Eli North’s life is in shambles when he takes a pity job offer from his mom, sheriff of their resort town in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. A former elite federal investigator, Eli now bears physical and emotional wounds from his army tour in Afghanistan that has led to substance abuse and the dissolution of his once happy family. As he struggles to gain his bearings in his new role as a small town deputy, Eli responds to a call for a noise complaint at one of the town’s resorts only to discover the dead body of one teen and reports of another who is missing, both from some of the town’s affluent summer families. Eli and the town’s small, resource strapped police department are soon over their heads embroiled in a complicated murder investigation.
Northwoods is a well plotted, well paced debut thriller. There are a lot of moving pieces to this story and I personally would have appreciated further development in some areas, but as is there’s a good balance of character and plot that will appeal to many readers. I appreciated the well rendered Northwoods setting and overall found the story very engaging and right in the zone of what I’m looking for in a thriller.
Northwoods would be perfect for your beach/travel/pool bag or backyard reading stack with its summer resort town setting.
Also recommended for fans of True Detective: Night Country. I couldn’t help but picture Jodie Foster as the sheriff in this story!
Tell me: what type of books do you prefer this time of year?
I read a mix, as always, but warm weather reading often has me reaching for more plottier thrillers and romances than usual!
That Bookish Life 