What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall

“We tried to forget. We didn’t tell the story. Not the real one. Not ever.”

Twenty-two years ago, Naomi, Cassidy, and Olivia spent the summer they were eleven in the woods playing a Goddess Game they created. It was a game of magic, role play, fantasy and a way for three girls struggling with their own internal and external challenges to create beauty and cope with life. Their lives were forever changed when Naomi was attacked and nearly died. The girls identified and helped put a serial killer suspected of murdering at least six women into prison for life.

The girls became heroes, but no one knew the secrets they didn’t reveal and the lies they told. They have spent their lives forever changed and damaged from that fateful day in the woods. Now, Olivia, is ready to tell the truth, but Naomi and Cassidy are not so sure. The town that sees them as heroes may not feel the same if they learn the secret of the summer of the Goddess Game.

This story was told from Naomi’s perspective. She has scars on her face from the attack long ago, but even more pronounced, were the scars inside her from this horrific event. Her childhood was already not an easy one with an alcoholic father and a mother who left. Her role as a town outcast shifted to hero when she and her friends helped secure the conviction of the serial killer. She has spent her life “after” on a spiral of self-destruction in relationships, jobs, and life in general. She does not trust people and does not form new connections. Her ties to Olivia and Cassidy seem to be the only two relationships that keep her grounded. I thought Naomi’s voice seemed authentic for someone who lived through everything that she has had dealt her. I thought the story moved quickly and had some elements that I suspected and some that surprised me. It was a darker thriller due to the content of the book.

I thought this was a solid thriller and recommend it to all readers of darker suspense!

Check out What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall for yourself from the Library (https://catalog.lclibs.org/polaris/search/title.aspx…).