certainly not be left to the bumbling sheriff who does next to nothing - and if it were, the town would be up in arms over his inaction. Speaking of MO - the entire town is shocked and confused that the murdered children all had silver coins in their possession and dirt in their shoes, because that’s supposed to protect them. DOES IT OCCUR TO NO ONE THAT THE KILLER IS THE ONE PLACING THE TOKENS???? This would’ve been figured out day 1 upon interviewing the parents regarding what their children were wearing and what they had in their possession when they disappeared. Speaking of interviewing people: Cheyenne and Jack barely chat with the sheriff (are there other police officers? Or just him??) after FINDING A BODY. In fact, they’re told to go into town to take some time to themselves. Is this a joke? This would NEVER fly in a real investigation. Next, there’s the fact that the original suspect was exonerated due to new DNA evidence that proved him innocent. Ok, great. That DNA would’ve been run through the system and the fabric they found would’ve been tested. I’m certain that it would’ve pointed towards the killer. Instead, these pieces of evidence are not even used. Also, the fact that “nobody can figure out” where the children are being drowned but they have testing showing the exact type of water they’re being drowned in, even though they’ve searched for miles? Are you kidding me? They would’ve found the location in a hot second. Suffice it to say, all these gaping holes were mighty frustrating.
The writing itself was also a major issue. The repetition, as previously mentioned, was mind numbing. Furthermore, the sentences themselves were stilted, conversations were unnatural, and the whole thing just felt really novice. The characters were poorly fleshed out and I didn’t care about any of them (though I was confused why Natalie stays with Hunter for so long when he’s actively treating her like hot garbage). The romance was blah (we just keep being told that everything is so natural between them because they’ve been in love since high school)…ok how about you DESCRIBE TO ME what that feels/looks like instead of just TELLING ME.
Lastly, WHY are there two points of view? A dual POV did not benefit his novel whatsoever. In fact, it added to the repetitiousness and ultimately detracted from the book.
Frankly, I am confused how this is so near publication with so many blatant issues.
Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review - I wish it were a better one.
1.5 stars rounded up to 2 because there was some plot to speak of.
May 9, 2024
slow. repetitive. boring. nothing happened for 60% of the book and by that point I did not even care
I wish the Hickory Man was actually real
I wish the Hickory Man was actually real
February 18, 2024
Deep in the woods of Blue Cliff, Virginia, the Hickory Man lives. The folks in this area believe that he steals children and that the woods are not safe. Children are cautioned to stay out of the woods, keep dirt in their shoes to ground them to the earth, and keep a coin in their pocket for safety.
When Cheyanne and her best friend Natalie were young, three children went missing in the woods and were found dead. Jasper, a local but outsider of the community, went to jail for these crimes but has always proclaimed his innocence. When Cheyanne returns to her hometown to stay with her eccentric mother, Constance, another child goes missing, and she is once again thrust into the town's old folklore and superstitions. However, this time, she and her friends decide that they are going to look more closely into this murder to figure out what is really going on?
I loved the atmospheric setting of the dark creepy woods. The folklore added to the mystery and created a chilling atmosphere. The mystery itself started off slowly - too slowly for me. I found myself losing interest. However, it picked up towards the latter half of the book.
I listened to the audio and didn't care for the performance. It was too one note and lacked animation. Perhaps reading the book in this instance might have been a better fit for me.
Thank you to #Netgalley and #DreamscapeMedia for an audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
When Cheyanne and her best friend Natalie were young, three children went missing in the woods and were found dead. Jasper, a local but outsider of the community, went to jail for these crimes but has always proclaimed his innocence. When Cheyanne returns to her hometown to stay with her eccentric mother, Constance, another child goes missing, and she is once again thrust into the town's old folklore and superstitions. However, this time, she and her friends decide that they are going to look more closely into this murder to figure out what is really going on?
I loved the atmospheric setting of the dark creepy woods. The folklore added to the mystery and created a chilling atmosphere. The mystery itself started off slowly - too slowly for me. I found myself losing interest. However, it picked up towards the latter half of the book.
I listened to the audio and didn't care for the performance. It was too one note and lacked animation. Perhaps reading the book in this instance might have been a better fit for me.
Thank you to #Netgalley and #DreamscapeMedia for an audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
August 19, 2025
Whew, that was creepy! I started off my 10-week long spooky season reading list with this one, and it checked a lot of boxes! Creepy lore, Appalachia, family secrets, mysterious deaths…unfortunately, those deaths were children so it also packed a gut punch that took away some of the thrill.
Cheyenne moved away from her tiny Virginia hometown, and didn’t look back for five years. She left her mother, her best friend Natalie, and the love of her life, Jackson. But she also left The Hickory Man, so it balanced the scales. For hundreds of years, The Hickory Man was said to haunt the woods around them, stealing away children and murdering them in threes. And he’s back.
Cheyenne comes home at the behest of the local police chief, so that she can care for her addled mother in the wake of yet another town tragedy. But Cheyenne and her friends soon discover that not everything is what it seems, and not everyone around them means well. So…I liked this! But it was slow, mostly dialogue with little action, and I clocked the ending about halfway through. Still, it was a fun read and I liked that it was a quick escape!
Cheyenne moved away from her tiny Virginia hometown, and didn’t look back for five years. She left her mother, her best friend Natalie, and the love of her life, Jackson. But she also left The Hickory Man, so it balanced the scales. For hundreds of years, The Hickory Man was said to haunt the woods around them, stealing away children and murdering them in threes. And he’s back.
Cheyenne comes home at the behest of the local police chief, so that she can care for her addled mother in the wake of yet another town tragedy. But Cheyenne and her friends soon discover that not everything is what it seems, and not everyone around them means well. So…I liked this! But it was slow, mostly dialogue with little action, and I clocked the ending about halfway through. Still, it was a fun read and I liked that it was a quick escape!
November 9, 2023
3.85⭐️
Who—orWhat—Lives in the woods??
Growing up with her eccentric mother Constance deep within the woods, they've all been raised on the unusual customs and generational superstitions linked to the local legend of an evil entity that haunts the forest.
three children were found dead in the woods. It was a man—not a mythical beast—named Jasper Clinton who was convicted.
5 years later Jasper is set free, he's innocent after all, but then another Boy is dead.
Cheyenne and Natalie are determined to discover the truth and uncover the town’s dangerous secrets rooted in its terrifying past.
Sit back and let the story unfold. If you love a thriller with a slow burn and creepy vibes you'll love this.
The story was good, narration was ok to keep your attention, however I think it would have been great with at least one more narrator.
Thanks NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this Audiobook.
Who—orWhat—Lives in the woods??
Growing up with her eccentric mother Constance deep within the woods, they've all been raised on the unusual customs and generational superstitions linked to the local legend of an evil entity that haunts the forest.
three children were found dead in the woods. It was a man—not a mythical beast—named Jasper Clinton who was convicted.
5 years later Jasper is set free, he's innocent after all, but then another Boy is dead.
Cheyenne and Natalie are determined to discover the truth and uncover the town’s dangerous secrets rooted in its terrifying past.
Sit back and let the story unfold. If you love a thriller with a slow burn and creepy vibes you'll love this.
The story was good, narration was ok to keep your attention, however I think it would have been great with at least one more narrator.
Thanks NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this Audiobook.
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