Title: Heartwood by Amity Gaige
Book Beginnings/First Line Friday quote:
Dear Mother,You used to call me sparrow.
Friday56 quote, from page 46, last page of preview:
I did not scream. I tried to not make a sound.
Summary:
Heartwood takes you on a journey as a search and rescue team race against time when a hiker mysteriously disappears on the Appalachian Trail in Maine.
In the heart of the Maine woods, an experienced Appalachian Trail hiker goes missing. She is forty-two-year-old Valerie Gillis, who has vanished 200 miles from her final destination. Alone in the wilderness, Valerie pours her thoughts into fractured, poetic letters to her mother as she battles the elements and struggles to keep hoping.
At the heart of the investigation is Beverly, the determined Maine State Game Warden tasked with finding Valerie, who leads the search on the ground. Meanwhile, Lena, a seventy-six-year-old birdwatcher in a Connecticut retirement community, becomes an unexpected armchair detective. Roving between these compelling narratives, a puzzle emerges, intensifying the frantic search, as Valerie’s disappearance may not be accidental. (Publisher)
Review: In my heart I have always wanted to take on a hike on the Appalachian or the Pacific Crest trail but after reading Heartwood I am dispelled of any such notions. The Appalachian trail is over 2,000 miles long, traversing fourteen states, starting in Georgia and ending in Maine (or reverse, if you start at the top.) I'm sure parts of the hike are relatively flat and easy, but other parts are steep and treacherous. For example, the nicknames for Pennsylvania by the hikers is "Rocksyvania" or "Painsylvania". One doesn't need any more information to understand what it is like hiking there. Ugh.
When Valerie's hiking partner has to leave the trail to attend to family matters, she decides to go on alone. She is only 200 miles from the end of the trail and the achievement of her goal. What could go wrong? But when she doesn't show up at the rendez-vous spot to get fresh supplies from her husband it soon becomes apparent that something has gone wrong and the Maine State Game wardens are called to conduct a search. When days pass and Valerie is still not found everyone worries that she may not be found alive.
So begins a rescue mission of huge proportions. Tip lines are set up to enlist the help of other hikers. But what does an 76-year-old retirement home dweller, Lena, from Connecticut have do with this mystery? As it turns out Lena, Valerie, and Beverly have a lot more in common than one would think at first glance.
A solid mystery/thriller.
My rating: 4 stars.
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