ISBN: 978-1250793393
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: 11/16/2021
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 5 Stars +++
A father and daughter living in the remote Appalachian mountains must reckon with the ghosts of their past in Kimi Cunningham Grant's These Silent Woods, a mesmerizing novel of suspense.
No electricity, no family, no connection to the outside world.
For eight years, Cooper and his young daughter, Finch, have lived in isolation in a remote cabin in the northern Appalachian woods. And that's exactly the way Cooper wants it, because he's got a lot to hide. Finch has been raised on the books filling the cabin’s shelves and the beautiful but brutal code of life in the wilderness. But she’s starting to push back against the sheltered life Cooper has created for her―and he’s still haunted by the painful truth of what it took to get them there.
The only people who know they exist are a mysterious local hermit named Scotland, and Cooper's old friend, Jake, who visits each winter to bring them food and supplies. But this year, Jake doesn't show up, setting off an irreversible chain of events that reveals just how precarious their situation really is. Suddenly, the boundaries of their safe haven have blurred―and when a stranger wanders into their woods, Finch’s growing obsession with her could put them all in danger. After a shocking disappearance threatens to upend the only life Finch has ever known, Cooper is forced to decide whether to keep hiding―or finally face the sins of his past.
Vividly atmospheric and masterfully tense, These Silent Woods is a poignant story of survival, sacrifice, and how far a father will go when faced with losing it all.
Praise
“Gorgeously written, taut and compelling.” –John Hart, bestselling author of The Hush
People Magazine's "Best New Books" November 2021
Amazon Editors' Picks: Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense November 2021
One of the "Biggest Mysteries and Thrillers for 2021"―Goodreads
One of the "Best New Books to Read" --New York Post
One of the "Best New Books of October 2021"--PopSugar.com
One of the "20 Fall and Winter Releases to Have on Your Radar"--Bookish.com
One of the "October Mysteries & Thrillers to Know"--Bookriot.com
One of the “26 Best New Books for This Fall”―Country Living
One of the "Outstanding Thriller Book Releases 2021"--TheNerdDaily.com
One of the "Latest Mysteries, Debuts, Holiday Tales and Reimaginings from Down South" ―Deep South Magazine
"A secretive Army vet and his precocious daughter have lived eight years in the Appalachian wilderness―until a mysterious stranger intrudes." —People Magazine
“Your next must read.” –Country Living
“[A] multilayered work of suspense...Grant anchors the novel with penetrating creativity and striking originality, augmented by enduringly memorable characters and precise, occasionally lyrical prose. At once heartbreaking and harrowing, redemptive and riveting.”
–Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star
"Grant's lyrical writing and a deep understanding of her characters propel These Silent Woods…[an] emotional story that gains heart-pounding suspense when the outside world intrudes.”
–Shelf Awareness
"[An] evocative novel of suspense...Grant is a writer to watch." —Publishers Weekly
"Grant’s evocative prose, nuanced characters, and undercurrent of quiet tension will appeal to a variety of readers.”
–Library Journal
“An engrossing lesson in survivalism...soulful [and] meditative.”
–Kirkus Reviews
“An exceptional novel, filled with vivid prose and surprising revelations of character.”
–Ron Rash, bestselling author of Serena
“A beautifully rendered tale of guilt and grace.”
–Laura McHugh, bestselling author of The Weight of Blood
“Grant’s atmospheric novel masterfully ratchets the quietest of tense moments into powerful suspense.”
–Jess Montgomery, author of The Hollows
“An emotionally potent novel whose tragic characters and moral quandaries linger long after the stunning final pages.”
–Ian Pisarcik, author of Before Familiar Woods
“Elegiac yet hopeful, raw but beautiful, and simmering with suspense, These Silent Woods is observant to the core.” –Emily Carpenter, author of Burying the Honeysuckle Girls
About the Author
Kimi Cunningham Grant is the author of three books. Silver Like Dust is a memoir chronicling her Japanese-American grandparents and their internment during World War II. Her second book, Fallen Mountains, is a literary mystery set in a small town in Pennsylvania, where fracking has just begun. These Silent Woods, her third book, will hit shelves in October, 2021. Kimi is a two-time winner of a Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Memorial Prize in Poetry and a recipient of a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts fellowship in creative nonfiction. Her poems and essays have appeared in Literary Mama, RATTLE, Poet Lore, and Whitefish Review. She lives, writes, and teaches in Pennsylvania. WEBSITE
