The God of the Woods Audiobook By Liz Moore cover art

The God of the Woods

A Novel

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The God of the Woods

By: Liz Moore
Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
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A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER and ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES’S NOTABLE BOOKS OF THE YEAR

A NEW YORK TIMES "BEST THRILLER" and "BEST CRIME NOVEL" OF THE YEAR

PEOPLE MAGAZINE’S #1 BOOK OF THE YEAR

ONE OF NPR’S “BOOKS WE LOVE”

ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE’S “100 MUST-READ BOOKS”

“Extraordinary . . . Reminds me of Donna Tartt’s 1992 debut, The Secret History . . . I was so thoroughly submerged in a rich fictional world, that for hours I barely came up for air.” —Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air, NPR

“This expertly paced thriller …has the kineticism of a well-crafted miniseries.” —The New Yorker

When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide

Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.

As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.


* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF that contains a map from the book.

Accolades & Awards

Goodreads Choice Award
2024
Editors Select
Most Popular
Anthony Award
2025
Anthony Award Editors Select Family Life Goodreads Choice Award Literary Fiction Women's Voices Suspenseful Mystery Psychological Genre Fiction Exciting Scary

Mic Check with Saskia Maarleveld

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Editorial Review

“When lost, sit down and yell”
I’ve been a huge fan of Liz Moore since her memorable novel Long Bright River wowed me in 2020. It also kept me up all night, speed-listening until I finished the last chapter. When I heard Moore was releasing a new novel, not only did I know that The God of the Woods would be an auto-download, I was also prepared for another sleepless night. And sleep I did not. This haunting and heartbreaking story centers on a 13-year-old camper who goes missing 14 years after her older brother vanished in the same Adirondack woods. Alternating between present day and flashback, Saskia Maarleveld’s narration is captivating, echoing the story’s eerie atmospheric tension and rich complex characters. Her ability to convey deep emotions and suspense enriches this thrilling journey through one family’s troubled legacy that builds to a dramatic final act. I would gladly forgo another night of sleep to go back and listen to this one from the beginning again. — Margaret H., Audible Editor

Unexpected Twists • Complex Mystery • Excellent Character Differentiation • Compelling Storyline • Emotional Expressiveness

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Long Bright River is one of my all time favorite books. Unfortunately The God isn’t the same. Tragic family story but leaves characters unfinished and has lots of side stories then has a simple ending that leaves other characters unfinished. I am sad to leave a negative review.

Okay just okay

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Excellent reader, but I found it to be a bit scattered in terms of development of the characters. Some of the plot-lines seemed hackneyed to me.

Okay mystery

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I was very excited to read this book. There was a lot of suspense and build up but then kinda fizzled for me. I wanted to love it based on all the hype but I only just liked it.

Cover art is awesome. And great title

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I listened to this one due to all of the "best of the year" nominations and quite frankly was disappointed. Firstly, it takes a long time to get going and unfortunately the characters aren't interesting enough during the slow beginning. Once the main story finally kicks in, it does so with a whimper and never ramps up. If you are going to have a slow burn of a novel, the main characters better be damn interesting and, other than the female detective, none of them were. By no means is this a bad novel, it is very well written, but I just don't get all of the hype for what turned out to be a very "basic" missing person story. To me, All the Colors of the Dark is still the one to beat.

Overly Praised Mystery

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I almost didn’t finish this book and had to restart listening to it several times. The author used multiple points of view and jumped back and forth between different time lines in a way that I found very distracting and hard to get into. I ultimately finished more out of curiosity than any real interest. Rich people can live miserable lives and bad things happen. No great insight there. It’s not the worst book I’ve listened to but it wasn’t very satisfying. I can’t recommend it.

Choppy and Disjointed Storytelling

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