The Wind In The Woods by Rose Senehi

At a North Carolina youth camp, drama and suspense unfold. The camp’s owner is dealing with the possibility that his precious camp may be destroyed. A young boy struggles to find himself amid family problems and social issues. A killer is preying on women in the Blue Ridge mountains nearby, leaving a trail of intrigue that ultimately leads to the camp.

I can see why Senehi has been praised for her work. It’s beautifully written with colorful, realistic characters. The place setting is absolutely gorgeous. She has a talent for displaying the beauty of North Carolina without bogging you down with unnecessary description. Each character in the book, from the main to the briefest encounter, are distinctly woven together so that each one has a unique personality. Senehi pulls you into another world and does it nearly flawlessly.

My only issue with this book came in the beginning. I love the high drama that it starts out with, but found too many characters to remember them all throughout the first several chapters. Though each character is introduced separately, at the point that they all merge together you have to really struggle to remember who each character is and their position in the story. I did find that after a little time I came to know them well enough that I didn’t have to fight to remember who they were. It was like meeting an entire cast of characters and having to sort them out until I came to know each one personally.

In the book there’s also a strong undercurrent of protection and appreciation. This spans from the interaction of characters to environmental issues. We get a glimpse of how a youth camp works at it’s finest. The characters learn to cope with each other with a new understanding. We also get a first-hand look at how the environmental process works when it involves the sale of land and environments that need protection. Thankfully, this part wasn’t long and drawn out. I was a bit concerned at first that it would become nothing but legal mumbo jumbo and was glad that Senehi stuck to the basics instead of bogging the story down.