Tag: Wilderness

A thick chill crept through the fir trees the moment I stepped into the pages of The Briars — I could almost smell the damp pine needles underfoot in Lake Lumin. In The Briars by Sarah Crouch, an atmospheric backdrop, a lone game warden fleeing her past, and the ominous presence of both a cougar and a hidden murderer promise a taut thriller.

Coming into the novel, I was mesmerized. The descriptions of the Pacific Northwest setting — moss-clad trees, misty mountain ridges, ancient forest trails — transported me so completely I was ready to pack my car up and head to Lake Lumin myself. Annie Heston, newly employed as a game warden, chasing whispers of a cougar sighting: that narrative worked. Her patrols through the woods, the sense of isolation, the danger — I wanted to linger there.