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Shop nowWhat Lies in the Woods
A Novel
Narrator
Karissa Vacker
This audiobook uses AI narration.
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Length
11 hours 16 minutes
Language
English
Bookseller recommendation
“What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall is about childhood friendships, how we take those friendships into adulthood, memories and how time and those around us effect our memories and what happens when what we think we know turns out to be more messy and complicated than we ever could have known. When Naomi, Cassidy and Olivia were eleven, a terrible, tragic thing happened in the woods. They have lived with the secret and the lie for all of these years. When the serial killer they sent to prison dies and they all come back together to the hometown where the tragedy occurred they are faced with the truths and the lies they left behind. As one lie turns into another and more truths are uncovered Naomi finds herself unsure of almost everything in her life. I really enjoyed the audio of this one, the narrator was really good and the story was very fast paced and engaging!”
— Amy • As the Page Turns
"Vacker's overall performance, especially her solid pacing, will keep listeners guessing." - AudioFile Magazine
"Clever and deliciously dark.” - Alice Feeney, bestselling author of Rock Paper Scissors
"Narrator Karissa Vacker, with scores of audiobooks under her belt, provides a pitch-perfect performance in what, for some, would be a tough ask. Vacker's voice is a solid touchstone guiding listeners through shocks and twists."- Booklist
They were eleven when they sent a killer to prison. They were heroes . . . but they were liars.
Kate Alice Marshall's What Lies in the Woods is a thrilling novel about friendship, secrets, betrayal, and lies - and having the courage to face the past.
Naomi Shaw used to believe in magic. Twenty-two years ago, she and her two best friends, Cassidy and Olivia, spent the summer roaming the woods, imagining a world of ceremony and wonder. They called it the Goddess Game. The summer ended suddenly when Naomi was attacked. Miraculously, she survived her seventeen stab wounds and lived to identify the man who had hurt her. The girls’ testimony put away a serial killer, wanted for murdering six women. They were heroes.
And they were liars.
For decades, the friends have kept a secret worth killing for. But now Olivia wants to tell, and Naomi sets out to find out what really happened in the woods—no matter how dangerous the truth turns out to be.
“What Lies In the Woods is a gorgeous fever dream of a novel about the dangers lurking in the hearts and imaginations of little girls. Kate Alice Marshall deftly charts a winding path through her creepy woods, doubling back and changing course to build a labyrinth of secrets and lies in which I was delighted to lose myself for hours. Hands down, it's the best thriller I've read in a long, long time.”—Chandler Baker, bestselling author of The Husbands
A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books.
Kate Alice Marshall is the author of the young adult novels I Am Still Alive, Rules for Vanishing, and Our Last Echoes, as well as the Secrets of Eden Eld middle grade series. She lives outside of Seattle, where she spends her time playing board games, tending a chaotic vegetable garden, and wrangling dogs and children. No One Can Know is her second adult novel.
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Reviews
“Utterly riveting. What Lies in the Woods is a stunner—dark, unflinching, and as twisty and sharp as a tangle of thorns.”
—Riley Sager, New York Times bestselling author of The House Across the Lake
“I loved everything about this beautifully written and impossible to put down book. I was hooked from the first clever and deliciously dark page and couldn't stop reading. Readers will love What Lies in the Woods, an exciting new voice in the genre.”
—Alice Feeney, New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Darker
“Shines an incisive light on the secrets of a small-town community...Elevating this novel beyond the plethora of other thrillers is terrific writing…Great writing and boldly drawn characters bring a terrifying tale to all-too-vivid life.”
—Kirkus, starred review
“Marshall explores the complicated dynamics of childhood friendships and the powerful effect that memory has in shaping narratives…In a novel filled with emotional depth and convincing red herrings, Marshall delivers a propulsive mystery about trust, secrets, and friendships.”
—Booklist, starred review
“What Lies In the Woods is a gorgeous fever dream of a novel about the dangers lurking in the hearts and imaginations of little girls. Marshall deftly charts a winding path through her creepy woods, doubling back and changing course to build a labyrinth of secrets and lies in which I was delighted to lose myself for hours. Hands down, it's the best thriller I've read in a long, long time.”
—Chandler Baker, New York Times bestselling author of The Husbands
“A haunting tale of betrayal, heartbreak, and redemption told in poetic prose with deeply layered characters. Marshall’s master storytelling is gripping and pulls you in with a magnetic force that never lets go.”
—Liv Constantine, bestselling author of The Last Mrs. Parrish
“Masterfully diabolical plot layered with red herrings…We’re in the hands of a phenomenal storyteller…Marshall shows she can’t put a foot wrong with this confident debut in the adult thriller genre, spinning an intricately compelling tale of friendship and magic, sorrow and betrayal wrapped up in a suspenseful murder mystery.”
—The Nerd Daily
“A powerful psychological thriller…This emotionally involving tale of friendship, betrayal, and redemption leaves an indelible impression.”
—Publishers Weekly