REVIEW:

I double dog dare you to make it through the end of this book without a lump in your throat.

These Silent Woods is a gem I almost passed up since its title and jacket art had me thinking it was just another bland psychological or procedural thriller. I couldn’t have been more wrong, which is fitting since one of the primary themes of the story is to not judge a book by its cover.

In the remote mountains of Appalachia, present day, readers follow the straightforward, linear narrative (hooray!!!) of a man, Cooper, and his 8-year-old daughter, Finch. Their existence is an isolated one, and they are clearly hiding from society… and Cooper’s past.

The writing is simplistic yet moving, and the story is familiar yet surprising. Just when I was ready to roll my eyes in anticipation of a cliched ending, author Kimi Cunningham Grant zigged where her more predictable peers would have zagged. The result is a denouement I’ll be thinking about for some time.

In a book club and need to select the next read? Here you go. At a mere 288 pages, even the most sluggish readers will make it through this one. And if anyone doesn’t like your choice, it’ll be that one person who always just wants to be a dissenting pain in the patoot, and y’all can use it as an excuse to finally kick them out. You’re welcome.

All the stars.

(Trigger warning for my animal-loving friends: death of a chicken and deer hunting.)

PUBLISHER SYNOPSIS:

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.