Kim Savage’s dark ‘After the Woods’ isn’t for everyone

“AFTER THE WOODS,” by Kim Savage, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Feb. 23, 2016, Hardcover, $17.99

Some books stick with you for all the right reasons. Some don’t. After reading “After the Woods,” however, I’m having a hard time deciding what category the novel falls into.

Julia has beaten the odds. She was kidnapped and survived. She spent two days running in the woods while her kidnapper hunted her down. It’s been a year, but Julia still can’t remember everything that happened to her. When a dead girl turns up in the same woods, terrible memories begin to resurface.

Julia’s lucky. She survived, and she’s not alone. Her best friend, Liv, was in the woods, too. With Julia’s help, Liv escaped their attacker. In many ways, Liv seems to be struggling more than Julia — she’s not eating and hooking up with a major loser. As Julia’s memories come into focus, the truth about Liv does, too, and it turns out there’s more to the attack than a creepy guy in the woods.

“After the Woods” is in many ways riveting. I read the book in a day. But as the plot developed I got a sick feeling in my stomach. The twists made me angry, and the resolution left me anything but satisfied.

For many people this will not be the case. I, however, lived in the city in which Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped from. Her picture was on the window at the store where I worked. Her extended family lived within 2 miles of my house. You could not go anywhere without seeing her face. You could not turn on the TV without a mention of her on the news. I still remember where I was when I found out she was alive. It’s not something you forget.

“After the Woods” takes my experience with that and twists it. I left the book feeling creeped out and not-at-all edified. That said, I did finish the novel. Author Kim Savage is a strong enough writer that I wanted to see where she would take me — it just turns out I didn’t like the destination.