These Silent Woods - Kimi Cunningham Grant

 

 This story follows Cooper and Finch, father and daughter living in a remote cabin for the past 8 years.  It is the only life Finch knows and the two spend their days tending to their small flock of chickens, hunting, trapping, and reading the cabin's large selection of books.  No electricity, no running water, and no human contact except a neighbor named Scotland and Cooper's friend Jake who brings them supplies once a year.  This year, Jake doesn't show up on the designated day so Cooper and Finch much venture into town for supplies.   Finch is becoming increasingly interested in the world outside their secluded cabin and when she and Cooper spot a girl taking pictures in the woods, Finch latches on and can't understand why Cooper isn't interested in this new person.  This sets off a chain of events that may bring an end to their years of solitude.

TW/CW: PTSD, animal death, domestic violence

I overall enjoyed this story, but I think it is being a little mislabeled as a mystery/thriller.  I found this to be more of a general fiction book with some slight thriller elements in the last 25% of the book.  I think the description really plays up the dramatic plot points of Cooper and Finch's lives being threatened because of Jake not showing up with supplies, this mysterious stranger in the woods, and Cooper's past coming back to haunt him.  I was expecting a little more of a survival/isolation thriller with maybe some outside force tracking down to attack or kill Cooper and Finch.  In reality, this is a book mostly about a father trying to do his best for his daughter and there's some unfortunate events that happen almost as an accident that may put an end to Cooper and Finch's quiet life together. I think this was a really good story but I was disappointed that it wasn't quite the mystery/thriller I was expecting it to be.  I do also want to mention that I don't read a lot of just general fiction books so my gauge for some of the story-telling conventions for these types of stories may be a little off.

The highlight of this book was by-far the characters.  The book is from Cooper's POV, but I found all the secondary characters to be well developed and compelling.  Obviously, we mostly see Cooper with Finch, but we do see some moments with Scotland as well as flashbacks to Cooper with Jake when they served together in Afghanistan. We don't get a ton of information about the secondary characters outside of their connection/relationship/threat level to Cooper and Finch. I actually enjoyed that decision since we are so deep in Cooper's POV that he would be more focused on surviving and making sure he and Finch are safe.  Cooper was an Army Ranger and served 3 tours in Afghanistan so he does live with PTSD and we do see those struggles on-page.  I can't speak to the accuracy or authenticity of the representation, but I can say that the way Cooper deals with and struggles with his PTSD felt authentic to his character and didn't feel like simply a plot device (in the acknowledgement section, there was someone who reviewed these sections and helped to make them more accurate).   Finch is 8 years old and, as with most children in books, she comes across to me as a little mature and a little overly cutesy. It didn't bother me too much, but she really read more to me like a 12 year old than an 8 year old.  That being said, I really enjoyed her relationship with Cooper and it was refreshing to get a little glimpse of childhood wonder amongst Cooper's internal worry and dread.  Finch understands some of the dangers they face out in the woods, but she also gets excited about seeing a certain type of bird or being able to go sledding once the first snow falls. I feel like all of the secondary characters gave us different lenses to see Cooper through and his interactions and choices with each of them really helped give us a well-rounded view of him as a character. 

The pacing was my biggest issue and it felt a bit inconsistent. The first 75% of the book was pretty slow paced with us getting to really settle and see Cooper and Finch's relationship dynamic and how their lives are out in the wilderness. We do get some little pieces of the outside world slowly breaking through into their isolation and the panic that brings to Cooper.  However, I didn't find these little breakthrough moments to be necessarily building on each other to ramp up the tension.  The narrative then would shift back to Cooper and Finch's normal pretty quickly so even if Cooper was really worried about X interaction, that panic didn't seem to last long.  Then, the last 25% of the book really ramped up that danger feeling and the consequences of the previous moments sort of all came to a climax.  I found the pacing in the last 25% really fast and thus it felt really different and sort of detached from the earlier 75%.  I wish the smaller moments of danger built upon themselves better so that there was a consistent ramping up of tension and danger.  The main plot of the book only takes place over only about 2 weeks so all of these events happening so close together could very well put Cooper on edge, but I didn't get that sense of tension that I expected. Most of the book really seemed to be about Cooper and Finch's relationship and then these outside forces come to really force Cooper to face (some of) his demons and choices in life. I wish that either the first 75% spent more time building that tension and dread in Cooper or if the last 25% wasn't so drastically differently paced.  I thought both sides of the story were really compelling but they were really disconnected for me. 

The setting and background of this cabin in the Appalachian wilderness was really great. This was a very atmospheric read and I think a lot of that came from the amount of time we spend with Cooper and Finch outside.  I think there was a good balance of the realities of their living situation and the romanticized version of rustic living.  I also appreciated how focused Cooper was on making sure Finch was well cared for.  I was a little worried going into the book that it would be the situation where Cooper's mental state negatively impacted his daughter like we see sometimes in these types of stories.  Cooper isn't preparing for the end of the world and doesn't think the outside world is 'evil' or anything like we sometimes see.  Instead, this is the one place where Cooper feels he and Finch are safe from his past and he wants to be able to keep up this lifestyle for as long as possible.  The main plot of the book takes place in early December so the weather is turning more harsh and dangerous which, of course, mirrors the plot of the book and makes what may be a relatively low-stakes plot point suddenly more intense.  

Overall, I really enjoyed this story but it isn't my normal read so I think I wasn't quite the right audience for it.  This is much more of a general fiction book rather than the mystery/thriller that some people are labeling it.  This had some interesting thriller-y moments, but overall it was a story of a father trying to do right by his daughter. 

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for review

Expected publication date is November 16, 2021.