The God of the Woods

 

The God of the Woods 

by Liz Moore

524 Pages of Mystery and Memories

I had no idea this book was 524 pages when I started.  My new Kindle didn’t make that obvious, and I’m still figuring out all its functions. Needless to say, it was a commitment and I stayed up way too late Saturday night in order to finish it.

The God of the Woods is a murder mystery wrapped in a rich family drama, set against the backdrop of a kids’ summer camp. And for me, that camp setting took me back. I grew up going to Camp Eberhart on Corey Lake in Michigan, where Vanessa and I met our best friend, Katie. Camp was magical, and my memories there remain some of the most treasured. Most recently living in Indiana, I’d spend summers at Katie’s family cottage on Corey Lake...one of my favorite places on earth. We’d just hang out, chat, watch sunsets, and take photos on the dock. (I have the exact same sunset photo multiple times a year…it’s a little inside joke.)

Now, Katie’s daughters go to Camp Eberhart, and we still embarrass them, paddling across the lake just to wave furiously while they ignore us. Some things never change.

Moore’s novel takes that nostalgic, slightly mischievous camp feeling and spins it into something much darker. The third rule of Camp Emerson? “When lost, sit down and yell.” I don’t remember the rules at Camp Eberhart back in the ‘70s, but Moore’s camps feel vivid, alive, and eerily authentic.

The story unfolds across two timelines, two mysteries, and a sprawling cast of characters, all wrapped in secrets that ripple across generations.

1961: Eight-year-old Peter “Bear” Van Laar IV disappears while hiking with his grandfather near the family’s Adirondack estate, Self-Reliance. Despite an extensive search, he is never found.

1975: At Camp Emerson, the girls in the cabin awaken to discover 13-year-old Barbara Van Laar, Bear’s younger sister, born after his disappearance, is missing from her bunk.

Are the Van Laars cursed? Or is this merely tragic coincidence? Multiple perspectives invite readers to explore different truths…or perhaps uncover that there is no single truth at all.

For me, the camp setting was a portal back to my own childhood…campfires, sing-alongs, sneaking around after dark, swimming, horseback riding, and spooky stories under the stars. Moore’s descriptions bring Camp Emerson to life in a way that feels both nostalgic and suspenseful.

At times, the book’s length and multitude of characters made it feel slow, but the payoff…the twists and revelations at the end, made it worth it.

SPOILERS AHEAD:
I was stunned by the Van Laars’ cover-up for Alice. They didn’t seem to like her, so why not let the police know it was an accident? Was it about reputation? A secret affair? And one final question: who led Tracy out of the woods? The book never reveals who…leaving one last mystery lingering.

Overall, I enjoyed the book.  It kept me up way past my typical bedtime…I liked the dual timeline, the mystery, the family secrets, the summer nostalgia and the eerie magic of the woods.