Libro.fm's Top Audiobooks of 2024
Stock up with our Shop Small Sale!
Shop the sale
Bookseller pick
Send as gift
Add to Wish List
Almost ready!
In order to save audiobooks to your Wish List you must be signed in to your account.
Log in Create account
Shop Small Sale
Shop our limited-time sale on bestselling audiobooks. Don’t miss out—purchases support local bookstores.
Shop the sale
Limited-time offer
Get two free audiobooks!
Now’s a great time to shop indie. When you start a new one credit per month membership supporting local bookstores with promo code SWITCH, we’ll give you two bonus audiobook credits at sign-up.
Sign up todayThe God of the Woods
A Novel
Narrator
Saskia Maarleveld
This audiobook uses AI narration.
We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
Learn more
Length
14 hours 34 minutes
Language
English
Bookseller recommendation
“This slow burn family suspense was a worthwhile listen. It will draw you into the disappearance of not one but two children from the same family, a wealthy one in the Adirondacks, who also house a summer camp on their property. It will take you back to another time, the 1960s and 70s, and the feel of an old school family dynasty that will go to any length to protect its reputation. This book will surprise you at who is allied and what is really going on. I recommend this on audio!”
— Lisa • The Bookshelf on Church
Bookseller recommendation
“This big, huge, thick chonker is packed with 70s vibes, humid summer camp air, criminal intrigue, and terrifying family secrets. The perfect mystery to escape this summer heat - just try not to stray too far from the path. You never know who's lurking in the woods.”
— Lambie • Underground Books
Bookseller recommendation
“One of my favorites for this year! ”
— Nichole • Bryant Books & Music
Bookseller recommendation
“Two mysteries, two timelines, a few good investigators, and a town of suspects for one or both of the mysteries. I really could not guess the resolutions until they were staring me down at the end. Such a good novel about class dynamics, women's worth, and the Adirondacks. I listened to this via Libro.fm and once I hit play I could not pause. ”
— Julie • Honest Dog Books
Bookseller recommendation
“As a lifetime camper and camp counselor I can say that every bit of camp life in this novel rings true—EXCEPT in this suspenseful novel there are missing people, class struggles, a girl coming of age and mysteries. Great narrative, rich characters and a fast-paced plot make it a really good read right to the rip roaring ending. ”
— Patience • Underground Books
Bookseller recommendation
“Moore’s writing is vivid and deliberate. I love how characters echo each other, the foreshadowing, and the narrators who might be peripheral characters in a traditional police procedural.”
— Whitney • Bookworm of Edwards
Bookseller recommendation
“Family dramas, mystery and twists! The perfect book to listen to. ”
— Jana • Inscribe Books
Bookseller recommendation
“It’s time to lose yourself in the Feel Bad Hit of the Summer! But first: have you ever been a camp counselor? You're barely an adult yourself, your second-in-command is a teenager, and you are responsible for the well-being of at least a dozen kids who could be your little siblings. It's an adventurous time- you're free in the woods, maybe you're sneaking off at night with other counselors. Everything is on the edge of a thrill- until- you are short a camper at your next head-count. I've been on the search for a missing camper; the alarm bell rings and you take off for stations. Maybe you're running trails, maybe you are lining up with a dive team to comb the lake. Maybe you are combing through the buildings. You hope the search is called off, the kid is found, everyone is spooked but okay. You hope. For Liz Moore's camp full of characters, hope is not enough. It's 1975 and a camper is missing. It's been just over a decade since another child went missing on the nature preserve; a child that was never found. A child with ties to both the disgustingly wealthy family that owns the land and the rugged locals who maintain the camp. Tension between the Haves and Have Nots is at an all-time high. And you, lucky reader? You’re plowing headfirst into the woods right along with the rest of town. The one thing I can guarantee you’ll find out there is a whip-smart thriller and a coming-of-age nightmare.”
— Cait • Gibson's Bookstore
Bookseller recommendation
“The God of the Woods is a beautifully narrated story full of summer camp nostalgia, family secrets, and sharp social commentary. I would recommend this for anyone who loves an atmospheric mystery told from multiple perspectives. Easily one of my favorite audiobooks of the year! ”
— Kate • Cream & Amber
Bookseller recommendation
“Loved this! Great suspense and didn’t really figure it out until the end! She does a great job with character development and getting you invested in the story…Will definitely find more books by this author. ”
— Melli • The Book Rack of Fort Walton Beach
Bookseller recommendation
“It’s the mid 1970’s. It’s summer camp. But this is no nostalgic, comedy or cheap slasher novel. An unnamable, ever present danger hovers and lurks in the woods of the Adirondack mountains, seemingly encircling Camp Emerson, and lingering on every page of this totally enveloping novel. Moore paints a highly convincing ecosystem surrounding Camp Emerson, paying special attention to the class based hierarchies and antagonisms that simmer all around. The novel also portrays an ugly, decadent upper class, and is interested in the strict confines of gender roles which all really add depth to the novel. Moore absolutely sticks the landing in the end.”
— Matthew • The Common Good
Bookseller recommendation
“Friends. This book is . . . simply incredible. For sure one of my favorite books of the year, and perhaps one of my favorites of all time. Truthfully, I'm having a hard time writing a review that does this book justice and reflects how much I truly loved it. Just know this: it is rich, vivid, and complex. I feel so intimately connected with the Adirondacks (a place I've never been) and with characters I've never met. This story will be sitting with me for a time to come.”
— Meg • Good & Golden Books
"Riveting from page one to the last breathless word."—Rebecca Makkai, New York Times bestselling author of I Have Some Questions For You
“Brilliant, riveting .. an epic mystery, a family saga and a survival guide...I loved this book.” —Miranda Cowley Heller, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Paper Palace
When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide
Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.
As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.
* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF that contains a map from the book.
Liz Moore is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel Long Bright River, which was a Good Morning America Book Club pick and one of Barack Obama’s favorite books of the year, as well as the acclaimed novels Heft and The Unseen World. A winner of the 2014-2015 Rome Prize in Literature, she lives in Philadelphia.
Featured in these playlists...
Reviews
Praise for The God of the Woods:“The God of the Woods, like The Secret History, transports readers so deeply into its richly peopled, ominous world that, for hours, everything else falls away. . . . Breaking free of the spell Moore casts is close to impossible.”
—Washington Post
“This expertly paced thriller ...has the kineticism of a well-crafted miniseries.”
—The New Yorker
“Hugely satisfying . . . . Moore cleverly guides us through that tangle of trails, to a thrilling and unexpected conclusion.”
—Boston Globe
“Liz Moore’s extraordinary new literary suspense novel reminds me of Donna Tartt’s 1992 debut, The Secret History. . . . [T]he vital connection for me was a reading experience where I was so thoroughly submerged in a rich fictional world, that for hours I barely came up for air. . . . The precision of Moore’s writing never flags. . . . Unforgettable.”
—Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air, NPR
"Her fictional summer camp felt as vivid to me as my own."
— The New York Times
"An unusually gratifying reading experience . . . Three days after you turn the last page, your head is still half in it. It's as if you can smell the pine and wood smoke. . . . Moore has written an atmospheric family drama, a social novel and the best kind of missing persons story, one that's fun to read and think about.”
—Marion Winnik, Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Intercutting past and present, Moore keeps the suspense at a fever pitch amid nuanced portraits of the out-of-touch Van Laars, their hangers-on and the locals who both depend on and resent them. A winner.”
—People
“Clear your afternoon: This absorbing story, told by a compelling cast of characters, is unputdownable.”
—Real Simple
“Part riveting thriller and part family drama, Liz Moore’s novel plays on the uncomfortable truths of favoritism and family dynamics in this nail-biter that will keep you from wandering alone in the woods for quite some time.”
—Huffington Post
“An immersive reading experience that will draw audiences. Its explorations of class, crime, and family dynamics, in addition to Moore’s incredible storytelling, will appeal to readers of Lisa Jewell, Tana French, and Lucy Foley.”
—Library Journal, STARRED review
“Rich in background detail and secondary mysteries . . . this ever-expansive, intricate, emotionally engaging novel never seems overplotted. Every piece falls skillfully into place and every character, major and minor, leaves an imprint.”
—Kirkus, STARRED review
“Gripping and revelatory . . . The beautiful and dangerous wilderness setting enhances the suspense as the narrative builds to a dramatic final act. . . . This astonishes.”
—Publishers Weekly, STARRED review
“A compulsively readable novel that will appeal to fans of mysteries and historical fiction alike.”
—Booklist, STARRED review
“Riveting from page one to the last breathless word, The God of the Woods is about the many ways we find and lose both ourselves and others. This book flew by at lightning speed, but will stick with me for a very long time.”
—Rebecca Makkai, New York Times bestselling author of I Have Some Questions For You
“A brilliant, riveting fox trap of a novelan epic mystery, a family saga and a survival guide. Liz Moore shows us how easy it is for any of us to get lost in the woods, and what to do if you want to be found. I loved this book.”
—Miranda Cowley Heller, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Paper Palace
“A riveting tale of a missing child that widens into a vast, acute portrait of youth, friendship, family secrets, and conflicting social circles. Intelligently done, and with a gimlet eye for telling detail, it’s a brilliant trap full of secrets and lies.”
—Douglas Stuart, Booker Prize winning author of Shuggie Bain
“A rare gem, an immersive and enthralling literary thriller: a novel about love in the aftermath of tragedy, and about families of the very best—and the worst—kind.”
—Paula Hawkins, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Girl on the Train
Expand reviews
Stock up with our Shop Small Sale!
Libro.fm for Business
Start a membership, get two free audiobooks