A solid dual timeline story. I liked the wilderness/outdoors aspect to it. The bad weather and terrain really added to the tension of the book. Very atmospheric! I am in no hurry to visit the Sierra Nevadas!

This was an emotional and heartfelt genre mash up of mystery, thriller, and fiction told from two POVs alternating timelines from past to present. The setting is in the Sierra Nevada mountains where Silas’ two boys go missing when they venture out to take a hike on their own. It stirs painful memories from 15 years before when a friend of Silas went missing in those same mountains only never to be found. Meg is one part of a pair of his best friends from those high school days 15 years ago, and very much a part of the events when their friend went missing. She dedicated her life to being part of a search and rescue group and they find themselves face to face after a 15 year long absence where she’s helping Silas find his boys. The present search is an emotional rollercoaster, and the past events as they unfold include an added suspense to the present and when both collide so many answers come to the surface with a curveball I did not see coming. I really enjoyed reading this book!

This is such a beautiful and powerful time-jumping story.

I loved every moment I spent with the characters in the Sierra Nevada Mountains!

After fifteen years, Silas Matheson returns to the wilderness in the mountains. He inherited the lodge from his aunt with the purpose of helping him, because his life as a single dad isn’t going all that well.
Silas isn’t 100% sure he should quit his job though. It would mean leaving his old life behind.

When Silas was 18, he went hiking with his former girlfriend, Jessica, and his two best friends, Meg and Danny. Jessica disappeared and her body was never found.
Silas left for college and cut off all contact with Meg and Danny... that is until some young kids go missing...

7 year old Spencer and 5 year old Cameron disappear into the same woods Jessica did... and now the race is on to find out where the boys went and to discover what really happened to Jessica.

This is a debut book for this author and she did a fantastic job. It's a heartfelt story that really keeps you on edge through a lot of the story. Keeps you turning the pages for more of what happened before. Fifteen years before to be exact.

This book is about two boys who go missing. About the horrors of not knowing where you little boys are. Realizing that you was not paying attention when they left. And that it's been fifteen years since it happened the first time on your watch.

Silas was a super popular person. He lived life to the fullest. He seemed to have it all. His best friend Danny and Danny's girlfriend Meg are together most of the time. They go all over the hills around the lodge that Silas's uncle and aunt own. They are the best of friends. Then comes Jessica. She and Silas are a bit of a couple. She's a cheerleader and all around perfect high school girlfriend. Just not for Silas. He has eyes for another.

What happened in 2003? What does it have to do with 2018? Jessica went missing in 2003 and Silas's boys go missing in 2018. Could there be a tie or is it coincidental? It's fifteen years after Jessica's disappearance but Meg and Danny are working as SAR(search & rescue) to find these two young boys. There are so many places to look. So many places where they could have gone. Gotten lost. Something, anything, could happen to them. It's cold and raining and they are only seven and five. They are just babies. It was hard to read some of this. Some that had me holding my breath when things were happening. I cried hard in a few places. Just the thought of two little boys being out, lost, alone, in this area was heart-wrenching. You could feel Silas's fears.

I figured out fairly early on what happened to Jessica but in no way did this take away from this story. It was well written. Well researched it seems. This story takes you on the path to find two young boys but so much more will be found. Even through the tears I enjoyed reading this book. It was sad in places but it was also so good. I could picture the terrain. The lakes. The lodge. The three friends who may not have been as close as they seemed. Or may have been closer than anyone knew. It felt real.

This is a huge FIVE star read for me. Very well written. Heartfelt. Heartbreaking. But also filled with lots of love. Well done.
I will post links after tomorrow. I read this as part of a blog tour and can't post until Sunday November 19, 2023

Loved it!! I really enjoyed how the book alternated between Meg and Silas in 2018 and 2003. If Silas's boys never went missing, would the truth about Jessica's disappearance ever been revealed? I can't imagine a five and seven year old attempting to climb a mountain on their own. They must have been terrified. I'm not sure how Danny and Meg stayed together for so long. They didn't seem to like each other much. Danny always dismissed Meg. They didn't even work well as a team, while they were looking for the Matheson boys. I couldn't put the book down because I wanted to know what really happened to Jessica and if they would find the boys.

Definitely recommend the book. Loved the characters, story and writing style. It had a bit of a mystery with regards to what happened to Jessica. It had me guessing if Meg, Silas, Danny or some random stranger was involved. Look forward to reading more books by the author. Loved the cover of the book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Lake Union Publishing through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

If you are looking for an atmospheric mystery set in the mountains look no further than The Wild Between Us. Told in dual timeline and dual POVS, it follows the story of Silas as he returns to his family’s mountain lodge now with his two young sons only for them to go missing bringing up old fears from his past. Silas reunites with his old friends, Meg and Danny, as they are know part of search and rescue as a sort of penance for the disappearance they are all tied too.

The tension between the former friends is thick and old secrets come to light as the team searches for the missing boys. The cracks expand even wider as the past timeline progresses and it spills over into the present timeline. The way the story is told it’s very clear there is a villain among the friends and while I figured it out I think a lot of readers won’t until it’s revealed.


Thank you @katerockbooktours @AmyHagstromWrites and @AmazonPublishing for this gifted eARC and a spot on the book tour.

This sounded promising. I love a dual timeline and nature/search and rescue books are always great. But, somewhere in there it just got lost (pardon the pun). It wasn’t very thrilling and the drama was nonexistent. The past was stretched out a bit too much when the children missing should have been more of the focus in my opinion.
I know others will love this but I couldn’t continue. DNF at 47%.
Thank you to Lake Union for the opportunity to read the early copy.

Wow, this was a pulse pounding debut that I read in a few hours!

Silas is back to where he spent his summers in the Sierra Nevadas with his two young boys to live in his Aunt's cabin. 15 years ago, he fled after a 5 day long search/rescue operation for his ex-girlfriend Jessica was called off with no results. Then the unthinkable happens and his boys get lost in the same area... This time to aid in their search is Meg and Danny. Silas's friends that were there when Jessica disappeared.

The chapters go back and forth between the past and the present and my heart ached in each time period. I was riveted to my seat, felt the fear from the 3 MCs (especially fear for the small boys as a mother can feel that fear) and the rescue teams and felt the cold and darkness during the search.

What a great tension filled and emotional story.

The Wild Between Us centers around two different incidences of someone missing in the wilderness.

One was 15 years ago and was never solved. The other is current day and involves two young brothers who are lost.

I found the search and rescue aspects of the story very informative. A peek into what it takes to find people in the wild.

I was equally interested in both cases since a few of the same people are involved. It did seem to drag a bit at times, but I think that just added to the despair that the people felt while waiting for news.

Tense, emotional and interesting. I could feel for all the ones involved. Even a few secrets thrown in to add even more to the story. I loved the then/now theme and learning what happened in each case before someone went missing.

This is the first book I've read by the author. I will certainly be looking for more.

Thanks to netgalley and Lake Union Publishing. for the arc.

Fifteen years ago, four friends went for a hike into the Sierra Nevada mountains. One never returned. Silas left town shortly after and hadn't been back since. But when he inherits his Uncle's lodge and property, he sees it as a new start for himself and his two young boys. He never expected to be thrust back into the nightmare of guilt and terror after his boys go missing. And who should show up in the search and rescue group but his old friends Meg and Danny. As time ticks on and temperatures plummet the race is on to find his boys alive.
I felt this was more a search and rescue adventure than a mystery. I found the SAR process fascinating and exciting and the flashback chapters to the past just added another element to the story. I highly recommend this book!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

4.25⭐️

Silas left his home in the Sierra Nevada mountains fifteen years ago, after a group hike led to one of his friends going missing, shattering their world. He returns for the first time with his two young sons after inheriting a lodge, only for those two boys to go missing. The story moves back and forth between these two interconnected mysteries, bringing long-buried feelings and truths to light as the rescue mission works hard to find the boys.

This was a well-told dual timeline mystery that kept me engaged from start to finish. I had my suspicions but was kept guessing right up to the end, all while finding myself genuinely worried for the fate of the boys.

Thank you Amy Hagstrom, Lake Union Publishing, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

This story about loss and rescue was so beautifully written. The story in present day parallels with one of the past until they converge. This back and forth timeline will make you want to just keep reading. The author is a big fan of commas and I think that it added to the writing but I can see how it might make it a bit more difficult for the sentences to flow for some readers. Overall, the pacing was good, the plot was good, the characters had depth and the dialogue was good and realistic.

This book was just what I needed when I picked it up-it grabbed me from the beginning and fast paced. The story starts when Silas, a father of two young boys, moves back to a resort his aunt and uncle owned (and where he lived 15 years ago). The story continues when the two young boys go missing in the Sierra Nevadas and Silas, along with his high school friends Meg and Danny who have been on the search and rescue team for years. As you read, you learn that 15 years ago, these three lost their friend Jessica in these same woods. She disappeared and never found. I kept reading wondering if the boys would be found and what really happened to Jessica all those years ago.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC of this book. Pub Date 11.7.23

First: Happy Publication Day! This book had a lot to unpack! Silas moves back to the place that changed his life forever with his two little boys only to have the nightmare happen again. At times I felt the flashbacks were a tad long. However, the flashbacks give you the back story of what happened Silas' senior year. There were times I suspected what happened but wasn't 100% certain. I found myself not able to put the book down. I almost finished this in one day but life got in the way. I found myself cheering Meg on to continue the search. I cheered with all the searchers and was sad with them at other times. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. Thanks for the ARC!

The Wild Between Us by Amy Hagstrom was an unputdownable, tense and gripping debut.
The suspense is completely captivating with characters who were intriguing and very entertaining.
The writing was wonderfully descriptive and the story was well written, well thought out with a solid mystery.
I really enjoyed every page of this book and I’m looking forward to reading more by Amy in the future.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read this ahead of its publication date in return for my honest review.

Silas probably should not have gone home- he left after his girlfriend disappeared while they were on a hike with friends- but he has. His aunt's gift of a lodge means a fresh start for him and for his sons Cameron and Spencer. Except it's not, it's another nightmare when the boys go missing. This does hit familiar themes but the Sierra Nevada setting is good and Hagstrom keeps the tension up. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Amy Hagstrom, the author of “The Wild Between Us” has written a captivating and intense novel. The Genres for this novel are Mystery, Nature, and Fiction. In this exciting and edgy novel, the author vividly describes the colorful and dark scenery of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and the dramatic and complex characters. The timeline for this story is set in the present and goes back twenty years to. the mysterious disappearance of a young girl.

Silas Matheson moves to his inherited home in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, with his two young sons. Silas had been friends in high school with Danny and Meg, who both are involved with Search and Rescue. Silas hasn’t reached out to his friends, and the tragedy of a young girl, from years before, stays in their memories. When Silas’s sons decide to go on an adventure and explore the terrain, no one would believe they disappear. Danny and Meg, and many other people help with the search and rescue mission. The rescue crew is facing the harsh elements of nature, and the cold as time passes by.

There are secrets, betrayals and danger. There are twists and turns and many surprises. I highly recommend this edgy and thought-provoking novel.

4 tension filled stars
The synopsis just sucked me in and from reading the very first paragraph I knew my choice to delve into this novel was a good one. The atmosphere of the book was described very well, I felt like I was right there with the characters.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for my advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’m not much of a spooky or horror reader, so I felt like I wasn’t really making the most of October and its associated themes. However, I was accepted for the NetGalley ARC of The Wild Between Us, a mystery fiction set in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and it was an apt read.

“After inheriting his uncle’s lodge, Silas Matheson hopes the grandeur of the California Sierra Nevada will be a fresh start for his two young sons, and a chance to finally face his demons. It was here, fifteen years ago, that Silas and his friends Jessica, Danny, and Meg ventured into the mountain wilderness and Jessica vanished without a trace. When his boys go missing in the same dark woods, the fear and guilt that Silas has been running from ever since come crashing back. Silas’s panicked call brings in the local search and rescue unit, and two familiar Danny and Meg.

As the frantic search gets underway, the three friends are plunged into a painfully recurring nightmare, each of them thinking, This can’t be happening again. With a storm brewing and the boys’ fates threatened with every desperate hour, the secrets of the past begin to surface, and this time, for Silas, Danny, and Meg, there’s no escaping the truth.”

This is a heart-wrenching mystery that unravels in a dual-timeline narrative, which works perfectly here in building suspense, creating mirrors and stacking up the mystery. I found it a little hard to follow in an eBook format, since I like flipping back and forth to check on dates, which is definitely something to consider. Our protagonist Silas, once magnetic at high school, is now a newly single father of two. After returning to his uncle’s lodge where one of his friends went missing on a group hike, he must face his demons when his children both go missing on the mountains.

Hagstrom does a brilliant job in warping time and creating a pressure-cooker effect here. There’s tension right from the start, delivered beautifully against a backdrop of stunning nature landscapes, then the frantic, realistic dialogue adds to this. I did find one or two passages read a little cliche, but the story itself was good enough to balance that out.

I found it difficult to like any of the characters, except for the two little boys, and I suspect this was intentional. Danny and Meg were full of leftover teenage angst, and Silas seemed inherently flawed in every way. But, it did provide a juicy story to uncover and, annoyingly, I was captivated at every turn. (Perhaps I just haven’t read a mystery in a while, and this really scratched an itch!)

I devoured The Wild Between Us in a matter of days, so it’s safe to say I enjoyed it. The characters are well-developed and the scenery throughout the book really appealed to the nature lover in me. Although the back-and-forth started to grate on me a little, I think that was largely down to the format.

The Wild Between Us is due to publish on 7 November 2023.

First and foremost, this book's author is a fantastic, utterly engaging wordsmith. I could feel right away that this author wrote with intelligence and with a more than basic understanding of the environment she was writing about. I checked out her background and it makes sense that her debut novel was about a subject she was familiar with.

With that said, I felt at times that I wanted there to be more action and movement forward in the story in places. I did understand that we needed a backstory and an understanding of how we get to the final chapter with all the pieces put in place. Perhaps it's the flashback scenes that were too drawn out and the search scenes that made me skim a little. I love flawed characters and this author gave us a couple of them that clearly held onto their pain for far too long.

I would recommend this story especially for the detailed descriptions of the mountains in Nevada. The gorgeous backdrop became another character in this story. The lost children tugged at my mommy heart so badly. I cannot even imagine that happening and the child enduring the 48 hours in the bitter cold. Overall, this story also weaved a great suspense story between 3 people but by the time we got to the what actually happened, I almost didn't care. Perhaps I needed MORE of the suspense and less of the descriptions of the mountains to really feel this story would grip me.

I rounded up my 3.5 to 4.... great debut! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.