Missing People | Book Chatter

Heartwood
By Amity Gaige
Simon & Schuster, April 2025, 320pp.

The Short of It:

Riveting story with characters you wanna root for.

The Rest of It:

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. ~ from the publisher

I picked this book up on a whim. It was a late Thursday evening, and I had just turned the last page of my current read, so I went looking for something to quickly dive into. Heartwood was it.

Books set outdoors always appeal to me. I’m a desk jockey at work, so the idea of traipsing through a forest or along a trail makes my heart sing, especially when it’s happening in my imagination and there are no mosquitoes to deal with. Heartwood delivered that feeling beautifully.

From the start, there’s a very real sense of time slipping away. Valerie only has so much of it out on that trail. Lost, alone, and with limited supplies, the people searching for her are highly experienced, but they also know that with every passing day, every ticking minute, the chances of rescuing her alive grow slimmer. Very slim.

Beverly, a Maine State Game Warden, leads the search team on the ground. Then there’s Lena. At 76, she lives in an independent senior community, keeping mostly to herself and avoiding the other residents. But Valerie’s case catches her attention because the missing woman reminds her so much of her own daughter—whom she hasn’t seen in decades. Soon, Lena becomes an armchair detective, piecing together clues with the help of an anonymous online friend.

Friend? Or someone hiding behind a carefully constructed online persona?

I found this story to be just the right mix of personal backstories and the heart-pounding urgency of a clock running out. I flipped through the pages as fast as I could. What a satisfying read.

These days, with everything going on in the world, satisfying reads can be hard to come by. They have to compete with our busy minds and the constant stream of bad news around us. But Heartwood? It checked all the boxes.

Highly recommend.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

Beautiful Ugly
By Alice Feeney
Flatiron Books, Jan 2025, 320pp.

*No Spoilers*

The Short of It:

Not at all what I expected, but in a good way.

The Rest of It:

Grady calls his wife to share some exciting news as she is driving home. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by the cliff edge the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there. . . but his wife has disappeared. ~ the publisher

I was in bed, late one night trying to find something to read and happened upon Beautiful Ugly. It’s been on my list for awhile. I had no idea what it was about. I just knew that many have read it and it had pretty good reviews so I borrowed it from Libby and dove in.

I am not sure what I thought the story would be about but I didn’t expect suspense, or a whodunit. I was pleasantly surprised and yes, a tad confused. Grady’s life is upended when his wife goes missing on that fateful night. It was supposed to be a night to celebrate. He had just made the bestseller list and as a writer, there isn’t much that’s better than that.

But Abby, goes missing. The love of his life. On the phone one minute and then gone. Vanished. Some time passes. Grady is floundering. The success of his novel was satisfying but now he has to come up with a second novel and the ideas just aren’t there. His agent, a long time friend offers him a cabin on a small, Scottish island and encourages him to get away. A change of scenery will do wonders.

Grady isn’t so sure but his options are few. He’s down to his last few bucks and even his beloved black lab, Columbo looks at him questioningly. Like, dude, is this our life now? No, not if he can help it.

He heads to the island. It’s a whole production. There’s a ferry but it only heads in twice a week and the timetable seems to be made-up half the time and non-existent other times. He loads up his belongings and heads out. Then, he sees her. A woman in a red coat, just like Abby’s. Is it Abby? Could it be her after all this time?

When he arrives at the island. People are friendly enough but reserved and odd. Only 25 people on the entire island so he is definitely the main attraction as he forages for food and supplies. No internet. No phone lines. Remote. Isolated. Trapped.

Here, I tread carefully. The island is not what it seems but Grady can’t put his finger on why. He’s been drinking more and sleeping less. Imagination and truth become intermingled. As a writer, he can easily convince himself that something is amiss. I mean, he is a storyteller and looks for these kinds of clues all the time. Nothing makes sense. Who can he trust while on this island? Anyone?

I was successfully led by the hand through this story. It’s a page turner and will leave you scratching your head. What the heck is going on?? Is Grady losing his mind? Is he dreaming? I was surprised at the end. I didn’t see that coming. As the story unravels, it becomes a tad less believable but you won’t notice because you will be racing through it to figure it out.

Recommend.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

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