★★★

A family’s weekend getaway turns into a horrific nightmare in the Canadian wilderness. When Sarah wakes up, she cannot find her husband, Matthew. Stranded with her two young children in the midst of a brewing storm, she feels helpless. Fortunately, a widower out on the lake rescues Sarah and her kids, enabling them to alert local rescue teams to search for Matthew.

However, Sarah’s evasiveness during the police interview immediately makes her a suspect, and it’s clear she’s hiding something. When Matthew’s case shifts to a passive search and he is essentially declared a missing person, Sarah reconnects with her sister. Together, they try to shield the children, Bella and Charlie, from the worst of the investigation and the growing suspicions of the police. As Sarah sorts through the family’s documents to make sense of their situation, she uncovers a mysterious key—one that will change her life forever.

This is a strong mystery debut!

Tamara L. Miller does a fantastic job of describing the rugged Canadian wilderness. Her love for and experience with the outdoors clearly shine through. I appreciated the hint of local folklore, but I wish it had been expanded just a bit more, as I believe it could have enhanced the story overall.

There were a few minor inconsistencies that can be forgiven in a debut, but the ending felt a bit flat for me. I also want to address that this is not a suspenseful psychological thriller, as claimed in the blurb. As a reader, I find this kind of mislabeling incredibly frustrating, and I don’t think it serves the author’s best interests.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tamara L. Miller for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

📚 PRE-PUBLICATION BOOK REVIEW 📚

Into The Fall By Tamara L. Miller
Publication Date: February 1, 2025
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

📚MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this #gifted e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

📚MY REVIEW:

Into The Fall is an atmospheric, tension-filled domestic thriller filled with secrets! I was SHOCKED to learn this was Miller's debut novel, as she really seemed to masterfully share the mystery within this story.

This book is about Sarah and Matthew, who take their two children on a canoeing and camping trip to a remote part of Ottawa, Canada. While camping, Matthew inexplicably goes missing. When questioned by local law enforcement and encouraged to share everything with them, Sarah decides to keep the recent troubles in their marriage a secret because she knows Matthew will be back soon. As time goes on, the reader soon discovers that there were so many more secrets in their marriage than just some recent troubles.

I felt like this book could be divided into two parts: the first half leads up to a massive secret about Matthew... And the second half is about the unraveling that this secret causes in the life of Sarah and the family. This was such a fast read, with multiple timelines and different POVs of the story's characters. I loved the way the multiple timelines shared the secrets in slow bits until everything came together. I wish the ending would have potentially had a little more depth to it - I felt like after waiting so long to find out what really happened, I wished I could have had just a little more. However, I enjoyed the epilogue immensely!

If you're a fan of missing person reads, books that take place in remote settings, or domestic thrillers about shocking family secrets...Into The Fall will easily be a book you'll love!!

#IntoTheFall #TamaraLMiller #ThomasandMercer #NetGalley #NetGalleyReviews #ARCs #thrilleraddict #thrillerlover #mystery #booklover #bookreviews #bookrecs #bookrecommendations

Sarah is loving an average life - work going much better than her personal life. Then, her husband - who plays a role in their failing marriage, goes missing during a family vacation. Eerie vibes as she is lost in the Canadian wilderness. Isolation during a storm coming raises the stakes.

She gets some help from a lawyer to find her husband, but feels she is the only one working to actually find him. She is questioned as the prime suspect at first by the police, and in her search for the truth, she reconnects with other family along the way. You get a glimpse at their relationship with past POV in addition to the present going through the search.

This was just okay for me - I liked the premise and the mystery of what really happened to Matthew. I also love the past to present POV to give the whole picture. I would read more and give this author a change with another novel.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Release date 2/1/25

Into the Fall by Tamara L. Miller is a gripping psychological thriller that explores the unraveling of both a marriage and a woman’s sense of self. When Sarah Anderson’s husband, Matthew, disappears during a family vacation in the remote Canadian wilderness, she is thrust into a world of uncertainty and danger. As she embarks on a year-long search for him, she faces not only the harsh elements of the Canadian Shield but also the hidden fractures in her own life, relationships, and past. Miller masterfully combines suspense with emotional depth, creating a narrative that’s as much about self-discovery as it is about mystery. With vivid descriptions of the wild terrain and sharp, nuanced characters, this novel keeps readers on edge while exploring themes of loss, identity, and the dark truths we often hide from ourselves.

I can’t believe that this is a debut author! This twisty full of secrets page turner feels like it was written by a seasoned author. I can’t wait to read what Tamara L. Miller comes up with next.

This debut novel was definitely a read in one sitting, page-turner for me. It was a mix of thriller, family drama, and lots of secrets. Without giving too much away, the book centers on Sarah, a married mother of two, who runs a theater company in Canada. One fall weekend she joins her husband and children on a camping trip in the Canadian forest. On the second morning of the trip, Sarah and her children wake up to find her husband Matthew missing from their campsite with no evidence where he went. After calling the police, a forest-wide search starts, leading to more questions than answers.

The book is told in a past and present timeline, which I really enjoyed. When Sarah starts to put pieces together, she is stunned with what her reality could be. Over all this was a great debut book and loved the characters and concept. I highly recommend to my psychological/ thriller friends. Publishing 2/1/25.

I wanted to say thank you to the author, Tamara L. Miller, NetGalley and the publisher Thomas & Mercer for this advanced reader copy of Into The Fall.

This moves back and forth in time to tell the story of Sarah and her husband Matthew who disappears while the couple and their children are on a camping trip. Matthew has secrets. So does Sarah but leaving them without a canoe and with a blizzard on the way, well, that's too much. Veteran thriller readers might not find some of the twists too surprising but Miller has added atmospherics to ramp things up. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

During a family camping trip into the Canadian wilderness, father/husband Matthew disappears in the night without a trace. Some of the details don’t seem to add up in his wife Sarah’s story, and police begin to question her motive. The story is engaging and fast pasted, with several twists along the way to keep you guessing.

Although this book kept my interest, the storyline and mystery fell flat for me. I kept wanting more from it. However, I really enjoyed the setting descriptions, especially as it takes place near my hometown.

2.5 stars. It was okay.

This one took some time to get going, picked up pace, but fizzled out in the end. I felt the husband’s PoV was sort of a cheat; if we were going to see it through his eyes anyway, why drag it out? I wasn’t a fan of the many PoVs, in fact. Also, “ya” instead of “yeah” was oddly jarring!

I was given the opportunity to read this book prior to the release date. I love a good mystery, and the book captivates your attention from the start. The book begins with the Sarah’s husband going missing while they are on a camping trip. I liked that the book hooked you in from the beginning. The story also alternated between the past and present which I liked, and also by the end had the POV of her husband too.


Overall, this is a gripping thriller that keeps you hooked from the beginning to the very end. If you’re looking for a good popcorn thriller, I do recommend this book.

Thank you for the opportunity to preview Into The Fall. This is a family drama rolled into a mystery.
This novel goes back and forth in time and centers on a Canadian family who go on a camping trip in the ‘wild’ and the husband disappears. At first the there appears to be no issues within the family dynamic but as the book progresses, the cracks are revealed.
Sarah and Matthew on first glance are a loving couple with two children. This trip is a camping adventure made at the spur of the moment is supposed to be lots of fun.
But there is a simmering problem under the current of their marriage. Matthew has been distant lately and Sarah is aware that their relationship is on the brink of collapse. But maybe there is hope.
But Matthew disappeared suddenly and cannot be found. But Matthew has a habit of disappearing in the past. And the police are called to investigate the incident. Where is Matthew. Because he seems to have vanished in the wilderness and there is no evidence he is alive or dead.
And soon the police are starting to question what is going on with the family members because things don’t seem to be quite right.
Very well written. 4 stars

Another reason to avoid camping: you may wake up and your husband is gone. This is a familiar storyline I've read before, yet it's so well done here that I was fully engaged right away and couldn't stop reading. I finished this book in a single afternoon. 

The writing was descriptive and immersive, and the characters mysterious, with increasing depth as the story progressed. The mystery of Matthew's disappearance and the secrets Sarah was holding onto gripped me in a way I rarely encounter with a mystery,  especially a shorter one. With chapters alternating between Matthew and Sarah's past and present day, the story layout kept me invested from start to finish.

This character driven mystery is a fast read and was an excellent way to spend a cold afternoon. I simply adore this author's writing style and will definitely be picking up future books.

What a book!!! I could not put this one down and kept me at the edge of my seat, lots of twists and turns!!!

Totally enjoyed this one!!

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!!

I love a mystery where someone goes missing. Sarah, Matthew and their two children set off on a camping trip in the Canadian wilderness. All is well, until it isn’t- the family wakes up to find Matthew missing. A search ensues, and throughout, you jump between the ongoing search in the present, and the building of the relationship between Sarah & Matthew in the past.

Getting lost in the wilderness is one of my irrational fears. Irrational, because I’ll never put myself in the situation to get lost in the first place. That said, I was hooked because of this personal connection I felt with the premise.

I enjoyed the twists and felt they were fairly unexpected. I would certainly recommend this to other readers.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Into the Fall by Tamara L. Miller is set in Ottawa and north in the Canadian Shield. As an outdoorsy Canadian, I am very familiar with the wilderness, camping and nature so was immediately drawn to the story.

Sarah was married with two children. She and her husband Matt were at times like two ships passing in the night. But she agreed to a family camping trip, though the outdoors wasn't her wheelhouse. One morning she woke up to an empty sleeping bag next to her which wasn't unusual as Matt enjoyed canoeing. But she and the kids grew more and more anxious by the minute when he didn't appear. Hours went by and they were rescued by a local. As they holed up in a hotel, hours became days and days became weeks with no leads. They eventually went home to try to resume some normalcy. After a year, the case went cold. The two investigators were at their limit. Sarah's estranged older sister dropped everything to help with the kids while Sarah was questioned by the police over and over and over. But life went on, as impossible as it was. Clues finally revealed themselves as the puzzle pieces snapped together.

Though I felt suspense and tension, in my view this is not exactly a thriller as it lacked expected twists at the end. There are also some unconvincing moments. But I enjoyed it regardless as I was in the mood for a wilderness mystery and would gladly read from this author again. There is something about the story that still drew me in and captivated me.

My sincere thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for providing me with an early digital copy of this engrossing novel.

I loved this complicated family drama. I fell in love with the characters as well. Such a great story.

Thanks Thomas and Mercer and netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own and isn't influenced by anyone else

I wanted to send some brief feedback. While I was very intrigued by the premise of this book I could not get into it. Some combination of the writing style and a lack of caring about the main character prevented me from wanting to go further. I made multiple attempts but for a thriller or mystery of any sort to pull me in, it needs to give me a reason to keep going. That reason either should be a strong propelling plot point (the husband vanishing just wasn’t enough, the plot immediately stuttered when they got on the boat) or a strong connection to the characters and this book had neither for me. I intend to give it another try as an Amazon first read and appreciate the opportunity to read an early ARC.

This was an interesting suspense novel, I wouldn’t call it a thriller. A lot of secrets were involved and the story was good. I liked the writing style and even though this was a debut novel I didn’t feel as if the writing was lacking. The only point of slight criticism is for the format, as often the plot jumps from one character’s perspective to the next and there is no plot divider or else to suggest that the perspective is jumping now. Possibly that is resolved in the finished version of the book though. None of the characters were particularly likeable but I felt as if that was intended and for that quite well executed. Sarah is not very likeable even though her character is technically the victim of the situation as her husband goes missing in the wilderness. She is not working with the police very well, but she likes her kids well and her sister especially. Izzy is Sarah’s sister and she is probably the most likeable character in the whole book. When Sarah needs her she is by her side and supports during the search and afterwards. Rob is the officer who leads the search efforts in the wilderness and is very persistent. I liked him quite a bit. I loved that the book was set in Canada, as the wilderness in the northern parts of the provinces and territories contributed to the plot well. All in all an enjoyable book that I can recommend for a foggy late winter day.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I really struggled to get into this book and ultimately DNFd it. I know this book will find its audience though! It just wasn’t for me.

Sarah wakes during a camping trip and her husband Matt is not in the tent. The canoe is gone and bad weather is closing in. Thus begins the story of a missing man and the exploration of a marriage. Overall, I liked this thriller and where it ultimately ended up. It isn’t perfect—daughter Bella is strongly present at the beginning and not depicted true to age and there are bits that could have been snipped out—but I enjoyed the read and the gradual peeling of the story onion to slowly reveal the story. I would for sure read Miller again.