They Fear Not Men in the Woods by Gretchen McNeil
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
They Fear Not Men in the Woods follows Jen Monroe, who returns to her hometown in rural Washington after receiving word that her father’s remains have been found.
Her Dad, a forest ranger and avid conservationist, went missing 7-years prior while out in the backwoods. He was a knowledgeable survivalist, and Jen has always held out hope that he was still alive somehow, but it’s hard to argue against a positive dental identification.
Jen returns home, not just to attend her father’s funeral services, but also determined to figure out what really happened to him after his disappearance.
The homecoming is awkward. She’s been estranged from her mother for years, and their reunion goes about as well as expected, but Jen also feels distant from her friends. She just feels so different from the girl she used to be.
Nevertheless, when her ex-boyfriend suggests a camping trip in honor of her father’s memory, Jen sees it as the perfect opportunity to get back into the forest and maybe find the truth about what happened to her Dad.
Unfortunately, the dangers lurking in the forest are darker and more dangerous than she ever expected and now all of their lives are at risk.
While this book started out fairly strong for me, in spite of how abrasive I found the MC to be, it was still looking like a possible 4-star read. Unfortunately, the farther I got into it, the more I started to dislike it, until it ended up falling off an absolute cliff for me.
By the end, I was just grateful it was over.
It’s impossible for me to really go into what I didn’t like about this one without giving anything away. The reveal of what was going on in the forest, that’s where my brain just turned off completely to this story. I hated it.
I feel like the direction this takes is going to end up being divisive for Readers. You’re either going to be into it, or you’re not. I don’t see a lot of room for middle of the road opinions on this one.
I know McNeil is a talented author and I’ve enjoyed her work in the past, but this was not it for me. I found it cheesy and a little lame as far as the Horror elements went.
I know this sounds harsh, but I need to be honest about my experience, and that’s honestly what I walked away feeling. This is just my opinion though, and you shouldn’t let it keep you from reading this one if you want.
The fact that this was a miss certainly won’t keep me from picking up more works from Gretchen McNeil in the future. We can’t love them all.
Thank you to the publishers, DAW and RB Media, for providing me with copies to read and review. Even though the story didn’t work for me personally, I would recommend the audiobook, which was well-narrated by Justis Bolding.