An enjoyable double mystery that explores family, class, generational trauma and justice in the fascinating setting of a 1970s summer camp.

I'd seen alot of promotion of this book on bookstagram but wasn't sure I'd enjoy it as much as I did.

A wonderful, hefty novel, that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. So many undertones in this book, the challenge of being different, the families you are born to and the families that you make. Trusting your gut and trying to make the right choices. Retribution for past mis justices.

The characters were superb, the chapters from various character perspectives cohesive and all building on the story.

A longer book than I've read in a long time which I sped through.

4.5 rounded up

This is the greatly anticipated follow up to the bestseller “Long Bright River”, a novel I also thoroughly enjoy. In this one, Liz Moore transports us to the Adirondacks, specifically the Van Laar Preserve, within which is Camp Emerson. In August 1975, camp counsellor Louise discovers that Barbara Van Laar, the thirteen year old daughter of the owners, is missing from the cabin she shares with other girls, including Tracy, with whom Barbara has formed a friendship. As if it isn’t bad enough that she’s missing, this isn't the first Van Laar child to disappear. Sixteen years ago, Barbara’s older brother Bear vanishes and is never seen again although a deceased local man is presumed to be his killer. This ambitious novel is told in two timelines, the first is 1950’s-1961 which centres on Bears story and from 1975 which focuses on both siblings and the Van Laar family. It’s fair to say that many lives are affected and changed by their story.

There is no question in my mind that the author has pulled off her intentions with this novel and as it progresses the multiple layers are peeled back allowing us to witness the dark heart at the centre of this. The story gives us not one intriguing mystery to unravel but two and along the route to the surprising conclusion it includes family dynamics, social hierarchy and commentary such as the status of women, abuse and misogyny that takes your breath away. There’s deeply rooted toxicity and prejudice but to counterbalance this there’s also a strong element of friendship which shines like a beacon amongst the less savoury elements.

It’s a well constructed slow burner plot which speeds up after a while and has short, sharp chapters which increases the tension. The two alternating timelines are seamlessly woven together, revealing a multitude of secrets, an accumulation of lies in order to cover them up, creating a suspenseful whole. There’s a range of complex characters who are well portrayed from the deeply unlikeable to the damaged and betrayed and some who are very likeable especially Judyta Luptack the young investigator in the ‘75 timeline.

The novel twists and turns, taking you through a range of emotions, breaking your heart when the darker aspects are revealed. I certainly don’t see the end coming but it makes me cheer, loudly.

Overall, it’s a powerful and intense read which shines a spotlight on many things especially the attitudes of the time. The setting is fantastic and beautifully described so you can visualise it easily. I have little doubt this will be another bestseller for the talented Liz Moore.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to HarperCollins, HarperFiction, The Borough Press for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Teenager Barbara has gone missing from a Summer Camp.
She is the daughter of the camp owner and her brother had also disappeared from there fifteen years earlier.
A slow moving mystery that had lots of characters who are keeping secrets.
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for my e-copy in efforts and honest review.

4.5 stars rounded down to 4 as I expected more from the ending.

Great piece of crime fiction. Two siblings go missing years apart at a summer camp that belongs to their wealthy family. It takes the investigation of the second case to discover what happened to Bear.

Read it over two days. Very engaging. Well plotted.

Nestled in the charming setting of Camp Emerson, this gripping tale centres on the puzzling vanishing of Barbara Van Laar, daughter of the affluent couple Peter and Alice Van Laar. Echoing a haunting past, the disappearance of "Bear" Van Laar, Barbara's sibling, fifteen years earlier adds layers of mystery. With each page, the plot thickens, unravelling a web of secrets and unexpected revelations.
Through skilful storytelling, Moore paints a vivid picture of Camp Emerson, immersing readers in its idyllic yet foreboding atmosphere. From clandestine meetings to heart-pounding discoveries, the journey to uncover the truth is a rollercoaster of emotions.
This is a very slow burner and I almost gave up but after reading others views saying they are glad they didn't I stuck at it. It definitely gets better as it progresses through and the ending I found extremely satisfying

It took a while for me to get in to the story- the narrative swaps from character to character often and I needed to get them straight in my mind. Some of the main characters are thoroughly obnoxious, others quite endearing. I had no idea how it would end and was surprised and pleased with the ending. The writing is easy to read, once you get used to the style, and I was able to picture the land and woods in upstate New York.

A boy goes missing in the woods, never to be found, and years later his sister disappears from her bunk at camp in those same woods…

This book is slow, but incredibly atmospheric because of that narrative tempo. As a reader, you FEEL those woods around you and the secrets that they hold. Masterful writing.

A captivating portrayal of a different place, a different time, and two missing children from the same family...
An easy to read, quietly gripping tale of families collapsing, secrets emerging and different classes colliding, against an unknowable deep forest backdrop.
The narrative moves quickly yet deftly between timelines and characters - but each are handled well enough so the reader is not confused and quite happy to drop into the different scenarios.
Some characters you are really rooting for, some are quite unlikeable, but all are well drawn with authentic motivation and actions.
The reveal of what actually happened to each of the missing children was rather tame, but the story was quite engrossing and enjoyable enough that I didn't mind that the final destination was rather unsuprising, it was still satisfying.

A gripping slow burn with multiple layers. I loved the way it showed the inequalities in class and all of the different characters. A different type of mystery that keeps you wondering.

If I’m honest this book was more of a 3.5 star as although I loved the different timelines I felt that they jumped about a little too much. This is obviously more of an editing issue and the author definitely deserved 4 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for this ARC

What an intriguing tale. I loved the way the story unravelled and the jump from past to present and chapters told by different characters was so well handled that I was never confused. I was fascinated by the Judy, the young rookie detective and how she 'coped' with the case, as well as the daughter who 'disappears', Barbara Van Laar even though her name didn't seem to suit her...?! So glad it didn't fizzle out in the end as so many other books do.

When teenager Barbara Van Laar goes missing from the summer vacation camp owned by her parents, speculation is rife. Fourteen years earlier, her eight-year-old brother, Bear, had also gone missing, and was never found. Is there a connection? Secrets and suspicions among the locals resurface as rookie investigator Judyta tries to find out the truth. This is an engrossing and layered mystery set in the Adirondacks during the 1950s to the 1970s, when women were expected to conform to society’s expectations and had to struggle for any sort of position in the community not bestowed on them by marriage. Similarly, the working class have to bow to the whims of their rich employers at a time when factories and industry were often failing. The Van Laars and their wealthy guests have a luxury lifestyle but their lives are hollow, ruled by appearances and the need to make money. Parental expectations are oppressive, and staff are considered disposable, even if this means ruining lives. The narrative is told from the viewpoints of several of the characters, adding a richness and complexity, as the pieces of the puzzle fit together. Judyta, meanwhile, faces resistance from her parents and misogyny among her work colleagues as she sets out to prove herself as part of the investigating team, and it is her compassion and determination that leads to a breakthrough at last. Powerful and insightful, this is an impossible book to put down, never letting up on the tension but also shining a light on attitudes and prejudices that have probably not completely been left behind. Unforgettable and unmissable.

Wealthy teen Barbara disappears from her bunk at a summer camp in the same place her brother disappeared 15 years earlier. Told from various viewpoints and across different timelines, this is a coming-of-age story about child/parent relations as well as a mystery.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.

This Story looks at an American holiday, summer camp and the people that built and run it.,two children of this family have gone missing 15 years apart .
To begin with this seems to be a straightforward escaped loony and a holiday park kind of story that you quickly begin to see there’s more to it. The story flips between the two main time periods as we gradually learn more and more about the missing children and their family
The novel is peopled with a selection of totally believable if somewhat eccentric on occasion characters The book does switch between points of view quite quickly which I’m not very good at keeping up with, but I managed to in this book better than I have in a lot of other novels
The author is a master of the teasing reveal as you learn more and more of the relevant facts in the mysteries surrounding the disappearance of their two children . Little clues appear as a story progresses that explains what has happened to the two children
The author has a clear easily read writing style, and the novel was an easy enjoyable read.

Although the novel is set in America leadership knows enough about USA summer camps to allow us to picture the setting easily. As I’m writing this review I noticed it’s published on the 4th of July. It seems a particularly important American holiday date for publication.
I read an early copy of the novel, it is published on the 4th of July 2024 by Harper Collins, UK, Harper fiction
This review will appear on NetGalley, UK, Goodreads, and my book, blog, bionic, Sarah S books, wordpress.com, and after publication on Amazon, UK

Thankyou to riverhead for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. Please check out my review linked below on tiktok !
3.75 stars

Having loved Liz Moore's Long Bright River, I was especially keen to read her latest, a superb, superior, and cracking multilayered historical read that had me enthralled from beginning to end, her artful and complex plotting is second to none, and her creation and development of varied, flawed, nuanced, and authentic feeling characters is remarkable. Weaving intriguing mysteries across different time periods with care, humanity, and skill, this spans from 1951 to 1975, it opens at the exclusive Camp Emerson, located amidst the vibrancy and beauty of the Adirondacks, where a young teen girl is discovered by a counsellor as missing from Camp Emerson, but this is no ordinary girl, she is Barbara Van Laar.

Barbara is the daughter of the rich Peter and Alice, owners of the camp, and the nearny ostentatious large estate and more, many years earlier before Barbara was born, her brother, Bear, disappeared too, never to be seen again, Alice is understandably shattered, her world is broken, she turns to alcohol, there is no comfort to be found in the distant Peter. It is no surprise there is widespread chaos and panic following this tragic dark occurence, what on earth is going on, how can this possibly happen again? There are rumours that abound as we are immersed in what lies beneath the surface, and the perspectives of a number of different characters, in the shifting eras, including members of the local community, the family, and Judya, who investigates amidst the social norms and attitudes of the time that leave a lot to be desired.

This is a utterly gripping read that I did not want to end, touching on a wide range of themes and issues, incorporating class inequalities, family, marriage, being a mother, love, childhood, identity, community, misogyny, belonging, abuse, connections, disconnections and more. An astutely observed mystery with its life changing impacts, this is a compulsive read and drama that I recommend highly to readers who appreciate and want to be immersed in an unmissable, brilliant, seemingly mystifying, suspenseful novel. Looking forward with great anticipation to Moore's next book!! Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

This was engaging throughout, with a tense mystery and a feeling of desperation to know what happened not just in 1975 but also sixteen years prior. Two stories woven together excellently to create a riveting read.

It’s a breath of fresh air to read about adults and children in such a realistic way. They really came to life on the page. I felt myself caring for the majority of them, and kept turning the proverbial page in an all-encompassing need to find out what would happen next. The ending was divine - I had no idea what was coming but couldn’t have come up with a better ending myself. Loved it.

I will say that having multiple characters share the same name was a challenge, especially when we barely knew them. It took a few moments each time they appeared on the page to parse who they were, which broke my immersion. Also very occasionally, the dates confused me - but I LOVED the addition of a little timeline at the beginning of each chapter reminding us where we are. That is something all books should introduce!

Overall a very enjoyable read. I’m glad I picked this book up.

The God of the Woods is the mystery surrounding Barbara Van Laar, a girl who goes missing from a summer camp. Her disappearance is eerily similar to that of her brother Bear, some years earlier.
It’s a bit of a slow stater but it soon picks up. It’s told from different points of view and timelines but you don’t get lost within them all. It’s a gripping read that kept me interested from start to finish. One to look out for this year!

This book was a slow burner, which I nearly gave up on and I'm so glad I didn't!!

Barbara Van Laar, the daughter of a wealthy couple, goes missing whilst at camp. 14 years earlier her brother Bear also went missing and he was never found. Is history repeating itself or this an entirely different scenario?

A story of relationships, grief, privilege, parenthood and so much more

In 1960, beloved son and scion of a wealthy banking family, Peter 'Bear' Van Laar went missing during an annual weekend party at the family's summer estate. Fifteen years later, Barbara Van Laar (Bear's sister, born after his disappearance) goes missing while attending the summer camp which borders the family's estate.

What happened to Bear, and what is happening to Barbara, provides the meat of a plot which moves between 1975 and the 1950s, the sections set in the 1950s charting the marriage of Bear and Barbara's mother to their father, Peter Van Laar, and the 1975 chapters focusing in on a handful of characters, including an investigator, one of the first women to hold the title, one of Barbara's camp bunkmates, and a counsellor at the summer camp. Splitting perspectives between different times and characters is a common trope but one that requires a good writer to pull it off successfully, and Moore more than manages.

Moore weaves a gripping and complex tale of privilege, wealth, small-town poverty and secrets, a tale that is both tragic and not without hope.