The Woods Are Waiting is one of those Southern gothics drenched in history, folklore, and blood. Cheyenne Ashby is an Ashby, a member of a family whose potions, spells, and sacrifices have protected Blue Cliff, a small town in the Appalachian mountains. Their home is outside of town in the center of a forest that seems so real I almost write “forest who…” The forest is a malevolent and haunting presence in the town and in everyone’s nightmares, for generation after generation of Blue Cliff children have been taken and murdered there.

Cheyenne was called back to town by the local sheriff who keeps an eye on her mother who seems to be deteriorating. She left five years earlier after three children were murdered in the forest as had happened generation after generation. When she left the town, she left her best friend Natalie and her lover Jack, who understandably are a bit untrusting of her resolve to stick around this time.

And it’s understandable because another child is missing and the man convicted of murdering those children five years ago has been released, exonerated by DNA evidence. If he’s innocent, then the killer is still among them.

The Woods Are Waiting is a good Gothic mystery. There are strong elements of the supernatural that can be as easily explained as human action, so there is always this uncertainty. Cheyenne seems to believe whatever happens, it’s by human agency, but even she wonders from time to time. The writing is lushly descriptive and the woods succeed in become a presence that is more than their physical being.

The weakest element is the characters. They are pretty flat and Natalie is downright inexplicable, engaged to the repugnant Hunter, I cannot conceive how that woman tolerated that arrogant and cruel man for 5 minutes, let alone years. The class distinctions are so rigid and seem completely foreign. I grew up in a small town, there are not enough people to be as class exclusionary as Hunter’s and Natalie’s parents are. No matter what, Natalie seemed to have enough character and judgment that her engagement to Hunter has no credibility. And of course, why would Hunter be engaged to a woman he thought was worth so little?

Still, the mystery was engrossing. I was disappointed that the resolution and discovery of the truth was mainly of the DC-villain variety with the evil villain narrating their obsession from start to finish. I also think Cheyenne and Natalie did not live up to heroine status in the end, crying and hoping for external salvation in the end. But what really brought the book down the most in my opinion was the last sentence. It is such a tired trope. It is the horror story analog of a rim shot. Ba-dum-tiss.

I received an e-galley of The Woods Are Waiting from the publisher through NetGalley.

The Woods Are Waiting at Crooked Lane Books | Penguin Random House
Katherine Greene author site

https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2023/07/21/the-woods-are-waiting-by-... ( )

Cheyenne has returned home. She has been notified by the local authorities that her mother, Constance, has gone off the deep end, AGAIN. She soon discovers another child is missing and her mother is knee deep in her superstitions and false beliefs.

I really enjoyed this read. I did figure out who the killer is, but that may have been designed by the author. The setting of the woods in the Appalachian mountains and the weird superstitions just added to the mystique.

This was almost a 5 star read for me. The only issues I had were the different narrators or the points of view. This is told from Cheyenne and Natalie’s points of view and a lot of the time it was unclear when your narrator changed. But, this was a minor inconvenience.

The narrator, Angie Hickman, is wonderful. She did a great job with the intensity.

Need a good, creepy read…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review. ( )

The Woods are Waiting by Katherine Greene is a highly recommended debut mystery.

Blue Cliff, Virginia, has a dark history pointing at the Hickory Man living in the woods preying on children. Children are taught to put soil from the woods in their shoes and carry silver coins to ward off the Hickory Man, but there is also a history of this not working. Cheyenne Ashby left five years ago without warning after three children were found dead in the woods. A local man went to prison for it, but doubts remain.

Now Cheyenne is called to return home and help her mother, Constance, who lives in a cabin in the woods and is busy trying everything she knows to ward off the evil she sees coming. Another child has disappeared, which is what prompted her frantic activity. Cheyennes friend, Natalie, is still in town and the two are determined to discover what is really happening.

This is a solid debut mystery with a creepy something-is-in-the-deep-dark-woods plot element. Cheyenne and Natalie are not about to fall for the local rumors when looking for the answers to the latest missing child, as well as the truth about the previous three missing children. Greene does a respectable job of creating suspense and developing her characters while presenting local superstitions and the fear running rampant in the small town.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2023/07/the-woods-are-waiting.html ( )

Blue Cliff is a small Appalachian town known as the town that “gobbles up” children because of the number of them who have gone missing in the woods and been found dead over the years. When she graduated high school, Cheyanne couldn’t wait to leave the town and her eccentric mother who believed in the legend of the Hickory Man who stalked the woods and perpetuated a number of superstitions to keep him away. Natalie had been Chey’s best friend and Jack her boyfriend. When she left Blue Cliff, she also abandoned them. Now, five years later when yet another child has gone missing after the assumed killer had been set free because found evidence exonerated him, Chey is called home by the police chief, a family friend, to tend to her mother who is getting more and more bizarre. The town is boiling over in anger at the release of the presumed killer, yet Chey and her two friends believe him to be innocent. Will they put their own lives in danger trying to seek the truth?

This is a great thriller debut by author Katherine Greene. The story is told from two POVs and takes place mostly in the present, although there is some going back in time as characters reflect on their earlier history. It is a slow burn that is atmospheric and spooky. The rituals that some of residents of the small town follow to keep their children safe from the Hickory Man are no different from superstitious practices that many people preserve. Chey’s mother’s belief in herbs, poppets, and other practices have foundations in so many cultures. Some may think they know the truth early in the read, but that doesn’t take away from an engrossing read and it may not be the entire story! ( )

The Woods are Waiting by Katherine Greene

Dark, creepy, unsettling story filled with local myth and legend that sees superstition filled townsfolk battling to keep their offspring safe from The Hickory Man.

What I liked:
* The woods as a character in the story
* The idea of using that beliefs can have a huge impact on a community
* Cheyenne, Natalie, and Jack – childhood friends that find themselves dealing with a sinister situation when they come together again after being apart for five years
* The plot, pacing, setting, and writing
* That all the mysteries and threads of the story are tied up neatly at the end of the story
* That even though I read the end and thought about not reading the middle, I am glad I read it all

What I didn’t like:
* Who and what I was meant not to like
* Thinking about how easily some can snuff out the lives of others
* After finishing the book, I wondered what Cheyenne had been doing for the years she had been away. I wondered if I had missed it or if it was missing from the book.

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars ( )