First published 2023
Ruth Corrigan was eight when she ran from the woods, abandoning her best friend Ceely to a killer. Now Ruth works as a cop in the same small town where neighbors still blame her for that day. She drinks too much, burns through relationships, and carries the weight of what she knows happened in those trees. Her life spirals further when the department suspends her. Then the man who murdered Ceely walks free, his sentence served. Ruth sees the danger immediately. He will kill again. She tries to warn people, but no one trusts a disgraced officer with a history of personal disasters. Even Maddie Pardeau Klein, Ceely's older sister, refuses to listen. Ruth must work alone to stop the predator before he claims another victim. She will use any method necessary, no matter the cost to herself or others. The silence that has lived inside her since childhood now drives her toward a confrontation that could destroy what remains of her life.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, psychological-thriller
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: redemption, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Woods
Period: Childhood, Adulthood
300 pages · Kindle Edition · Open Road Media
Content warnings: murder, violence