Heartwood takes you on a journey as a search and rescue team race against time when an experienced hiker mysteriously disappears on the Appalachian Trail in Maine.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.
I have been doing an Appalachian Trail (AT) challenge on my Garmin for three years and am almost to the "end." I cannot imagine the commitment and perseverance it takes to hike the AT for real. Valerie set off on the AT as a way to heal from the horrors of COVID.
Told in alternating chapters, we hear from Valerie, as well as those searching for her. It made for an engrossing story. And it also made me really glad that I am not really hiking the Appalachian Trail.
Details:
- Heartwood by Amity Gaige
- Pages: 320
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster
- Publication Date: 4/1/2025
- Buy it Here!
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