This is the first book that I've read by Mr. McGlothlin and I really enjoyed his writing style. He uses all the mannerisms and local colloquial words used in the Southern area and is master in his use of words to describe places, people, and feelings - the reader feels "in" the place that is being talked about. The story is fast-paced, and kept me guessing who had done it! Great reading! I'll be looking forward to reading other titles by this author,

read this fast-paced novel in a day, as I couldn’t put it down! Up until the very end I wasn’t certain of the outcome. What I loved most were the beautiful descriptive terms McGlothlin used to paint each setting of the novel- I felt like I was there!

The Forest of Smoke and Fog, set in Appalachian Tennessee, is the story of John Kelton, who in the wake of his father’s death, battles with his brother for control of the family company and frenetically searches for his father’s killer.

John suspects foul play, and he has a list of suspects. When a second coroner’s report concludes John’s father was murdered, but the police still refuse to investigate, John begins to become unhinged.

Billed as a psychological fiction, I found it to be more of a crime fiction. In most ways, this was a fast-paced narrative, yet there were areas when everything seemed to come to a halt. The plot is an interesting one, the suspense is low-key, and the ending left me ambivalent. Having said that, I found parts that were quite engaging.

Many thanks to the author / MountainLion Press /Netgalley for the digital copy of THE FOREST OF SMOKE AND FOG. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

There was a lot of potential with this one:  John Kelton returns home after his father dies in a mysterious  hunting accident and finds himself battling for control of the family company while trying to find out the truth behind his father's sudden death.  Overall not a bad story, but...I try not to lower my ratings on advance copies due to typos, grammar errors, etc. since many times the story has not gone through a final editing, but between the scattered narrative and other glaring errors, it became too annoying to overlook (example:  sequins are used in art projects, not sequences).   And as for the ending?  It felt like a last-minute "Hail Mary" that was thrown in and wound up falling flat.  If the final published copy addressed some of the bigger issues I found in this ARC then I will gladly revisit this book to reevaluate.

Two brothers who have drifted apart are brought together by the death of their father. Was his death an accident or murder? Can the brothers resolve their differences and keep the family business in the family?

Great characters and so many twists that you only resolve this by reading to the last page. Loved every page, enjoy.

With this book’s title and synopsis, I’d hoped for something atmospheric and intriguing, along the lines of the excellent Dark Pines series. Instead I found myself bogged down with boilerplate characters straight from central casting – the greedy, grasping brother who’s keen to sell of his family inheritance; the wayward son who’d rather be a beach-bum but has to fulfil the role of prodigal saviour. The tiresome plot has them bickering over their father’s estate, with dull corporate machinations to exploit an unsullied expanse of Appalachian forest.
It all lumbered along without poise or any particular purpose, hindered by sketchy editing where repeated dialogue zigzagged between past and present tenses. Mind you, that was the only actual tension in the chapters that I read… and yes, I took the unusual step to ditch out of this without finishing. That’s how little it grabbed me.
2/10

This book was not as I imagined, I am always interested in books that are set in the Appalachians but this just wasn't it. It was described as being fast-paced which it absolutely not. I also felt there were too many characters it started to get confusing, not helped by the fact the story seemed to be all over the place. The last chapter opened with an exciting twist of a premise but it just ended and there was too many things that were not explained.

Marvin Kelton, the owner of a timber company, is moving through a forest holding a muzzle loading rifle. He is hunting for wild pig. The unusual rifle is because he is an expert and experienced hunter and relishes the challenge it brings. The forest is his one of his, sustainably logged and environmentally conserved. He suddenly stumbles and drops the rifle. There is a gunshot and he falls gut-shot and dying. It is a couple of days before two of the sheriff’s deputies are sent to search and find his body. I have several reservations about the plotting of this book, which I won’t identify since they would constitute spoilers, and the first one is here. This man is the hands-on owner of the town’s main business and is due back to sign a document that evening. Why then does no one look for him that evening or at least next morning?
The business is left to his two sons, Mark, the elder, gets the majority share, and John, an adventure loving thrill seeker. Mark seems intent on selling up to a clear-felling and strip-mining company while John wants to preserve his father’s style and vision. John is also convinced that his father was murdered. With the help of a broker-dealer, Elisa, he sets out to raise enough money to buy out his brother while trying to investigate the putative murder.
The story progresses quite quickly, but many people’s actions are irrational (such behaviour is a feature of thriller type stories, of course, but these seem to be driving the story without worrying about plot rationale). Behaviours are also somewhat inconsistent. There are a number of set piece elements which are well written, but there are also bits that are quite loose and the language is annoying (too many nouns used as verbs). A great ending can absolve a lot of sins but this one disappoints.

I’m a little dizzy after reading this book. Unsure what I just read. The ending had me flipping back and forth trying to figure out what I missed and then it slowly sunk in that I had been taken on a ride but I have questions of things that don’t quite fit. The story itself was okay, it just felt a little all over the place and hard to keep track, made harder because I wasn’t sure I cared enough to figure it out. I felt like this is a great idea and could be an amazing book but it definitely needs some tweaking.

Many thanks to #NetGalley and MountianLion Press for providing me with a free advanced copy of this ebook in exchange for my honest review.

John Kelton is called home to find his father dead, and his estranged brother left control of the family company. John is certain that his father was murdered, and when the police decline to investigate, John begins his own clumsy investigation. Meanwhile, with no business background, John attempts to raise the funds to buy out his brother and stop the sale of the family timber company.

While the story sounded interesting, and the reviews on NetGalley were quite favorable, I was extremely disappointed in The Forest of Smoke and Fog. This book needed an editor very badly. The story was frequently disjointed, with blocks of text that seemed quite out of place at that particular point in the story. There were several instances of words run together to make one word (a hyphen would have served nicely), and instances of sentences that made no sense at all as written. I did read the entire book, as I wanted to see how the story played out. I felt that the writing became more erratic as the book progressed. Perhaps we were meant to relate that to the struggles of the protagonist? The ending wasn't exactly a surprise, and was, in fact, rather disappointing. Such a shame, as this had the potential to be quite a good story.

Boy, this book really grips you by the end of the prologue! The atmosphere was very well written and the story was certainly one that was unique! 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

Overall, it was a quick and fun read. I’m sort of a business junkie and love to learn about the ins and outs of operating a business. I really appreciated the author taking time to explain some of the concepts that these seasoned men know like the backs of their hands. I know some won’t appreciate it and will find it boring and a completely unnecessary angle on the story, but I really enjoyed it! I also loved the atmosphere of the story! I love Tennessee, it’s my old stomping ground from when I went to college, and my family had a cabin in good ole’ Pigeon Forge for about a decade or so. I know the Smoky Mountains well and think fondly of them often. There certainly is nothing colder than mountain water!!

With all of that said, however, I felt the characters fell flat. They felt almost two dimensional. There was no depth to any of them, really. It was never explained why Mark was so bipolar and left a huge plot hole at the end that people are calling a twist. Elisa had some promise and then at the very end of the book I thought “why even bother writing her in?”. I’m fully aware this is an ARC are there are still some final edits to make, but this one seemed to not have a single edit before being released to NetGalley. There was an entire copy and paste section of dialogue between John and the sheriff that was a big “oops”. Not the mention the fact that the author actually wrote “I could care less”, and confused the word “breathes” with “breaths” not only once but twice. And my favorite is the author himself gave his own book a 5-star rating on Goodreads. I’m sorry, that just screams desperation to me, like liking your own Facebook status.

Many thanks for the advance digital copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review! This book is set to be published on November 2nd, 2021.

I really liked this one. It was suspenseful, it kept me guessing. I liked every little twist and turn it took.

A good family mystery, solving the mysterious death of the father and the owner of a large logging company.
Family relationships are tested and information comes to light putting strain on an already difficult sibling relationship. It is set in the Appalachian forests and the setting is quite unique and beautiful. The characters are quite well-rounded but the wrapping up of the mystery happened a bit fast and without too much of a twist for me.

I really don`t like a story with topics such as inheritance and argument over the family who is
going to replace the family member they just lost.

Kelton Industries is the main company that provides labor in the town of Watauga. Marvin is the
one who manages this company. He is not just good with people and managing their timber
business but he is also a good hunter. He likes to go hunting and is good at it. But after hunting
alone, Marvin was found dead, which cause this was a gunshot on his stomach. It was an
accident based on the police report. The town was shocked especially the two sons of Marvin,
John, and Mark. The company is now without a leader, John and Mark know that one of them
needs to be the one who manages the company but both of them are quite surprised by what
their father had left them. Mark is the chosen one to lead their father`s company and John has
nothing against it until he had known the fact that Mark is already talking with another company
trying to acquire what they just had recently received. Why is his brother too fast that as if it was
already planned before? That is just one question from the thousands John has. Even his
father`s death was strange. He knows that his father is an experienced hunter and that is why it
is peculiar to find him in an accident when he knows how to hold a rifle. John followed his hunch
and ask for a second autopsy revealing evidence that was not shown in the first autopsy. These
new findings can open the case of his father`s death again but the sheriff won`t allow it. Now
John is on his own finding who killed his father and what was the reason behind it. Not only to
find her father`s killer was his goal it is also to save the company his father had founded. But as
John goes deeper and finds himself some more clues he also gains enemies, proof that there is
a plot behind his father`s death and not just an accident as to how they described it.

The story is not new. Even those who do not read know this kind of story. it is a battle of who
would gain the power and money. That those with dark souls would cross any line just to get it,
even the line drawn by blood. The story was nothing new for me and it almost felt like it was repetitive. I can't say I don't recommend this book, but it's also not a favorite.

Didn't get on with this book. Hate to say it but "The Forest of Smoke and Fog" by Alex McGlothlin is probably a male book for males so I didn't engage with the content, characters or plot. The beginning interested me a little when John was a white water raft guide but it went down hill from there.

I’ve never read a book with this kind of plot line so it was interesting to read about. The story is told revolving around John, who’s Dad has just died in what the sheriffs call an accident. John is convinced the way he died was on purpose so the person could gain his company. Johns dad run a timber business which was worth a lot of money. Johns brother, Mark, got 90% of the business which he wants to sell to a coal mining company. This makes John want to buy the 90% to save the timber company because that piece of land has been in the family for a long time.

I really enjoyed the idea of this book because John seemed to have everything on him at the same time so he had a lot to deal with. Dealing with his dads death which he thinks he is a murder and dealing with getting help from the bank. I was surprised how much detail the author included in the book because it was a moderately short book.

At the plot gets deeper, John has a lot to figure out. He is single handedly taking on the investigation of who killed his father but end up getting in trouble himself. I found myself blaming most of the other characters for what was happening because the suspense was building. I enjoyed the authors style of writing and it was easy to read. I found myself reading quickly to find out what happened. The ending was very unexpected and gave the book a complete twist.

This novel had a wonderful story line but some how was not a satisfying read for me. I cannot decide if it was the "jumping" around in the story or the characters that were not believable.

The Forest of Smoke and Fog, set in Appalachian Tennessee, is the story of John Kelton, who in the wake of his father’s death, battles with his brother for control of the family company and frenetically searches for his father’s killer.

Although the police believe John’s father was killed in a hunting accident, John suspects foul play, and he has a list of suspects. When a second coroner’s report concludes John’s father was murdered, but the police still refuse to investigate, John begins to become unhinged. Will John be able to save his hometown, and himself, from certain ruin.
This was a brilliant rollercoaster of a ride… I read this book in one sitting in less than a day and loved every minute

John Kelton has to be admired for his dogged persistence in the belief that his father was murdered. He's completely at odds with his brother, Mark, who wants to sell both the family firm and the family values of sustainable logging. Big lumber company greed meets environmental concerns in the stunning scenery of the Appalachian mountains. Unexpected ending, I think, Thanks to NetGalley and MountianLion Press for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this one a lot. It was a good quick, atmospheric and totally captivating read!
Story is set in Appalachian Tennessee, is the story of John Kelton, who in the wake of his father’s death, battles with his brother for control of the family company and frenetically searches for his father’s killer.
The police believe it was a hunting accident but John thinks different the ME does confirm his father was indeed murdered. But the police still refuse to investigate.
John sets out to start his own investigation will he get to the bottom of who is behind this?

This boo was a goo quick read!. I really enjoyed following Johns journey and hunt! He is determined and won't let anything get in his way of finding out the truth!

Thank you NetGalley, Publisher and Author for this advanced ebook.copy!