Publishers Weekly
12/16/2013
Printz honoree Christopher (Stolen) returns with another tense and nimbly crafted psychological thriller. Last summer, Emily Shepherd's father, a veteran suffering from paralyzing PTSD, returned home carrying the corpse of Emily's high school acquaintance Ashlee Parker. Now he's on trial for Ashlee's murder. Though Emily believes in her father's innocence, few others do, and Emily's association with her father leads to her ostracism. The narrative alternates between the perspectives of Emily and Damon, Ashlee's boyfriend, who awoke the morning after her death hungover and with little memory of the previous night. Embittered by the death of his own father in the war, Damon blames Emily for the added pain of losing Ashlee. Christopher gracefully explores the agony of combat-related PTSD, its effects on its sufferers and their families, and the capacity for violence, while refraining from making the novel feel issue-driven. Despite the growing attraction between Damon and Emily, they keep their secrets and memories to themselves, investigating Ashlee's death separately, which maintains an intriguing duality. Two meticulously constructed voices assemble a dark and unnerving puzzle in this immersive mystery. Ages 14–up. (Jan.)
From the Publisher
Praise for THE KILLING WOODS:*"A gripping, heartbreaking, emotionally substantial look at war wounds and the allure of danger."—KIRKUS REVIEWS, starred review"[A] tense and nimbly crafted psychological thriller."—PUBLISHERS WEEKLY Praise for STOLEN:"Complicated and beautiful — it left me doubting my emotions and missing a place I'd never been." —Maggie Stiefvater"All the tension of lightning, all the terror of thunder. A stunning, scary, and beautiful book." —John Marsden*"An emotionally raw thriller...a haunting account of captivity and the power of relationships." —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, starred reviewMichael L. Printz Honor BookALA Best Fiction for Young AdultsUSBBY Outstanding International Book
School Library Journal - Audio
05/01/2014
Gr 9 Up—Emily Shepherd used to like Darkwood, the forest near her school, where her friends run cross-country and play sexier, more dangerous games at night. When Emily's father emerges from the woods carrying Ashlee Parker's dead body, he becomes the prime suspect in her death. Emily finds it hard to believe, even though he suffers from PTSD and has a hidden bunker filled with disturbing drawings. Damon, Ashlee's boyfriend, was with her that night, but so addled by drugs that he can't remember what happened. Damon returns to the woods to recreate their last hours and maybe find evidence to soothe his troubled conscience. Fiona Hardingham and Shaun Grindell voice Emily and Damon in alternating chapters and capture the disturbing qualities of this mystery/thriller. The conclusion satisfies, though some may guess what happened before it is revealed. Listeners who like their stories dark but not hopeless will likely enjoy this reading.—Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX
MARCH 2014 - AudioFile
An Afghanistan veteran with PTSD arrives home one dark and stormy night carrying the body of a teenage girl. The events of that night are revealed through the accounts of his daughter, narrated by Fiona Hardingham, and the girl's boyfriend, narrated by Shaun Grindell. Hardingham is totally convincing as the bewildered and distraught Emily, who believes her father to be innocent. But Grindell, though impassioned and youthful in voice, sounds more Australian than English, and he gives Emily a voice that sounds more vintage than contemporary. If the listener can get past this, the story is compelling and atmospheric, and the authorial voice strong. C.A.T. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2013-11-20
This taut, psychologically realistic murder mystery knits trauma, danger, tragedy and hope into one cohesive tale. In a horrifying opening scene, Emily watches her father return from the forest carrying what looks like an injured deer but turns out to be a girl--dead. Dad's having a flashback to the military event that gave him PTSD. As a soldier, he'd accidentally killed a civilian; did he kill this girl, Ashlee, as well? Ashlee's boyfriend, Damon, awakens hung over the next morning, confused that Ashlee's not in his bed. They'd been in Darkwood the night before with his mates, playing the Game. Ashlee gave Damon hallucinogenic drugs, and he can't remember how the night--or the Game--ended. Damon and Emily alternate chapters in distinct first-person voices. Damon's traumatized by Ashlee's murder and his father's military death; Emily's devastated that her sometimes-violent yet "scared of everything" father--possibly innocent--is pleading guilty to manslaughter. Darkwood's thick forest, high peak and leftover war bunker make a vivid setting. Readers will be riveted by slow, potent reveals about the rough nature of the Game, Ashlee's insistence on danger and adrenaline, and what happened that night. The answers hurt, but they feel right and they make sense. A sprout of hope at the end is fragile and unforced. A gripping, heartbreaking, emotionally substantial look at war wounds and the allure of danger. (Mystery. 14 & up)
