Cheyenne left Blue Cliff and never planned to return. But when she gets the call that her eccentric mother isn’t doing well, Cheyenne packs up her life and heads back home.

Blue Cliff is a place of tragedy. Many times over many years, children have gone missing and then been found dead. Superstitions fly rampant, especially as another child goes missing. Cheyanne, her childhood best friend, and her first love must figure out what is truly going on, before another child disappears.

The first chapter of the book is written in an over the top, way too cliched style. But I’m glad I pushed past that, because the rest of the book is written really well. This story is very suspenseful, with an eerie factor and a twist ending I did not see coming. I would recommend this book.

This book starts off with a particular trope laid out before you: the reluctant return to a small town where something has happened before, and a family member is still there, connecting you and that incident, and something is amiss and seems to be history repeating. I was anticipating that this book could go either way – into a horror crime with supernatural elements based on the history of the olde town of Blue Cliff, Virginia, and the Hickory Man (which reminded me of The Chestnut Man by Soren Sveistrup – go read it!!!) , or to become a heightened horror/serial killer story. The idea of the Hickory man, and the superstitions to protect you like the salt at the doorsteps, the herbs sprinkled everywhere, and the created effigies were all mesmerising and creepy. These little traditions and the general eeriness of this little Virginian town were great in shaping the location of this story.
What didn’t work were some of the characters. Cheyenne Ashby is the prodigal daughter. Her estranged bestie Natalie and her fiancé Hunter seem like trivial characters. Cheyenne’s ex flame, Jack didn’t add a lot of depth to the story, and the reconnection between Natalie, Cheyenne and Jack seemed a little to quick for me. Possibly as a set up for what was to come. The points of view from Cheyenne and Natalie provide a split-personality narrative, and end up meshing together into the same narrative, possibly to strengthen the history between the two women. I think a deeper story like between them based on the history of the town could have really punched the story up to another level. It also became too easy to spot the villain and for a potential serial killer on the loose, this is where I was anticipating at less predictable and more shocking link between the town, the Ashby family, and the Blue Cliff woods.

🪙🪙🪙.5
“The Woods are Waiting” is an eerie whodunnit that takes place in a small town at the foothills of the Appalachians. Blue Cliff gives off a hillbilly vibe. With its strange residents and peculiar traditions and superstitions, the town has a sense of halted-time years ago.

BOOK QUOTE:
“Keep silver in your pockets,
Walk with dirt in your shoes,
Or he’ll poke your eyeballs from their sockets,
And boil your bones in stew.
Stay away from the hickories,
Stay away from the trees,
Don’t sing, don’t shout, don’t run about,
Or he’ll never let you leave.
Watch out for his rough fingers,
His eyes as red as blood,
Whisper a prayer, you’ll need them there,
As he pulls you into the mud.”

Children are warned to stay out of Ashby Woods because of The Hickory Man. For years, children have gone missing and been found murdered in the woods. Some town folk believe in the local legend while others blame an outsider. The Clinton family moved into the area with their son Jasper who never fit in. Jasper was convicted of several murders but his conviction was overturned after serving several years.

Cheyenne, Natalie, and Jackson find themselves in a sticky situation when they stumble across evidence of town secrets. This is when the story becomes intense and suspenseful. I had my suspicions pretty early in the book and I was correct. Just a hunch due to hints the authors dropped.

I would compare this story to Alex North and Soren Sveistrup. You might want to give it a try if you enjoyed their work. It’s filled with generations of superstitions and traditions. A slow and steady pace at the beginning fills readers in on the backstory until it gets closer to the conclusion and picks up speed.

Sincere thanks to Crooked Lane Books for providing this Gifted ARC through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

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3.5 stars

This book was not bad. Set in the mountains of Appalachia a small town has a booger man living in the woods. The author sets up "the Hickory Man" so well. It was sooo creepy and I totally could see his booger butt coming out of the woods at times.

The police chief of the small town calls Cheyenne and tells her that another kid in her town is missing and her mom is not doing well. Well this small town has the secrets. Groups of three...kids taken then found murdered.
Cheyenne's mom believes that she and her family line have to keep the town safe by practicing some witchy ways.

The wrap up was kinda lame but then the last sentence of the book kinda mad me go "oooohhh"

Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review.

"There was a sense of belonging that blossomed between people who had grown up together. They understood you in a way no one else could."

If you've ever felt a tug back to your hometown despite recognizing all its flaws, The Woods are Waiting is the book for you. It embodies the need to get away from small-town drama while also acknowledging the hold that town will always have over you.

The Woods are Waiting is a quick read at 288 pages. It's short length is unfortunately its downfall. Katherine Greene did such a great job setting the scene of a small town with secrets, but I wanted more back story. We are thrown into the story when Cheyenne returns from five years away. I wanted to learn more about Cheyenne, Jack, and Natalie - Their friendship was summed up so quickly! Maybe more stories about the games they played in the woods, or how Jack and Cheyenne fell in love. Even some back story on Hunter and Natalie would have been great because they seemed like a very odd couple and I'm not quite sure how they stayed together for so long.

Despite wanting more, I did really enjoy the ending which was the redeeming quality of this book. Greene did a wonderful job dropping little hints throughout the book to lead up to the big reveal so the plot twist doesn't completely blindside the reader. She left enough nuggets of information that the suspect could have been a number of people in Blue Cliffs or even the Hickory Man.

3.5 /5 stars rounded up

Katherine Greene's (pen name of two friends in the UK) debut, THE WOODS ARE WAITING, is a creepy dark, strange twisted suspense whodunit set in rural Blue Cliff, Virginia.

Discover more about the town at the center of their upcoming book by visiting: Blue Cliff, Virginia.

Set in a small rural town in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains, Cheyenne Ashby left her hometown of Blue Cliff, Virginia, to escape the town's dark history and haunted past years ago. The Ashbys took care of the town, and in turn, the town took care of the Ashbys.

Her eccentric mother, Constance Ashby, had always been a force to be reckoned with. She scared her to death most of the time. The town calls her a witch and always performs unusual customs to keep away the evil spirits lurking in the woods.

There are childhood rhymes of killings, kidnappings, and how to stay safe near the woods. Children are innocent, beautiful, and carefree. They are loved by their parents, neighbors, and friends, with their lives full of promise and endless possibilities.

Their mothers warned them to stay away from the woods. However, children are eager to discover for themselves the evil that lay outside their homes, no matter the consequences.

Five years earlier, three missing children's bodies were found in the woods, and a man named Jasper was arrested for their brutal murders. The police chief Donald Hickman called her to let her know her mom was not doing well after a boy went missing. Cheyenne does not want to return home. She has a life, but she returns reluctantly.

Like the ones before him, Dakota Mason had ventured into the woods and never came out. Like Olivia, Michael, and Danielle, it was as if he had vanished into thin air. There were legends, superstitions, and supernatural.

However, something sinister was happening, and Cheyenne and Natalie are determined to discover the truth and uncover the town’s dangerous secrets rooted in its terrifying past.

I am not a fan of supernatural, creepy, or ghoulish. THE WOODS ARE WAITING is dark, weird, depressing, and eerie—this book was not for me.

I listened to the audio version and did not care for Angie Hickman, the narrator with the country accent, which ground on my nerves, and I could not listen past the first chapter—I had to stop and try and get through the e-book. I do not recommend the audio.

A whodunit, but I guessed the murderer straightaway. This book may be for some but not my cup of tea. In my opinion, this book was nothing like Lisa Jewell and Ruth Ware which the book description compared.

Thanks to Crooked Lane Books for an ARC and Dreamscape Media for an ALC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Blog Review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 3 Stars
Pub Date: July 11, 2023

3,5 stars

Thank you #netgalley and #crookedlanebooks for my DRC!

𝐾𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑜𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑡𝑠, 𝑊𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑒𝑠, 𝑂𝑟 ℎ𝑒’𝑙𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑘𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑏𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑡𝑠, 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑤.

It was a slow burn, so it took me a while to get into the story. But as I got to know the characters, the story gained momentum.

Unfortunately, I felt that there was nothing noteworthy happening for most of the book, so my attention kept waning.

Cheyenne returns to her hometown after a phone call from a family friend who also happens to be the sheriff. Another child has gone missing and her mother is not taking it very well.

The history of Blue Cliff is well known to true crime lovers. For almost a century now children have gone missing, claimed by the Hickory Man in the woods surrounding them, or so the legend says.

The more recent disappearance of three children still weighs heavy on Cheyenne’s mind. Now a little boy is missing and when Cheyenne finds his body in the woods with a penny in his pocket and dirt in his shoes, the legend seems to reaffirm itself. Her mother acting very weird doesn’t seem to help.

But does the Hickory Man really exist or is he just a figment of the imagination of superstitious folk?

Although there were plenty of red herrings I did actually work out what was going on, although I couldn’t understand why!

Quite atmospheric but far too slow for my personal taste.

I would still recommend it to anyone looking for an atmospheric thriller with supernatural folklore woven into the story.

This book gave me literal chills!

I love a thriller that flirts with the paranormal, where it's hard to tell myth and horror stories from reality. Being isolated in the middle of dense, dark woods is creepy enough already, but when you add dead children and a haunting monster of legends, the story you get is simply terrifying!

Blue Cliff, Virginia, is the town that gobbles up children. For the past centuries, dozens of children have gone missing or have turned up dead in the woods surrounding Blue Cliff. The locals blame the "Hickory Man", an evil creature of legends that supposedly lives in the woods and feeds on the young.

The narrators are Cheyenne and Natalie, two best friends who have grown apart when Cheyenne up and left the town five years ago. But now, Cheyenne is back in town: another child has gone missing and Cheyenne's mother is not doing well. I loved seeing the two ex-best friends find their way back to each other and team up, with their other best friend and Cheyenne's ex-boyfriend, to solve the case of the murdered children.

I really enjoyed this book and it totally freaked me out at times! The beginning was a bit slow, but it definitely picks up!

I really recommend this book to fans of thrillers and horror books!

After several years, Cheyenne returns to the town where she was born and raised, and from which she run away practically without telling anyone, including her best childhood friends. While there, she learns that another child has gone missing in the woods. Children always disappeared in this neighborhood, always three of them one after another. Is there supernatural powers involved, or is it just a common human serial killer? In a town where everyone knows everyone and suspects all sorts of things, the answer to this question may not be easy.

Chey's mother is something of a local witch. Witchcraft is essential to this story and is constantly present whether in the foreground or in the background. Throughout, there is the possibility that supernatural forces may be responsible for the murders of young children in the area. The whole town has lived in superstition for centuries, and Chey's mother constantly performs her magical rituals. The townspeople seem to believe it too. In my opinion, this gives the whole story a unique character.

Two close friends, Cheyenne and Nathalie, guide us through this story. I think Natalie is a little better shaped as a character. Cheyenne, although she is the main character of the book, is not that multidimensional and I didn't always know exactly what she wants. Although it may also be because Chey herself seems lost and unsure of her place and who she actually is.

In the end, the person responsible for the evil in the area turned out to be exactly the person I had suspected from the beginning, so it was no surprise to me. At least to me it seemed obvious all along. Still, the author made a significant attempt to point out to some other potential suspects. I wasn't surprised by the villain's motives either, but I still think they fit the story.

Overall, it is a really good story about the evil that lurks in the darkness of the woods. I recommend it to people who want to feel the thrill.

The Woods are Waiting was another book about someone coming back to their hometown and things going being just the same. Cheyenne did that. She comes back and the woods are still the same. They are still taking children. You have your people who are happy to see her. You have your people who are mad at her for the sin of leaving. You have a crazy family she’s trying to escape. The premise was done before. But it was done in a creepy enough way to be enjoyable.

Interesting small town murder story, but a warning that this is very slow paced. If you don't mind books like that, then this could be a good fit for you.

Creepy, with good atmosphere and a nicely drawn small town setting where children have gone missing for years. In that way it reminded me a little of The Last to Vanish by Megan Miranda.

Interesting, and will keep an eye on this debut author!

📚 ARC Review 📚

Title: The Woods Are Waiting
Author: Katherine Greene
Genre: Thriller
Published: 11the July 2023

My thoughts

Well this was one hell of a creepy read by new to me author Katherine Greene. I was drawn in by the blurb as I love books that revolve around folklore and superstition.

Keep silver in your pockets,
Walk with dirt in your shoes,
Or he’ll poke your eyeballs from their sockets,
And boil your bones in stew.

Stay away from the hickories,
Stay away from the trees,
Don’t sing, don’t shout, don’t run about,
Or he’ll never let you leave.

Watch out for his rough fingers,
His eyes as red as blood,
Whisper a prayer, you’ll need them there,
As he pulls you into the mud.

The children of Blue Cliff were brought up singing macabre nursery rhymes. They always carried silver coins, had dirt in their shoes and would never to venture into the woods alone. If they did they would be taken by The Hickory Man, just as children had been taken before. Cheyenne has returned to Blue Cliff after suddenly leaving town 5 years ago. She's drawn back as another child has gone missing.

The story is told from the POVs of Cheyenne and Natalie who are old childhood besties but haven't seen each other since Cheyenne up and left town five years ago. There are also flashbacks to childhood memories which build up a history of how it was growing up in this town.

I loved the slow burn of this mystery. The scenes in the woods felt oppressive, eerie and atmospheric. I would definitely have stayed away from the trees if I lived in this town. Some of the characters were fairly oppressive too!

There some lovely twists as you would expect from a thriller but some were little predictable. The ending was was satisfying though and I would definitely be interested in reading more from this author.

Thank you to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with a copy to read and review.

If you are looking for a slightly creepy story that is not too scary, look no further. The atmosphere is eerie and sinister and you keep asking yourself is there something supernatural in the woods or is it something even more disturbing.

Blue Cliff is a rural village with a long history of missing children. The families there are a tight knit community and they look out for each other. They all know about the obscure figure of the Hickory Man who roams the woods and sometimes gets bloodthirsty and snaps children away. Cheyenne Ashby fled the village years ago. She belongs to a family whose task it is to protect the people of the Hickory Man. Chey’s Mum throws herbs wherever she goes and gives handmade protection symbols to everybody she meets. When a child goes missing again Chey is called back to Blue Cliff to look after her mother who clearly can’t cope anymore with it. There she has to face her old friends she left behind and the dark history that surrounds Blue Cliff – and her family.

This book is a slow burner. The tension builds up slowly but it increases from chapter to chapter. The setting is claustrophobic and just enough spooky to keep you on toes without being afraid to put the lights out at night. I grew up in a city and always was a bit afraid of walking in the woods alone. And after reading this book I will stay afraid of it. You never know who or what is lurking inside.

Thank you Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the chance to read an advance copy of The woods are waiting by Katherine Greene. This was a creepy read, that kept me reading. The pacing was a bit slow, and in some parts a bit predictable, but overall it was an enjoyable read.

Special thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

This book had a creepy feeling to it. Steeped in nursery rhymes and the local legend of The Hickory Man who takes children.

Basically, The Hickory Man kills children
When Natalie vcomes back to town to help her ailing mother, she is steeped in mystery and creepiness. It's perfect for the fall or maybe I thought that bc of the cover. Creepy but if you're looking for terrifying, the scare factor is low on my totem pole. Still, the story was ok!

Just another book I was looking forward to reading that was kind of disappointing. It reminded me of a few other book I had read recently that I enjoyed more, unfortunately.

This chilling story centers around a small community in rural Virginia where children have been being taken and murdered on and off for close to one hundred years. Local folklore talks about the Hickory Man and suggests he will take the children if they venture into the woods alone and off the set path. When yet another child goes missing, the small community is thrown into an uproar.

There are three friends who are now grown that all have memories of what they believe to have been close encounters with the Hickory Man when they were younger. But yet, one of them fights the belief that it's real and wants to find a logical explanation while the others feel that the folk tales may have more credence that they want to admit. The entire town is in chaos and looking for someone to blame and at this point, anyone is fair game.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: The narration was fairly good. When the narrator went to do Cheyenne's mother's voice, it always sounded like she was screeching and was difficult to listen to. When the narrator was doing the main voices and so forth, all was fine. The story itself was setup well for an audiobook. 4 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for early copies of both the audiobook and ebook. I voluntarily chose to review them and the opinions contained within are my own.

The pacing of this book was slow to start. Cheyenne Ashby comes back to her small hometown after 5 years away at the request of the police chief to help her mother who is struggling with the recent disappearance of a young boy. She is wary to come back knowing her eccentric and superstitious mother is the talk of the town. Constance Ashby believes in the local legend of the Hickory Man and does her best to protect everyone from his evil ways. We also get the POV of Natalie, Cheyenne's best friend that has stayed when Cheyenne left without a word to anyone.

There is a lot of buildup and drama, and then at just past the halfway point the creepiness and suspense starts. I felt like the reveal was a bit predictable, but it was good and fit with the creepy town. Another good re-telling of the boogeyman in the woods.

If you're a fan of spooky, atmospheric reads that gradually build suspense, look no further. This book offers a setting that is both claustrophobic and haunting, making it a perfect addition to your autumn reading list. While the narrative occasionally becomes repetitive, as we hear similar things from multiple points of view, the pacing picks up significantly around the 60% mark, delivering a thrilling ride.

Although I found the identity of the villain to be predictable, their monologue felt somewhat disjointed and unbalanced compared to the rest of the story. Nevertheless, this book is a definite win overall. I'm eagerly anticipating the author's next release, curious to see what captivating tale she will weave next. Don't miss out on this engaging read that will keep you on the edge of your seat!

The Woods are Waiting is a slow burning spooky read perfect for fall. The setting is claustrophobic and creepy and becomes as much a character as Cheyenne and Natalie. The book is written from dual viewpoints which can feel repetitive at times but the story really takes off around the 60% mark. The Woods are Waiting is a thrilling debut to add to your spooky tbr.