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Heartwood
Author: Amity Gaige
Source: NetGalley
Publication Date: April 1, 2025
 
Valerie Gillis, a 42-year-old experienced hiker, starts a hiking excursion on the Appalachian Trail. In Maine, she goes missing. Lt. Bev, a Maine State Game Warden, is tasked with coordinating an effort to find her alive.

The narrative unfolds briskly, drawing readers into a gripping and suspenseful tale. Valerie is a compassionate nurse who authentically portrays her body’s gradual deterioration without food, water, or shelter. The author’s masterful storytelling immerses readers in the hostile atmosphere and bone-chilling weather details, thus intensifying the tension and heightening the stakes.

A compelling reason for Valerie’s unpreparedness is revealed about 70% into the story, setting the stage for a pivotal moment when she finds herself trapped in an unfortunate situation. The author’s meticulous planning ensures that all elements converge seamlessly, creating a well-crafted and satisfying narrative.

A delightful supporting cast of characters adds depth and richness to the story, enhancing the overall reading experience. The author’s ability to weave a captivating tale leaves readers spellbound and eager to delve into her next novel.

I have been on the AT, but I’ve never dared to attempt a single leg of the Appalachian Trail. The author’s entertaining storytelling and vivid portrayal of the trail’s beauty and challenges make Heartwood a must-read for anyone who enjoys nature, mystery, and suspense.

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I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Thank you to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this novel.

I absolutely loved this book. It was quite different from what I typically read, and more on the literary side, but it had me hooked from start to finish.

Valerie is a hiker who goes missing in Maine while hiking the Appalachian Trial. The story is told from the POV of the warden in charge of the search, interviews with other hikers who knew her by her trail name, and Valerie's journal entries.

I loved Valerie's character, and there was something about getting her POV from the journal entries and not in real time that felt ominous and kept me turning pages to find out what happened to her and whether she would be found in the vast wilderness before it was too late.

This one isn't a thriller, but it is somewhat of a mystery. There is a storyline that felt seemingly unconnected until it all came together. I was a little mad at myself for not figuring it out sooner. You knew just by virtue of it being in the book that it had to be connected, but I wasn't seeing it until it was revealed, and then all of a sudden, it all made sense.

This one doesn't come out until April, but I highly recommend that it stays on your radar.

A stunning mystery, layered love story, exploration of mother/daughter relationships and a celebration of the outdoors....what more could you want! Amity Gaige's prose and story-telling take the reader on an anxious path as we follow the search of a missing hiker and the intertwined lives of those searching.

The writing in Heartwood is undeniably beautiful—elegant, atmospheric, and deeply rooted in nature. Amity Gaige has a talent for crafting rich, introspective prose, and the setting feels immersive, almost like its own character. The story follows a missing hiker on the Appalachian Trail and the search to find her, weaving together mystery, family dynamics, and themes of solitude and resilience.

That said, I found myself struggling to stay engaged. The pacing is deliberate, which some readers will love, but I wasn’t quite in the right headspace for it. If I had more time, I think I would have stuck with it, but with my current reading backlog, I needed something that grabbed me more immediately. Readers who enjoy quiet, literary mysteries with strong character studies will likely get a lot out of this one.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book!

This was impossible to put down. Every POV was engaging, the characters were interesting and compelling, I loved the journal aspect and the multi media, but Santos perspective took me right out of the story. If he was better written, this would be a huge five star read for me.

I adored everything about this book — the story, the characters, the writing style. Everything felt so real and raw. I will definitely have to read more by this author!

This book really has everything - a mystery that keeps you hooked, three strong women protagonists giving you their side of the story, and a rustic Appalachian setting (though it may not inspire you to go on a hike!). A beautifully written story that kept me guessing til the very end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced reader copy.

Heartwood is a deeply introspective novel about love, grief, and the ways we carry our past with us. Amity Gaige’s writing is elegant and emotionally rich, capturing the quiet tensions of marriage, memory, and longing. The characters felt raw and deeply human, their struggles unfolding in a way that felt both intimate and universal. While the pacing is slow, the depth of emotion and Gaige’s sharp, observant prose made it a thoughtful and rewarding read. It’s the kind of novel that lingers long after the last page.

Wow, I loved this book! As a lifelong reader of mysteries, it's always a treat to find a book in this genre that has so much atmosphere surrounding the mystery. #Heartwood reads like an investigation novel but is rich with setting and characters.

Valerie Gillis is hiking the Appalachian Trail, on the last leg of her trip, when she goes missing.

Set in Maine, this book is told through alternating perspectives: the game warden in charge of the investigation, an elderly woman in Connecticut, and even the perspective of Valerie herself - but even she doesn’t know where she is in relation to the civilization and the search party. Interspersed throughout are transcripts from the calls to the tip line, as well as an interview with Valerie's closest trailmate; these bits I found particularly interesting because I learned not just about Valerie's previous movements, but about the culture of hiking itself.

This book so much more than a whodunnit; focusing not only on why Valerie is missing but also on how are they going to find her. Reading the final pivotal chapters, tears of excitement and hope filled my eyes.

As a big fan of Amity Gaige's novel Sea Wife, I was excited to read this one! The power of nature collides with the volatility of human beings in this story when Valerie, a hiker on the Appalachian Trail goes missing. I thought the mystery was just suspenseful to not overwhelm the character building in this novel. Warden Bev was my favorite character, but what I appreciated about all of the women in this story, including Lena, was their intelligence, self-assuredness, and strength. I wish each character had been a little bit more developed-- I would have appreciated a few more flashbacks from Valerie's time as a nurse during the pandemic, rather than just general memories of how horrible that time was. I thought Lena's connection with the young man in the woods was a bit contrived, but overall I enjoyed this book!

Heartwood
Amity Gaige
04/01/2025
Simon & Schuster

This book was absolutely incredible. It caught me by surprise with how deeply moving and beautifully written it was. There are several characters in this book who are oddly and intricately connected to one another. Each one is flawed. Each person has a story to tell, their story, and I encourage you to listen. This is more than a missing person mystery. This is a story of love, growth, failure and strength. This is a very character driven story where mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, coworkers, siblings, friends and more all bear their heartwood – their innermost strengths and vulnerabilities to the reader.

The author immerses the reader directly onto the Appalachian Trail in Maine, where it is known for its breathtaking natural beauty and challenging terrain. Valerie journey winds through dense forests, over rocky peaks, and along pristine rivers and streams. The Appalachian Trail is both a physical and mental test, allowing for introspection, solitude, friendship and an unparalleled connection to nature. However, when Valerie, aka Sparrow goes missing with less than 200 miles to the end, a complex mystery unfolds filled with red herrings, twists and turns that you will not see coming.

The investigation centers on Beverly, a dedicated Maine State Game Warden who takes charge of the search for Valerie on the ground. Meanwhile, Lena, a seventy-six-year-old birdwatcher living in a Connecticut retirement community, unexpectedly steps into the role of an armchair detective. As the story alternates between these captivating perspectives, Valerie’s disappearance starts to seem more than just a coincidence.

This was a slow burner, but it never dragged. The multiple POVs kept things moving and interesting. I loved the setting and felt like I was out there hiking along.

Each page of this literary thriller has you literally on the edge of your seat with worry as a lovely and beloved nurse, Valerie, suddenly vanishes in a remote, thick woods Maine stretch of the Appalachian trail. Valerie spent the night before the night before at a trail lodge before failing to show up at the end of the next day at a meet point with her husband, Gregory Bouras. George has been driving the trail alongside Valerie as support for the past three months and knows Valerie can be a slow hiker who often gets waylaid, so he waits a day before alerting the authorities.

In steps the beyond competent Lt. Beverly Miller who has dedicated her life to the Maine Warden Service. And the search is on. The tense narration points of view anchored by Lt. Miller’s orchestrating an increasing huge effort to find Valerie, led by wardens and staffed by hundreds of citizen volunteers, law enforcement, and K-9 teams. Then there’s a recording of interview transcripts with various hikers Valerie has met and bonded with on the trail and her family members, along with hot line tips. We also read diary entrees by Valerie as she fights for her survival and slowly begins to reveal what threat she encountered on the trail. Lastly, there’s misanthropic, elderly Lena Kuccharski living in an independent living complex and having engaged in in-depth Reddit conversations with a Maine nature forager that may ultimately hold clues as to what happened to Valerie.

Lt. Miller captures the dedication of what it takes to be a Maine Warden, in all the complexities of this role, including her having lead many successful searches for lost Appalachian trail hikers. We also follow along in depth as she fights her way to her leadership position as the first female in the role, having to contend with sexism at every step long the way. Her vulnerability comes clear, as the search drags on with the odds of a successful find of Valerie diminishing with each day that goes by.
The book explores the complexities and experiences of “thru-hikers” on the Appalachian trail, and how they must tackle physical and emotional hardships. You feel drawn into the multitude of stories and insights of what undertaking such a long and ultimately lonely hike involves.
An amazing read that really stays with you!!

Also, if you haven’t read Gaige’s book the Sea Wife, I can’t recommend that highly enough!

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

A slow burn mystery thriller that had me HOOKED from the start, I enjoyed the multiple POVs and thought it was done well sometimes it can feel a bit muddy but this wasn't the case, each perspective added a piece to the puzzle, propulsive and captivating I had a hard time putting it down!

My thanks to Simon.and Shuster for this arc. Unfortunate I dnf. It was a struggle and I was dragging myself to read it. The breaks in the chapter were confusing and I couldn't get back I'm focus to the story. Writing style didn't flow.

I devoured this! This was a great little quiet mystery, for lack of a better description. It follows narrative of three different women when one of them disappears hiking the Appalachian Trail in Maine without a trace. The writing is lovely and I really enjoyed all the characters, especially Bev, the game warden tasked with finding Valerie, and Lena, a resident of a care facility in Connecticut. I love reading about places I am familiar with, so the book being centered in Maine and CT was really enjoyable to me. The woods of Maine was definitely its own character. One thing I did not expect from this book were beautiful and profound musings on motherhood and reflections on mother/child relationships. This book lacked the tense-ness of a traditional mystery but this did not affect its propulsiveness - in its place were depth, beauty and reflections on life, love, and healing. I had a few gripes with parts of the plot and some political points sprinkled throughout- but it did not bother me enough to detract from my rating. There seem to be fewer and fewer books lately that I truly cannot put down, but this was one of them. Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advanced copy. Heartwood hits shelves April 1st.

"Anyone who wants to walk two thousand miles in a row does it because they find beauty in the unreasonable"

Heartwood is a beautifully written literally mystery. In its core it is a missing person search. But it is also about the beauty and ruggedness of the Maine wilderness. The search is a page turner but what made this book stand out for me is the subtle way the mother daughter relationships were woven into the plot. We learn what happened to Valerie from the letters she writes to her mom. Game warden Bev has a complicated relationship with her own mom. And Lena, the armchair detective is estranged from her daughter.

I've always been fascinated by people choosing to walk the Appalachian Trail. Gaige delves into why people take on this daunting task.

The book was very informative about what goes into a search and rescue mission on AT.

Heartwood was an impressive wilderness thriller. It is a gripping page turner with strong female characters. I had a great time reading it

A literary mystery surrounding a missing woman on the Appalachian Trail. The book rotates through various perspectives including a woman detective, the woman missing, and a woman named Lena, who spends her days chatting with strangers on Reddit threads. The book also shares transcripts, letters and well drawn backstories of all characters. The book is filled with beautiful and contrastingly harrowing descriptions of nature as well as intense search and rescue details. I think this book is going to appeal to a lot of people and it definitely is one I’ll recommend all year.

It took me a minute to get into HEARTWOOD, but once I was in, all I wanted to do was read this book and figure out what the. heck happened to Sparrow, the trail name for our missing hiker. While I generally get frustrated with stories of beginner hikers embarking on a huge undertaking such as the AT, I was mostly just intrigued and fully along for the ride in this unique and beautifully written story.

I loved the format, adored the writing, and appreciated the research that clearly went into this novel. It's pretty short and goes quick, jumping POVs from Sparrow, the warden in charge of finding her, and a keyboard warrior who is obsessed with all things foraging. These three women contain multitudes and show such different but inspiring strengths and I just ate it up.

HEARTWOOD comes out 4/1 and I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys spending time in the woods, on the trail, or just likes a good mystery

Valerie Gillis goes missing in the woods while she’s hiking the Appalachian Trail. As she battles elements and tries to survive, she journals her experience. Meanwhile, a game warden dedicated to her job leads the search, and an elderly birdwatcher investigates the case from her retirement community.

Survival thriller and nature book lovers will enjoy this one! It’s such a unique story and we find out in the author’s note that the idea came from a true event. I loved the scenes in the woods and of the search, which were the true survival parts. I didn’t quite get Lena’s chapters but of course it all made sense in the end. This was a really interesting and suspenseful story that peaks with a satisfying end.

“Now I would do anything to be visible. To be large. Not just tall - a giantess. I want to be seen. I want to be as imposing as a mountain. I WANT TO BE SEEN.”

Heartwood comes out 4/1.