When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide.

Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.

As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances.

This book contains mentions of domestic abuse.

While most people love a sunny beach day come July, I prefer my summers moody. Liz Moore’s newest novel, The God of the Woods, speaks directly to this desire for a more melancholic exploration of the sticky season, set against a lush backdrop of the Adirondack Mountains and the frenzied heat of escalating secrets.

The God of the Woods begins with a disappearance from a summer camp. Barbara, daughter of the wealthy Van Laar family, is nowhere to be found—a concern made even more alarming by the fact that her parents own the camp she’s vanished from. As the search party takes shape, the townspeople exchange nervous glances; the case clearly echoes Barbara’s own brother’s vanishing over a decade earlier. But the family seems determined to avoid any comparison between the two children’s misfortunes. And the longer the investigation continues, the more is revealed about just how much they have to hide.

The God of the Woods is a beautifully written novel with a kaleidoscope of perspectives that form a richly layered puzzle of personalities and motives. The setting is evocative; the mystery is compelling; the themes are deep and vast. Every person who populates these pages has a rich interior life and a profound well of unimaginable pain that slowly reveals itself as the plot unfolds. If you are looking for a summer soul-ache, this is the book for you.