The Edge Of The Woods is a standalone thriller featuring Boston psychologist Isla. Having rebuilt her life after being abducted, she takes comfort in knowing her captor is dead. But then a young woman comes into her hospital with identical injuries to her own in very similar circumstances. Is this the same killer? A copycat?

Isla investigates, her mental health deteriorating as she seeks the truth, and her family fears the obsession is taking over. But is Isla actually onto something?

The twin narrative runs in the present and gives some detail of Isla's captivity. It's dark and in places a difficult read, but gripping. My one qualm is that the eventual revelation comes from nowhere. It's not an entirely satisfactory ending to a very good novel.

I’ve been a fan of Sarah Alderson since The Cabin In The Woods and couldn’t wait to read this.

Isla works as a trauma counsellor on an ER ward, a patient comes in with injuries that remind her of her own, when she escaped the captivity of a twisted serial killer. Her captor was convicted and died in prison, is there a new Monster on the hunt?

It blends captivity thriller, a hunt for the killer and reinvesting old crimes with ever increasing pressure on Isla as she neglects work, her husband and children in her obsessive hunt. Very tense, dark and addictive.

I couldn’t put it down. Highly recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley and Avon Books UK

4. 5 stars which I will gladly round up to 5.

The Edge of the Woods is a dark and gripping read from start to finish and you will be turning those pages as quickly as you can.

The book is terrifying at times and you will be holdiing your breath and hoping for the best for the girls.

When a Jane Doe who is badly injured is found running along the side of the road , memories for Isla come back with a vengenace.

She starts seeing the monster that did the same to her but is it her memories resurfacing or can he really be alive.

The pace is relentless, the tension is palpable as Isla tries desperatley to search for answers.

Sarah Alderson leads the reader down that twisted path that has your heart racing and you gasping at the jaw dropping twist.

The Edge of the Woods is totall bingeable and one book you wont soon forget.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK/Avon the privilege of reading and reviewing The Edge of the Woods.

I’ve read all of Sarah’s books and enjoyed them but this is a level up. Wow! What an amazing thrill ride of a story! Kept me guessing and great twist. Excellent writing style loved it

The Edge of the Woods is a psychological thriller centered on Isla, a Boston psychologist who has rebuilt her life after a terrifying kidnapping. She has moved on and has a family and a career however, her peace is shattered when a girl is found with injuries similar to those she suffered herself years ago. Isla must confront present day and past, and she spirals. The dual narrative makes the novel super interesting. The novel moves fast, which is great for a psychological thriller. The themes of trauma, paranoia, and survival are introduced. The only drawback was that the ending was too quick. I recommend this novel, as I couldn’t put it down!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance review copy in exchange for my review.

This book was fast-paced, dark, and kept me on the edge of my seat. Isla’s anxiety was palpable, I felt every emotion as she revisited her time in captivity and the similarities she was drawing together with the present day case. After narrowly escaping a serial killer, Isla has rebuilt her life and is now a psychologist helping others in need. When a girl arrives at her workplace, sporting similar injuries and discovered down the same road Isla was found, it all feels eerily too familiar. Isla is desperate to know if it could possibly be related and as she begins to unravel, the lines between reality and memory blur. This was an easy five-star read for me, and I highly recommend adding it to your TBR if you enjoy psychological thrillers filled with suspense, mystery, and unexpected twists.

the edge of my seat never mind the edge of any woods!Sarah is back and she is most certainly back in my head again. i looooove her books so much. she writes my psychological thrillers just like i could wish for and with each one of her i read i get far to invested in the characters and their story. this was no different with this one. i could feel the unease and pressure. i could feel the fear. i could feel the spiralling. you dont have to have gone through anything like Isla to not understand her terror with the way Sarah writes and brings you right there into whats going on. i was worried for Isla, sometimes questioning her, and also just really felt for her as if this was a real woman i knew! this is the skill of Sarah and her writing. you not only feel like you could know and care about this woman, but also have that ability to be a step away so you are just reading and witnessing this play out as a blooming amazing story.
being the survivor of a serial killer is going to be a lifelong recovery. you escape but do you?
Isla now has a family though so the stakes feel all the more higher when a woman with recognisable injures is bought in to the trauma department she now works at. she has dedicated her life to helping others when they need it most. she has move on with a husband and children. but this brings it all back to the surface. it makes her dive right back into the darkness of that time. is this a copycat? or could there person they thought was the culprit the wrong man? and if so does this mean she is now in more danger than ever?
as Isla digs into this womans story the line of past and present blur. the line of her trauma and this new one mix. the danger feels like it could be so close and her terror is rising.
i could feel shaky with Isla's own feelings. i was rooting for her and worried about her. her reactions were plain to see and you cant avoid feeling them too. it was now not just huge intrigue of wanting to know the ins and outs of this brilliant plot. but also caring for Isla and what this means for her. i now very much had to know what was going on here. i had to no the truth.
this was an easy five star and above read for me. it might just be my favourite of Sarah's yet.

After narrowly escaping a serial killer, Isla has rebuilt her life and is now a psychologist helping others in need. When a girl arrives at her workplace, sporting similar injuries and discovered down the same road Isla was found, it all feels eerily too familiar. Isla is desperate to know if it could possibly be related and as she begins to unravel, the lines between reality and memory blur. Is it a cruel coincidence or could the person who hunted her still be out there?

I have read a fair few Sarah Alderson books, especially enjoying the last one I read (The Cabin in the Woods) and have been waiting for a new one ever since. So you can imagine my excitement when I finally saw this one and after finishing, I was pleased that it definitely met up to expectation. I found I was hooked to the story almost straight away and continued to be gripped to the nail biting ending. What the author managed to do so well was create a claustrophobic, creepy atmosphere and describe the feelings and situations so vividly, building an unsettling picture, while also creating intensity and suspense. So much so that I could feel the paranoia and turmoil of the characters myself.

The author also managed to create some authentic characters, where despite their flaws, you could build a connection with them and understand them on a deeper level. I found that I doubted myself throughout the story, with reveals and twists dotted all round, and although I predicted some parts, others were surprising and fun to discover.

Now that I have finished, I feel like I need some time to recover and will definitely be recommending this one, especially to those who are looking for an addictive, fast paced, dark read. I could see this one making a great TV series and really hope there is more to come from this author soon. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.

#TheEdgeOfTheWoods #NetGalley
Highly recommended.
After narrowly escaping a serial killer, Isla has rebuilt her life. She has a devoted husband, two beautiful children, and a career helping other women survive the kind of trauma she knows all too well. The past is a locked box until a girl is found with eerily familiar injuries, running down the verge of the very same highway where Isla was saved. These wounds were meant to have died with the man who gave them to her. But as Isla begins to unravel the girl’s story, the lines between memory and reality blur. Is this a copycat? A cruel coincidence? Or could the man who once hunted her still be out there? To protect her family and herself Isla must confront the truth she buried. Because some monsters never really disappear…
I loved it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for giving me an advanced copy.

A brilliant thriller novel. Just when Isla thinks she is safe and her abductor is deceased, she is shocked to find another victim with an identical story to hers. This kept me intrigued throughout, a fascinating sharp storyline. Highly recommended.

Having survived the machinations of a predatory and violent man, Isla appears to have taken to heart the maxim that the best revenge is to live a good life. In addition to building a well-adjusted family and a lovely home for herself since then, she also has chosen to devote her life to helping others who have been through similar traumas at the hands of murderers like the one who took and injured her.

But when a young girl is found with similar wounds to the ones inflicted on Isla by the serial killer who took her, it raises questions about the narrative that Isla has been telling herself - and others - all these years.

Did that evil man really die? Is this a copycat killer, or is there something even more sinister going on here?

Alderson tells a compelling story, and one that is worth checking out.

Release: August 27, 2026
Author: Sarah Alderson
Publisher: Avon Books

Rating: 4★ 

This was a tense, emotionally charged thriller that explored the lingering effects of trauma alongside a chilling new mystery. The story steadily built unease as the protagonist was forced to question whether her past was truly over, or if something far more sinister was resurfacing. The psychological tension and blurred lines between memory and reality made it an absorbing, unsettling read.

This book suits someone in the mood for something: dark, tense, mysterious, emotional

Pace: fast

Mainly plot or character driven? a mix

Is there strong character development? yes

Do you find the characters loveable? it’s complicated

Is the cast of characters diverse? it’s complicated

Are character flaws a main focus? yes

Main themes, topics, tropes: survivor trauma, serial killer aftermath, copycat crimes, unreliable memory, psychological suspense

After surviving a brutal encounter with a serial killer, Isla built a new life centered on stability, family, and helping others recover from trauma. Years later, her carefully constructed peace was shattered when a young woman appeared with injuries eerily similar to those Isla once endured at the hands of her attacker. As Isla investigated the connection, she was forced to confront the possibility that her past was not as buried as she believed, and that the danger she escaped might still be lurking in the shadows.

Favorite Quote:
“The past is a locked box – until a girl is found with eerily familiar injuries.”

This was really good. It's a fast-paced thriller that kept me turning the pages, and I flew through it.
The story follows Isla, who survived a serial killer years earlier and has rebuilt her life, until another young woman is found with injuries that are disturbingly similar to her own. As she tries to uncover the truth, the past starts catching up with her.
Isla spends pretty much the whole book stressed and on edge, to the point where she almost becomes a neurotic Bridget Jones at times. You can really feel her slowly unravelling as she starts questioning everything around her, and that constant tension made it hard to put down.
There were a couple of moments where I wanted to tell Isla to just take a breath, but it suited everything she'd been through and made her reactions feel believable.
A tense, twisty thriller that was a tiny bit predictable in places. I could see this being a film or limited series on Netflix.

Full of suspense and thrill! I judged this book by this cover…in a good way, and I’m glad in did! Main character goes through so much as her past haunts her so much. Definitely recommend this book and author!

Wow wow wow! What a great, fast moving story. It was easy and quick to get into and held my attention through out. I liked the first person narrative of the main character, Isla.
Isla was kidnapped and tortured as a teenager. Somehow, ,miraculously, she escapes and her kidnapper, eventually is caught and killed. Now 20 years later another woman shows up with a lot of similarities and Isla can’t help but delve back into it. But is she ready for what she unburies?
This book will keep you on the edge of your seat.

I loved this book, could not put it down and could. Not guess the outcome of this book.
Thanks net gallery and Sarah alderson for writing this amazing book hope I can have another book by this amazing author.
Isla has a good life with her husband and two children, she is a doctor trained to help people after a terrible trauma in their life.
Isla can never forget what she went through captured held in a filthy basement starved and tied and when another girl comes to the hospital looking like she looked all those years ago Isla could not believe it.
The monster was dead so how comes this girl looks the same as she did.
Never guesses the ending.
You must read this book it’s amazing .

Thank you NetGalley and Avon Books UK for this ARC !!!
For some reason at first I couldn’t seem to get into this book. But once I got into it, I couldn’t stop reading.
Her birth name was Isla Lindaloff and she's the survivor of a serial killer. His name was James Altman.
Now she's Isla McGrane, she's married, has two children and has a good job as a clinical psychologist. She's coping as well as she can but when a Jane Doe is brought into her hospital unit, the circumstances are startlingly similar to hers.
The victim has similar injuries, is catatonic and the situation brings back horrific memories and so it all comes to the surface again. Her family believes she's unravelling but is it a horrible coincidence, a copycat or did the police arrest the wrong man years ago ??? He hunted her once, could he be hunting her again !!!
The ending was a fantastic curveball that was totally unexpected !!! This book flows nicely between past and present with the focus on Isla as she tries to solve the mystery of her past.

Could not get enough of this book! It was a face paced thrilling read with the lines blurred between how much was paranoia, how much was reality.

Isla escaped a serial killer years before she settled down and had a family. A patient at her experimental unit for mental trauma draws her a picture of the same mask the killer wore. Dragging up old memories and making Isla question whether the serial killer, long since dead, was the right guy. We go with Isla as she dips into paranoid episodes, her family concerned that she needs to go back to her therapist. No one believes the police might have got it wrong. Interspersed with chapters from a victim underground, fighting for her life, the pace is relentless.

I think this might be my second read by Sarah Alderson but if every book is like this, I want to read them all!

Five, fabulous stars!

The Edge of the Woods is a tense, atmospheric thriller that grips from the very first page and refuses to let go. Sarah Alderson has crafted a story that feels both deeply personal and relentlessly suspenseful, pulling you straight into Isla’s fractured world as past trauma collides with present danger.

Isla is a compelling protagonist—strong, vulnerable, and painfully human. Having rebuilt her life after surviving a serial killer, she’s finally found stability: a loving family, meaningful work, and a sense of safety she fought hard to earn. But when a young woman appears with injuries eerily identical to her own, everything Isla has locked away begins to crack open. Alderson handles this unraveling with sharp emotional insight, blurring the lines between memory, fear, and reality in a way that keeps you constantly questioning what’s true.

The pacing is fantastic: tight, dark, and full of unease. The mystery unfolds with a steady, creeping dread, and the stakes feel genuinely high—not just for Isla, but for her family and the women she’s dedicated her life to helping. Alderson excels at creating that “edge-of-your-seat” tension, the kind that makes you read just one more chapter until suddenly it’s far past bedtime.

What really stands out is how the novel explores the long shadow of trauma. Isla’s determination to confront the past, even when it threatens everything she’s built, gives the story emotional weight beyond its twists and reveals. And while the plot is undeniably chilling, it’s anchored by heart and humanity.

Dark, bingeable, and utterly gripping, The Edge of the Woods is a thriller that keeps you breathless and guessing right up to the final pages. A must-read for fans of psychological suspense with real emotional depth.

With thanks to Sarah Alderson, the publisher and netgalley for the ARC

Thank you NeGalley and Avon for the ARC. This was a fast-paced, suspenseful thriller that had me intrigued from the first chapter. As the story progresses, the descent of the main character felt believable and compelling. There were a few moments that stretched believability. Even so, the relentless pacing and unsettling atmosphere kept me interested. If you're looking for a dark psychological thriller with an increasingly unstable protagonist and plenty of tension, this is a good choice.

I rarely give 5 stars; I am stingy with them. And an ARC book getting 5 stars? Preposterous! However, this one is well deserved. Likeable characters, good storyline, a few twists, and a smooth read with a full circle ending 🤌 . I enjoyed it and would recommend it!

Thank you for the opportunity!

Another great read by Sarah Alderson. Isla escaped a serial killer earlier in her life. She comes across a patient at work that leads her to believe the serial killer is still alive, not dead like everyone thought.
Is he alive or is she starting to unravel mentally?

Fast paced read that I couldn’t put down. An ending that I did not see coming!

The Edge of the Woods is a gripping psychological thriller that had me hooked from the very first chapter. The story is dark and atmospheric, packed with tension, suspense, and twists that kept me questioning everything.

The novel follows Isla, a survivor of a serial killer who has spent years trying to rebuild her life. Just when she believes the past is finally behind her, another young woman is discovered with injuries that are chillingly similar to her own. As Isla searches for the truth about what really happened to her, it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish between coincidence, memory, and the terrifying possibility that the same killer has returned.

One of my favorite aspects of this story was how realistically it portrayed Isla's anxiety and trauma. Her reactions felt authentic, making both her character and those around her far more believable. I found myself completely invested in her journey and rooting for her every step of the way as she fought to uncover the truth.

The pacing was excellent, with the tension building steadily throughout the novel and creating an unsettling atmosphere that kept me turning the pages late into the night. Every time I thought I had everything figured out, another twist completely changed the direction of the story. The ending was both satisfying and genuinely surprising.

This was an easy five-star read for me, and I highly recommend adding it to your TBR if you enjoy psychological thrillers filled with suspense, mystery, and unexpected twists.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Isla escaped from a serial killer as a teenager and now works to help women with similar trauma. So who better to help the young woman found wandering on the same highway, bleeding and injured? Like Isla, she’s unable to communicate what happened to her when she’s brought to the hospital. Isla wants to treat her in the special unit she runs, fearing she’s too vulnerable to be institutionalized or released. But the more she learns, the more she’s reminded of her own experience that doesn’t seem to be left in the past at all. Everyone else thinks this case is just a coincidence, but Isla fears the worst. And we all know the saying that the worst is yet to come…

There was a great twist that got me towards the end. I should not have underestimated this author, but I’m glad I did because I love being surprised! Especially because I was thinking it was one of those stories that doesn’t pay off in the end. But it really does. There’s quite a lot of Isla doubting herself and going back and forth about whether she’s right or everyone else is right, because, of course, no one else believes her. There was just a little too much contrived timing at the end for me to accept it completely. VAGUE SPOILER IN PARENTHESES TO SKIP IF YOU DON'T WANT TO RISK IT: (That trip was never discussed before? That thing just happened to be placed where it was?)

Otherwise, I’m glad it didn’t end where it looked like it might, and I hope this author keeps the surprises coming!

My thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for the free advanced reading copy of this book.

Thank you, Avon Books UK, for providing the copy of The Edge Of The Woods by Sarah Alderson. All I can say is WOW! The writing was so immersive I raced through this book. I loved Isla, and I sympathized with what she was going through in the aftermath of her ordeal. If you’re looking for a book with reveals that will leave you reeling, well-drawn characters, great use of dual POVs, and an intriguing story, do not miss this book.

This is one twisty psychological thriller.- I think I was holding my breath through most of it!! Brilliantly written, great characters & a superbly unexpected ending! Highly recommended.

Another great read by Sarah Alderson. Isla escaped a serial killer earlier in her life. She comes across a patient at work that leads her to believe the serial killer is still alive, not dead like everyone thought.
Is he alive or is she starting to unravel mentally?

Fast paced read that I couldn’t put down. An ending that I did not see coming!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC. All opinions are my own.

The Edge of the Woods is a five-star thriller that I simply couldn't put down. Sarah Alderson crafts such a dark, immersive atmosphere that I felt less like I was reading a book and more like I was trapped inside the story with the characters. There were moments so genuinely terrifying that I actually had to leave the lights on while I read! I found myself constantly second-guessing who "the Monster" was, only to be proven wrong every single time. It is a masterfully layered mystery with a resolution that is as surprising as it is satisfying. Highly recommended—just maybe don't read this one after dark. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the early copy.

I have not torn through a book this fast in a long time. This book was fast-paced, dark, and kept me on the edge of my seat. Isla’s anxiety was palpable, I felt every emotion as she revisited her time in captivity and the similarities she was drawing together with the present day case.

Isla escaped a serial killer when she was in college. Her name and story are well known. She now works in a special trauma unit in the ER when someone shows up with eerily similar injuries and circumstances to her own case.

I could not put this book down, and hope someone makes this into a Netflix limited series! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

The Edge of the Woods is a 5-star thriller. Dark and atmospheric, Sarah Alderson keeps heightening the suspense to the point where I felt I was inside the story rather than reading it. There were some genuinely terrifying moments, and I read this with the lights on.

I changed my mind more than once about who "the Monster" really was, and I was wrong every time. The mystery kept me guessing until the end, and the resolution was a satisfying surprise. I highly recommend this tense, layered, immersive read, but you may not want to read this one at night.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

#TheEdgeOfTheWoods

3.5 rounded up

Once the name Isla Lindaloff is infamous as she’s the survivor of a serial killer, deceased James Altman. Now she’s Isla McGrane, she’s married, has two children and a good job as a clinical psychologist. She’s coping as well as she can but when a Jane Doe is brought into her hospital unit, the circumstances are startlingly similar to hers. The victim has similar injuries, is catatonic and the situation brings back horrific memories and so it all comes to the surface again. Her family believes she’s unravelling but is it a horrible coincidence, a copycat or do the police arrest the wrong man years ago? Just because Isla seems paranoid does not mean she’s wrong. Once he hunted her, could he be hunting her again? She thought she’d buried the monster but they never fully disappear.

This is an easy to read novel from Sarah Alderson with the writing flowing well, especially from past to present. The pacing is good, there’s plenty of tension and suspenseful moments with a few characters who make me grit my teeth either in frustration or some anger. The author does a very good job of conveying Isla’s understandable fragile state of mind and her desperation to find answers which makes her very determined whatever the cost.

However, there are some inserts which I don’t find
particularly authentic as they seem too reasoned, measured with not enough panic - but that’s just my opinion!!

The ending is a good one. It does come a bit out of left field but it doesn’t altogether surprise me as I figure there is a connection somewhere along the line. The ultimate ending is very chilling- now that is a shocker! Well played!

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Avon Books UK for the much appreciated early copy in return for an honest review.

Simply unputdownable!

This book had me in a chokehold from the very beginning and I couldn't read it fast enough.

The absolute only bad thing was that it ended.

5 STARS!!! Cannot recommend this one enough!!

Thank you so much to Netgalley for giving me this free advance copy, and I’m writing this review honestly and without bias.
Another masterclass in descriptive narrative from the wonderful Sarah Aldersen. The setting is perfect and the author creates a wonderful dark atmosphere, in this twisty read that keeps you guessing until the end. And. That. Ending - a fantastic curveball that was totally unexpected. Wonderfully written and flows nicely between past and present with the focus on Isla as she tries to solve the mystery of her past. A gripping read and another winner from this talented author. 4.5⭐️

Is it Isla's mental health or is she onto something?
This is a seriously dark and scary read which i struggled to put down and when i did i was still thinking about it.
Great characters although the husband annoyed me!
Its so well written you really think you understand what's happening when really you just don't.
The ending left me speechless.
My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.
Huge 5 stars from me.