The God of the Woods: A Novel

By Liz Moore

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND ONE OF THE TOP 10 NEW YORK TIMES BEST THRILLERS OF THE 21ST CENTURY PEOPLE MAGAZINE’S #1 BOOK OF THE YEAR When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide “Extraordinary . . . Reminds me of Donna Tartt’s 1992 debut, The Secret History . . . I was so thoroughly submerged in a rich fictional world, that for hours I barely came up for air.” —Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air, NPR “This expertly paced thriller …has the kineticism of a well-crafted miniseries.” —The New Yorker Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found. As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.

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Published Jul 2, 2024

576 pages

Average rating: 7.56

6,380 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

What Bookclubbers are saying about this book

✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI

Readers say *The God of the Woods* features richly drawn characters and a vividly atmospheric Adirondack setting that explores themes of wealth inequa...

DJBM
8/10 stars
Interesting story about abductions in the same family years apart and the secrets kept.
Adventurer
10/10 stars
Excellent read.
rccohill
6/10 stars
I tried reading this and couldn't get into it! So I paused it, I finally got the Audiobook through Libby. I feel the book was a bit too long and was a slow burn. Way to many characters, but ultimately I did like the book. I didn't love it,but didn't hate it either!
Rlouise
7/10 stars
I was intrigued. I enjoyed it
Mellific
6/10 stars
This book was a little too all over the place to be able to easily and closely follow. I listened to this entire story on audio and even with the book in my hands, I could not keep track of all the characters combined with all the time jumps. It had a strong start, but it quickly fell away from that storyline and left me disappointed, wanting to resolve the first mystery while the author was trying to get me all lost in the woods.

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