In August 1975 a thirteen-year-old girl vanishes from a summer camp on her family's Adirondack estate, fourteen years after her little brother disappeared from the same land.
A patient, atmospheric, multi-timeline mystery with a wonderful sense of place and a very large cast. The puzzle is fair and the ending reframes a lot, but the middle sags and the pace will frustrate readers who want a fast thriller. Four out of five. Content note: missing children, sexual violence, domestic violence and addiction.
Every guide comes as a video and a full written article. Pick the one you need: the review is spoiler-free, the ending explained is not.
The God of the Woods summary and ending explained: what happened to Barbara and Bear, who did what, the cover-up, the island and where everyone ends up. Full spoilers.
My spoiler-free review of The God of the Woods by Liz Moore: the setup, what works, what doesn't, content notes, my score and books like it.
Who is who in The God of the Woods by Liz Moore: the Van Laars, Barbara and Bear, Tracy, Louise, T.J. Hewitt, the McLellans, the investigators and more. Light spoilers.
The God of the Woods (2024) is a novel by Liz Moore. In August 1975, thirteen-year-old Barbara Van Laar disappears from Camp Emerson, a summer camp on her family’s private estate in the Adirondack Mountains. Fourteen years earlier her older brother, Bear, vanished from the same land. A young state investigator, Judy Luptack, is drawn into the search.
Content note: the book involves missing children, an escaped serial killer, references to sexual violence including crimes against minors, domestic violence, heavy drinking, pill dependence and cocaine use.
Below you’ll find a spoiler-free review (with books like it), the summary and ending explained, and a spoiler-light guide to the characters.
The Van Laars are a wealthy banking family from Albany. Their summer estate holds a camp, Camp Emerson, where rich families send their kids. This summer, their daughter Barbara, thirteen, a black clad, defiant girl, goes to camp for the first time. On the morning after a dance, her bunk is empty.
The book follows the search through a cast that includes her counselor Louise, her shy bunkmate Tracy, her mother Alice, and a young state investigator named Judy. It runs roughly one hundred twenty-five thousand words in about ninety-six short chapters. It was published in twenty twenty-four by Riverhead. Moore is also the author of Long Bright River, Heft and The Unseen World.
The Van Laars are a wealthy banking family from Albany. Their summer estate holds a camp, Camp Emerson, where rich families send their kids. This summer, their daughter Barbara, thirteen, a black clad, defiant girl, goes to camp for the first time. On the morning after a dance, her bunk is empty.
A patient, atmospheric, multi-timeline mystery with a wonderful sense of place and a very large cast. The puzzle is fair and the ending reframes a lot, but the middle sags and the pace will frustrate readers who want a fast thriller. Four out of five. Content note: missing children, sexual violence, domestic violence and addiction. Read it if: you like slow-burn mysteries with a strong sense of place; you enjoy multiple timelines and piecing clues together; you like 1970s settings and summer-camp stories; you enjoyed books like long bright river or in the woods. Skip it if: you want a fast, plot-driven thriller; stories about missing children are hard for you right now; big casts and shifting narrators frustrate you; content about sexual violence and addiction is a dealbreaker. Review: The God of the Woods →
The God of the Woods summary and ending explained: what happened to Barbara and Bear, who did what, the cover-up, the island and where everyone ends up. Full spoilers. Summary: The God of the Woods →
In the Woods by Tana French, The Dry by Jane Harper, Woodswoman by Anne LaBastille.
In August 1975, thirteen-year-old Barbara Van Laar vanishes from Camp Emerson, a summer camp on her family's Adirondack estate. Her older brother Bear disappeared from the same land in 1961. The novel follows the search through several narrators and timelines.
Liz Moore, the author of Long Bright River, Heft and The Unseen World. The novel was published by Riverhead in 2024.
Yes. As of October 2026 Netflix is reported to be adapting it as an eight-episode series with Maya Hawke and Kerry Condon, and Liz Moore as a co-showrunner. Netflix says filming began in June 2026 and no release date has been announced.
No, it is fiction. It is set in a fictional Adirondack estate, the Van Laar Preserve, and draws on the region's history of lost hikers and private Great Camps.
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