🏞️🍃🌲 “The Wild Between Us” (2023) 🌲🍃🏞️ – Book Review

MY REVIEW

 

 

Paperback: 303 pages 
Publisher: Lake Union/Amazon Publishing (November 7, 2023) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 1662511485
ISBN-13: 978- 1662511486
⬅️ Click Photo for Purchase Information 

 

“The rescue of two missing boys in the Sierra Nevada mountains relies on unraveling the mysteries of the past in an addictive novel of heartrending suspense.

 

After inheriting his uncle’s lodge, Silas Matheson hopes the grandeur of the California Sierra Nevada will be a fresh start for his two young sons, and a chance to finally face his demons. It was here, fifteen years ago, that Silas and his friends Jessica, Danny, and Meg ventured into the mountain wilderness and Jessica vanished without a trace. When his boys go missing in the same dark woods, the fear and guilt that Silas has been running from ever since come crashing back.

 

Silas’s panicked call brings in the local search-and-rescue unit, and two familiar faces: Danny and Meg. As the frantic search gets underway, the three friends are plunged into a painfully recurring nightmare, each of them thinking, This can’t be happening again.

 

With a storm brewing and the boys’ fates threatened with every desperate hour, the secrets of the past begin to surface, and this time, for Silas, Danny, and Meg, there’s no escaping the truth.” 

 

Thank you in advance to the author, Amy Hagstrom, for providing an advanced review copy through Kate Rock Book Tours. A positive review was not required nor requested, and all words are my own.

 

Suspense books are my MOST favorite genre. I like books that keep me on the edge without jumping at sounds or movement; I also like books that keep me guessing to the end. And, Amy Hagstrom’s debut is just that. 

 

However, dual-time (which this is) and time-slip can be a bit tricky. It requires the reader to keep a keen “eye” on details, and pay attention.

 

In this case – it’s essential. This bounces between 2018 and 2002/2003. The 2018 timeline covers the “Matheson” search; while the 2002/2003 timelines takes readers in the months before the “Howard” search. 

 

Hagstrom introduces readers to (the main characters):

 

🏕️ Silas

🏞️ Meg

🚒 Danny

 

Along with Cameron and Spencer (Silas’ boys), the members of the search and rescue (SAR) team, as well as Jessica. 

 

 

POVS:         Silas (2018; 2002/2003)

                     Meg (2018, 2002/2003)

 

As I usually review either clean reads or Christian fiction, I do have to sometimes put a warning such as this on certain books as this language is not consist with those books. This does NOT mean the book is bad in anyway, this is to warn certain readers in advance.

 

LANGUAGE WARNING: S-Bomb, G-d@mn!t, F-Bomb, B!t@h – there is NOT a continuous proliferation of the words, however those not comfortable with the language should be warned.

 

Since this book is not just about an unsolved disappearance of a teen, but also about the disappearance of two small children, readers are cautioned this can be emotional and disturbing. As a result, it can be a hard read for some people.

 

That said … 

 

In the 2018 timeline, Hagstrom begins the book with Spencer (7) and his younger brother, Cameron (5), exploring a trial their dad had taken them on. By the end of the prologue, readers can surmise that the boys have gotten lost.

 

In November 2018, after his ex-wife gets a job in Manchester (UK) and Silas inherits the cabin in Marble Lake, he moves his boys there. 

 

In the middle of surveying what the cabin needs in the way of repairs, the boys have snuck out – and Silas’ worst nightmare takes him back to that summer in 2003 when Jessica Howard, a friend, disappeared and was never found. 

 

However, coming to help search for the boys are two people Silas hasn’t seen since the search was called off – Megan and Danny. And, it is clear Danny has a problem with Silas. Yet, he’ll do his job. It’s obvious that while he once wanted to be a firefighter, Danny is seemingly handling this as a penance. 

 

It’s clear that Sheriff Walters knows they’re all back where it began. Silas thinks this is some kind of karma because of Jessica. And, knowing about when the search was called off for Jessica – Silas wants to make sure everything is done to find the boys. This time though, he has an insider for the process – Meg. 

 

While there is a professional boundary for searchers and family, there is too much history to ignore, some of it may help. 

 

The search for Cameron and Spencer begins to blur lines – not only in the parallels, but in professionalism. The fractious “relationship” between Megan, Silas, and Danny is again in the spotlight – but, this time, there is more on the line and more people watching. 

 

In the 2002/2003 timeline, Hagstrom starts eleven (11) months before the “Howard Search” (September 2002) – when Meg and Danny were seniors in high school and a couple before Silas comes into their lives. Danny knew Silas from his summer visits and apparently saved his life. Quickly, they become a trio, and it is clear that something is wrong with Danny; there’s also something between Silas and Meg. At times it is Silas who feels like a third wheel, and other times Meg. She definitely sees a new side to Danny. 

 

Danny’s plan is to become a firefighter, Megan isn’t sure what she wants.

 

Around Homecoming, Silas starts going out with Jessica. However, their relationship doesn’t work – despite the foursome going on “adventures” together. Meg is uncertain how to feel about Jess being in the pack. 

 

Within a few months, there is another shift within the group. And, Meg is beginning to wonder what it’d be like to go outside of the area she’s known. But, her choice is seemingly at the heart of what is bothering Danny. Then again, she wonders about her and Danny. 

 

What leads up to that fateful night is a string of bas decisions, emotional upheaval, and the want for something more. But, there is also a simmering resentment and jealousy that catches up to all of them when Jessica goes missing.

 

For her first novel; Hagstrom manages to pack a lot of emotion, intensity, suspense, into a gripping, visceral, and dramatic dual-time story. This is one that could EASILY be a Lifetime movie. 

 

Even from the back cover, I was drawn into this read – invested in both Jessica’s disappearance in 2003 as well as Silas’ sons in 2018. The descriptive imagery and the technical SAR terms had me feeling as if I was right there in the forest with everyone – holding my breath to see what going to happen. At times, I even felt like a voyeur, watching the dynamics unfold. I attribute that to the author using third person/present tense. It’s not a format I read too much. That didn’t hinder the story though. 

 

The intensity and parallels between Jessica’s disappearance and the boys’ disappearance had my mind circulating with different theories. Though, it was – in a way – predictable to me. I had a feeling right off as to the “who” it was for the 2003 timeline, as well as the “how it likely happened”. But, despite that, I wanted to see how it was going to play out; and how it was going to work with the 2018 timeline. Some of the reveals weren’t surprising, more like gossip being proven true. But, the shock was in being right. I also enjoyed watching the characters see it unfold around them. I was wondering if the title was going to come into play somewhere from something someone said or a reference. 

 

With the 2018, Hagstrom jumps right into the plot; but the 2003 story doesn’t really get “there” until about 72% in. The short chapters and non-stop pacing (for the 2018 timeline) definitely had me turning the pages as fast as I could.

 

The worst part of the 2002/2003 storyline was that it did seem to detract from the 2018 story; yet it was also a great part of the story. That is one of those – was it needed, maybe it was, kinda works, yet drags – kind of plot arcs. A writer has to do well in presenting it, and a reader has to WANT to read it. And, the reader has to stick with it even until the end. 

 

One thing that was not established was whether Meg and Danny were married, or if they were merely living together. It wasn’t too important, but I was wondering, especially after what’d happened in 2003; and why she made the choices she did. 

 

The ending was satisfactory, but still left me wanting more. For now, it seems this is a standalone read. 

 

Those who enjoy the genre might want to check out this new author. 

 

 

NOTE ➡️ This is the second book to mention a different type of search dog. Most people know about cadaver dogs, air-scent dogs are a different one. This was one I read about in a Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense book earlier this year. I do like that more writers are exploring different types of search dogs and the complexities of search and rescue. 

 

 

  

RATING:  

 

4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Goodreads  

 

4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Bookbub  

 

4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Personal Rating (see rating explanation in this blog: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2020/01/rating-system-2020-changes.html; update: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2022/07/what-goes-into-my-reviews-2022-edition.html) 

 

 

 

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

 

Amy Hagstrom is a writer and travel industry editor whose work has appeared in US News, OutdoorsNW Magazine, Travel Oregon, and Huffington Post, among others. A lifelong outdoors enthusiast, she served as a volunteer EMT with her local county search and rescue unit before launching her writing career. After raising three children in the Pacific Northwest, Amy traded the Cascade, Siskiyou, and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges for the Sierra Madre mountains, making her home in central Mexico with her wife. The Wild Between Us is her debut novel. For more information, visit: https://amyhagstrom.com/ 

 

 

 

She can also be found on the following social media sites:  

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amyrhagstrom 

 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amyhagstromwrites/ 

  

 

**This review contains Amazon affiliate links.  

 

 

 

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