Three Forks is a settlement of new beginnings… or at least that’s what Pete tells himself. Sixteen years ago, the Levins brothers moved from the city to the mountains to start their lumber company and create a name for themselves, along with the town Three Forks, but something never sat right with Iva when the workers kept disappearing… and ghastly remains kept being found. After being released from prison, Pete is looking forward to a rare second chance in Three Forks, West Virginia, working for the Levins Lumber Company. Although he struggles to get along with his drunk boss and the town of people who want to avoid him, he knows this opportunity isn’t one to be wasted—he has a family he needs to send money home to and a felony for murder on his record, leaving him with few prospects. It was almost too good to be true when he received that letter from Henry Levin just before his sentence was up, but as this town—and its woods—reveals their secrets, Pete wonders if receiving that letter was truly too good to be true after all… because life in the stix isn’t for the faint of heart.
This is a slow burn of a novel. Leslie takes her time, building both the suspense and the characters. She does some time jumps, first from the beginnings of Three Forks through to a few years in, but also does a bigger jump to fifteen-ish years later.
I know some of the readers have stated they’ve found the time jumps confusing, but I had no issues with it. It’s clear at the beginning of each chapter, so I don’t know where the confusion comes from. I found everything very clear and readable.
I’ve also heard that none of the characters were likeable. Okay, well, no, they’re not likeable, but there are some really interesting ones that I had to follow through. Jim. Henry. Pete. Jason. Iva. Yeah, every one of them were not the nicest characters, but they were interesting characters. And that’s what good fiction should offer up.
But let’s also talk about why we’re here, shall we? The horror.
Leslie takes her time, setting the stage, then introducing those trees…those damned trees…But like some of the best horror, she ratchets up the horror but keeps the characters—and the readers—mostly in the dark about what’s going on.
If I have any single complaint—and believe me, in a novel this good, this is extremely minor, it’s that I would have liked a little more understanding of the intended events toward the end. There were a couple of revelations that just kind of happened that I would have liked a bit more context to earlier in the novel.
But seriously, the ending still worked just fine.
And, because this is an independently published novel, I want to point out that, yes, there’s a couple of minor errors, but no more than you get in the average Big 5 publication. And quite frankly, Leslie’s writing reads better than many Big 5 books that are bestsellers. This book should be a bestseller. And finally…go back up and look at that cover. It’s gorgeous. I swear, these indie authors are killing it when it comes to beautiful, eye-catching covers.
Overall, for only a second full novel, Leslie’s writing is strong, clear, and assured. I enjoyed the hell out of this novel. She’s absolutely one to watch, because if the rest of her stuff is as good as this, she’s gonna do well.
