"I have to tell you something. I did something bad."

Fifteen years ago, Blair's best friend Molly was murdered.
Fifteen years ago, Adrian Jones went to prison for it.
Fifteen years ago, the real killer got away with it.
And now, Blair's terminally ill sister has made a devastating deathbed confession, which could prove that the wrong man has been imprisoned for years - and that Molly's killer is still out there. Blair's determined to find him, but the story behind Molly's death is more twisted than she could imagine. If she isn't careful, the killer will ensnare her and bury Blair with his secret.

This was an amazing thriller of a read.
Packed with suspense and twists and turns.
Very emotional in places.
Wonderfully created characters that you really engage with.
Well written story line and plot.
Highly Recommend reading.

Thank you to the author, Black Thorn and NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This book was every bit of watching the red shirt guy on star trek go around the corner first, seeing the kids go one by one into the basement to investigate the weird noise, watching the woman forget to tell anyone where she would be before heading to the remote and dilapidated home of the suspected killer. It wasn't a bad story, but how much credit can we still give the main character who is incapable of any kind of situational awareness?

This is the first crime/mystery/thriller that I’ve read in a very long time and WOW it was worth the wait!! This book had so many twists and turns throughout evoking many emotions within myself. It is a story of injustice, trust, despair, love, faith and sadness too. The characters were depicted so well that I feel that I have been on this journey of discovery, and search for the truth alongside them. I would highly recommend this book. 5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Girl in the Woods Book Review

Title: The Girl in the Woods

Author: Patricia MacDonald

Published: Kindle Edition Published July 4th 2019 by Black Thorn 

The Girl in the Woods- Patricia MacDonald

Rating: 3.5 stars

Synopsis: Fifteen years ago, Blair’s life changed drastically. Her best friend disappeared and was later found dead after leaving Blair’s house. Since then, Blair has worked to put the past behind her and to leave her small town.

Now, Blair is forced to return home for her terminally ill sister who makes a devastating deathbed confession, which could prove that the wrong man has been imprisoned for years for the murder of Blair’s friend. Blair finds herself determined to make things right and get justice for her best friend and ultimately, to try to find her way back home.

Likes: I loved the fast pace of this book. I was completely gripped with this story from page one and I tore through it! Even more so, I found a lot of the characters likable, something that I often struggle with. I found Blair easy to get behind and I loved learning about her past, her rough upbringing and all the things she had done in her life to move forward and better her life. I also loved the many twists and turns and the truly diabolical realizations that came to life during this book. If you are a fan of thrillers this is a great pick.

Dislikes: My biggest dislike in this book was really regarding the love interest. At the beginning of this book I actually loved the fact that there was no love interest int he book- I found it surprisingly refreshing and then all of a sudden half way through they decided to introduce a love interest for Blair. While I liked the character of Tom, I really wasn’t interested in him playing the role of a love interest. Other than that, I really enjoyed the different characters and their other relationships in this book.

****Thank you to the author, Black Thorn and NetGalley for this ARC which was received in exchange for my honest review****

Overall I thought that this one was ok. I did enjoy it but I didn’t find the storyline that original and I was slightly disappointed with the ending.

Blair's sister is dying. Blair thinks she is prepared for anything ...but she's wrong.

A gut-wrenching deathbed confession has Blair reliving a single night 15 years ago when her best friend, Molly, was brutally murdered and left in the woods.

But the confession means that the man who has been in prison for this murder may actually be innocent .. and the real killer is still out there.

This book reminded me of why I started reading this author many years ago. This is a well-written crime fiction .... the mystery itself is solid.  There are no guns blazing, no high speed care chases, but the suspense is there all the same.  The characters are finely drawn and memorable.

Many thanks to the author / Black Thorn Books / Netgalley for the freely given digital copy of this crime fiction, read and reviewed voluntarily.  Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

I was given an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Blair and her sister Celeste have had a less than ideal childhood after their mother dies and they end up living with their racist, alcoholic uncle.  The one bright spot in Blair's bleak life is her best friend Molly.  After Molly is found dead in the woods, the small town is torn apart.  

As adults, Blair and Celeste still struggle with the effects of their horrible childhood in their own ways.  As they come to terms with their issues, they each much face some dark truths and secrets that will leave everyone reeling. 

This story is full of characters who are unlikeable.  Some are redeemable and some are not.  The story is gutwrenching at times and really draws you into the twisted story.  I was unable to put this down once I started because I wanted to see what was going to happen next.  I was not disappointed.  Very good story, interesting characters, twists & turns, etc. This has it all.

This book didn’t have much going for it. Beside The Girl in the Woods by Patricia MacDonald being a quick read with a few twists and turns, I really can’t be more enthusiastic about it.

Blair Butler’s life is pretty great, she has a fantastic career, she’s successful and beyond canny. Her sister on the other hand has had her fair share of ups and downs. Still living under her uncle’s roof and under his control, Celeste and her son live a very unhappy life.

Fifteen years ago Molly Sinclair was murdered after leaving her best friend Blair’s house. Her body was found days later and Adrian Jones, a young black man, was convicted of her murder and has spent fifteen years in jail. At the time of the investigation, Celeste denied being with Adrian Jones during Molly’s murder. Blair is now forced to return to see her terminally ill sister one last time where she reveals a guilty secret on her deathbed. Celeste had been with Adrian but never gave him an alibi.

Blair promises her sister she’ll right this wrong and find the real killer. In an attempt to find the truth Blair faces many difficulties. As Blair begins to investigate what really happened, some aren’t too happy to stir up what happened all those years ago. Can the murderer still be out there and does he know Blair was told the truth about an innocent man sitting in prison?

So, let’s just say this was a decent page-turner that went pretty quick. By the time I was finished, I didn’t really feel anything for it. The characters weren’t interesting and the plot was pretty easy to figure out early on. I think having read so many fantastic mysteries and thrillers lately, this felt rather flat. That doesn’t mean other people wouldn’t enjoy this book, I just feel I’m clouded by really great books before this one.

Putting this all aside, there were some positives. The creepy wooded setting was intriguing and made me think of where I grew up, and how when I was little we always played there. I can’t deny there were some really good twists that I didn’t see coming either. Blair’s background was very fascinating too and I’m grateful MacDonald gave us that aspect.

Patricia MacDonald’s The Girl in the Woods is a quick thriller, but it is very predictable with unlikeable characters. While I found it to be decent, it didn’t stick with me and I honestly wouldn’t read it again. All things considered, if you’re looking for a very fast read, with some twists thrown at you, this book is for you.

Thank you to NetGalley, Black Thorn and Patricia MacDonald for an ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

Fifteen years ago Molly Sinclair was murdered after leaving her best friend Blair Butler’s house. Now Blair is forced to return to see her terminally ill sister one last time – only for Celeste to make a shocking deathbed confession. At the time of the investigation she denied being in the company of a young, black man (Adrian Jones) due to the attitude of her bigoted Uncle and an innocent man was sent to the jail. Blair promises her sister she will try to solve this injustice and begins her own investigations into the shocking events of the past. Things are not made easy for her along the way; as far as the police are concerned they have the right man and Celeste’s confession does not hold much power. They are loathe to admit any wrong doing was done by them in the first place. Blair also faces the fact that the murderer is still out there and does not want to be discovered.

It was interesting to see how Blair had to readjust to the small town mentality and fight to have the truth heard and her ability to now tell her Uncle Ellis a few home truths that were long overdue. In my opinion there were a few threads within the story that seemed to peter out with no explanation but if you’re looking for a quick read you’d do no wrong with this one.

All it takes is one lie and your whole life can change.  This story explores some race issues and how that can affect lives in a ripple effect.  Ms. MacDonald wrote characters that were able to draw out the emotions needed to  take you on the roller coaster ride of a story that she has created.  You see that every person can be more than what you see on the surface as well as can change if they choose to do so.  I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reading copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and Blackthorn Publishers.

Blair's BFF, Molly was killed fifteen years ago at the age of thirteen. The man put in prison for it has maintained his innocence, and Blair is aghast when her sister confesses that she lied about being with him on the night of Molly's murder. Determined to get an innocent man out of prison, Blair begins to investigate what happened, but in doing so she stirs up things which were considered buried years ago.

I thought this was an enjoyable read. It started off well, although it lost it a little towards the end, and Blair was a fairly sympathetic character. Too often female main characters are obnoxious rather than 'strong' but that wasn't the case here. The plot itself wasn't anything out of the ordinary but it worked rather well. Overall verdict: enjoyable read but probably wouldn't read it again. 3.5 stars

TWs mention of domestic violence, & brief sexual assault scene. 

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, Black Thorn, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

I really enjoyed this! I got very invested in the characters & almost didn’t want it to end, I wanted to follow these people to new adventures & see where they end up. I’ll admit that I did figure out who the culprit was fairly early on, but I didn’t figure out why or what else was going on which was revealed as we got through the book. I’ll definitely be recommending this one to a lot of my regular customers who enjoy a good thriller!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A 13-yr-old girl is murdered after being unceremoniously kicked out of her best friend's house by a m drunken uncle with whom she lived.  Blair leaves her cruel uncle's home as soon as she is able but returns 15 years later when her older sister is dying.  Before she passes, the sister asks Blair to promise her something.  When Blair agrees, the sister confesses to being an alibi for someone who's been imprisoned all this time for 13-yr-old Molly's death.  

Blair tries to keep her promise, although she has no support.  It's an interesting tale with a few twists to hold one's interest.

I started off liking this book. I liked the premise--Blair hears her sister's deathbed confession that the man arrested for Blair's best friend's murder has been wrongly convicted and imprisoned for the past 15 years. Blair decides that it is her duty to get the man freed, but it isn't as easy as she thinks at first.

The narrative of this book is very uneven. Lots of stops and starts, although Blair is super smart and owns her own company she makes MANY terrible decisions that seem contrary to her purported intelligence.

And let me just mention that the book totally jumps the shark toward the end: Spoiler: [ The blatant rip-off of the book/movie Room is just unforgivable. And Blair is a total idiot when she walks right into the situation. Although she makes poor choices throughout the book, this one was so stupid it just made me roll my eyes. An entire star off for the rip off plot and Blair's stupidity)]

There were so many plot holes--how this guy got convicted with no evidence was one of them. And so many non-issues just absolutely harped on--the uncle's Nazi collection, the fact that the convicted guy converted to become a Muslim and changed his name--totally no relevance yet mentioned over and over and over and over again.

This one just did not work for me at all. I have liked other books by this author so maybe this is a fluke.

This book was just okay for me. This is one of my favorite authors. I have read just about everything that she has written. Somewhere along the line the story fell flat and it was a struggle to even connect with the characters. it was a bit predictable also.  I’m not hard to please with my literary taste but I found myself struggling to get through this book. Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this book for my honest opinion..I give this book 3  ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Blair once had a best friend Molly. Fifteen years ago, Molly was murdered. Blair has never forgotten her best friend and when her dying sister tells her about the lie she told regarding the murder 15 years ago, Blair promises her sister that she will do all she can to help right a wrong.

The wrong man is sitting in prison for Molly's murder if her sister's story is to be believed. Blair knows she has to help him even if he isn't looking for help and resents her trying.

Between the death of her sister, returning to her hated hometown and the uncle she despises, Blair is caught up in danger that may be more than she can handle.

Very good book, I wanted to get into the mind of the baddies a little more. Straightforward story that will keep you up at night!

The Girl in the Wood was a fantastic thriller that had me perplexed until the finish. It had me memorized from the very first page, and staying up late into the night reading. So many twists and turns, I sometimes wondered where the story was going next. It was such a tragic story, but so realtisic too. This book was my first book by Patricia MacDonald, and defintely wont be my last.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley to the advanced copy of the book.
#Netgalley
#TheGirlInTheWoods

I didn't really connect to the characters but still enjoyed the story. Interesting premise. Sometimes I find that thrillers fall a little flat.

This was a really dark, tense thriller. I found the story engrossing and I enjoyed the ways the layers of the mystery were gradually un-peeled. There was a lot of depth to the characters and it was really well written. Looking forward to reading more from the author.

The Girl in the Woods 
 Patricia MacDonald 
3 ⭐⭐⭐

Description: 
Fifteen years ago, Blair's best friend Molly was murdered. 
Fifteen years ago, Adrian Jones went to prison for it. 
Fifteen years ago, the real killer got away with it. And now, Blair's terminally ill sister has made a devastating deathbed confession, which could prove that the wrong man has been imprisoned for years - and that Molly's killer is still out there. Blair's determined to find him, but the story behind Molly's death is more twisted than she could imagine. If she isn't careful, the killer will ensnare her and bury Blair with his secret
📔📗📘My Review📔📗📘
This book sounded like it would be good and i had such high hopes for it. 
I usually love anything this author writes but this one failed to gain and keep my attention. The characters were not fully devolped and i could not really connect with any of them. Some parts of the book were a little repetitive. I figured out who the killer was very, very early in the story.  So many things in this book were just so unbelievable. All in all this was an ok read. Not something i would care to buy or ever reread. However i am looking foward to her next book and hopefully it will be as amazing as all of her other books are.