The God of the Woods By Liz Moore

The God of the Woods

By Liz Moore
📚 Literary Fiction / Mystery | 496 pages | Rating: ★★★★☆

“At first it moved at a whisper—until I realized the woods had closed around me.”

In the summer of 1975, thirteen-year-old Barbara Van Laar vanishes from her family’s lakeside camp—the same place her brother disappeared fourteen years earlier. As panic grips the small upstate town that depends on the Van Laars, buried secrets begin to surface. The God of the Woods is a haunting mystery of privilege, guilt, and redemption that pulls readers into a web of loss, lies, and the past that refuses to stay buried.

I didn’t have expectations going in, and the opening didn’t rush to meet me. It asked for patience—slow, atmospheric, almost hushed. Then the perspectives began to layer, and these people felt startlingly real: messy, private, and quietly urgent.

Liz Moore’s prose is detailed and immersive; the world builds like fog lifting over trees. Midway through, I felt my pace quicken. The summer-camp echoes, the slips back in time, the secrets braided through every chapter—tension gathered without shouting. And when the twist arrived, I didn’t see it coming.

It’s not a sprint; it’s a steady walk through deep woods. If you love character-rich, slow-burn mysteries, this one rewards you for lingering.

Quick Snapshot
📖 Best for readers who: Enjoy literary fiction with layered characters and a mystery thread
☀️ Perfect setting: A long summer afternoon or a beach day
💭 One-sentence takeaway: Complex, beautifully written, slow to start—and ultimately gripping.

Ratings
⭐ Overall: 4/5
📘 Story: 4/5
💫 Characters: 5/5
✍️ Writing: 4/5
💖 Enjoyment: 3/5

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Amazon Book Description

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. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.