Before Familiar Woods

A Novel

By: Ian Pisarcik

Narrated by: Susan C. Hunter, Neil Hellegers, Michael Crouch

On the outskirts of a town too tired for its own happenings, the boys were found dead inside a tent.

Three years later, their fathers have disappeared too.

Ruth Fenn's son was the boy they blamed. For three years, Ruth has accepted her lot as pariah, focusing on her ailing mother and the children left in her care by the struggling single parents of North Falls, Vermont. But now the additional loss of her husband is too much to bear, and she has no choice but to overcome the darkness or be consumed by it. But as she edges closer to the truth, she begins to uncover some secrets that are better left buried.

That's when she meets Milk Raymond, a war vet who comes home to find his 9-year-old son abandoned by his mother. Unable to find work, with no idea how to be a father, Milk turns to Ruth for help. But as the mystery of Ruth's missing husband deepens, the fragile stability Milk has created for Daniel is shattered by the ill-fated return of Daniel's mother, who will stop at nothing to get her boy back.

As these unsettled and interconnected lives hurtle towards a devastating conclusion, both Ruth and Milk are about to learn that their dying Vermont town has more secrets than they ever thought possible - and there are those who will do anything to protect them.

©2020 Ian Pisarcik (P)2020 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Painful But Compelling

4 stars for the mystery, crime fiction Before Familiar Woods by Ian Pisarcik. Set in rural Vermont this is a uniquely told story of two gay teenage boys who end up murdered in their tent while camping in the woods. The story really begins several years later, though, when the fathers of both boys disappear, and the two wives have to reunite in spite of resentment and old wounds related to their sons' deaths to find them. There is a parallel story that takes place during the same time frame of a war vet who comes home to take custody of his 9-year-old son as the mother is a drug addict and has abandoned him. Eventually the two stories collide in a climactic but redeeming conclusion. This book has strong themes of some really ugly things like homophobia, hate crimes, drug addiction, sex trafficking, and child loss. However, those themes are woven into the fabric of the entire story with such a deft touch that although they are integral threads, they are not overt or scratchy. My only real critique is that the narrator of Ruth who is the main character has such an old lady voice I kept thinking she was older than she really was. This book really deserves to be read. It is a timely topic that needs us all not to look away.

Very well written, unusual and tragic story.

Well developed plot, complex characters, excellent pacing make this novel a hit. This story takes place in rural Vermont. The Audible accents, sayings, and pacing are perfect. I loved this book, as sad as it was. This book was terrific. I plan to order a physical copy for my shelves. Don't pass this one up.