The God of the Woods: A Novel

Liz Moore

Jul 2024 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Saskia Maarleveld

About this audiobook

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.

Ratings and reviews

The mysteries of this story didn't turn out predictably or telegraph themselves, which is a very nice change of pace compared to most mystery / investigation stories I have been exposed to. I also really enjoyed the pacing of how we, the readers, were introduced to new information, both about th mysteries and about the characters. The characters were nicely layered, and I enjoyed the character building in this quite a bit. Very few characters are simple. Almost everyone we are introduced to has some level of nuance, not totally good or totally bad.

a bit slow and a little confusing.... but attention-keeping for sure.

An important message on the danger of greed.

About the author

Liz Moore is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The God of the Woods and Long Bright River, as well as the acclaimed novels Heft and The Unseen World. A winner of the Rome Prize in Literature, she lives in Philadelphia.