finished reading

Although I live in Maine, I am NOT outdoorsy.  This book made me appreciate people who tackle the Appalachian Trail, Maine Game Wardens, and the power of online communities.  I have several students who are Game Wardens, so I know how rigorous it is.

This is a literary thriller.  Much more literary than I expected.  Wonderfully descriptive passages from each of the three narrative threads kept me invested in how the stories would play out.  Although it's a story of wilderness survival, it's about the bonds of mothers and daughters.  Each narrative thread portrays a different maternal experience.

Lt. Beverly Miller is a complex character, dedicated to her job as one of the first female Game Wardens in Maine.  Her drive to find Valerie Gillis, the lost hiker, put me on the edge of my seat.  Valerie's experience was harrowing as the physical toll played out.  And Lena Kucharski was an interesting character who brought the story full circle, although I disliked her.

From the publisher:

In the heart of the Maine woods, an experienced Appalachian Trail hiker goes missing. She is forty-two-year-old Valerie Gillis, who has vanished 200 miles from her final destination. Alone in the wilderness, Valerie pours her thoughts into fractured, poetic letters to her mother as she battles the elements and struggles to keep hoping.

At the heart of the investigation is Beverly, the determined Maine State Game Warden tasked with finding Valerie, who leads the search on the ground. Meanwhile, Lena, a seventy-six-year-old birdwatcher in a Connecticut retirement community, becomes an unexpected armchair detective. Roving between these compelling narratives, a puzzle emerges, intensifying the frantic search, as Valerie’s disappearance may not be accidental.