Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Heartwood by Amity Paige

Heartwood by Amity Paige (Simon & Schuster, 1 April 2025) is about the search for Valerie Gillis, a fortyish nurse who decides to hike the Appalachian Trail and disappears near the end in Maine, the most rugged part of the trail. Lieutenant Beverly Miller is the Maine game warden organizing the search and rescue teams, including volunteers and K-9s.

Told from multiple points of view, the story is hard to follow sometimes, as the connection between some of the narrators is not clear. While waiting to be found, Valerie writes a journal about her experience, directing her notes to her mother and reflecting upon their relationship. Beverly has the greater part of the narration as she describes the daily search plans and the attempts to gain more information about Valerie to try to understand where and how she might have gotten off the trail. Then a 76-year-old wheelchair-bound nature enthusiast named Lena Kucharski in an assisted living facility in Connecticut writes about her failed relationship with her daughter and her uneasiness living among so many people. Her online friendship with a survivalist is her primary distraction, which turns out to be unexpectedly helpful. She has no apparent link to either Beverly or Valerie.

The hiker who walked with Valerie most of the way, Ruben Serrano, gets almost as much space as Lena does, and transcripts of interviews with family and friends form chapters. Notes from other hikers who met Valerie along the trail and from the public saying the caller knows where Valerie is or that they saw her yesterday, no doubt similar to those received during a real-life search, break up the longer sections.

I cannot easily categorize this book. It shows up on NetGalley in the Mystery and Thriller section. I suppose it can be called a low-key thriller, perhaps suspense is a better term. It can also be categorized as women’s fiction, since the three main characters are women at turning points in their lives.

The gradual increase in tension in the action is restrained but noticeable. I found the book propulsive, despite its disorderly flow, and insightful in its examination of individual relationships with people and with nature and how well an individual balances those needs with their own needs.

Readers who like nature-focused mysteries or search and rescue stories or find the Appalachian Trail fascinating should consider this book. In some ways it reminds me of The Left-Handed Twin by Thomas Perry, in which its protagonist is pursued through the wilderness of Maine.

Starred review from Booklist.

·         Publisher: ‎Simon & Schuster (April 1, 2025)

·         Language: ‎English

·         Hardcover: ‎320 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎1668063603

·         ISBN-13: ‎978-1668063606

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4hTmg9N

 

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2025

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.