A Thriller Set in the North Woods of Minnesota

Contemporary crime fiction? No thanks.
Mindy Mejia? Never heard of her.
A story set in the frozen tundra where I live? Ima pass.

But talk about a compelling page turner! For reals. I know that sounds cliche but I seriously could not put down Leave No Trace. Main characters Maya and Lucas crawled into my very psyche and made theirselves at home. It will take a long time to forget them, if ever.

For the squeamish at heart, some of the gory details might be a bit off-putting, but other than that and a few F bombs (which are actually humorous), there’s nothing else not to love. Fast paced. A sweet hint of romance. And deep issues that are handled masterfully.

All in all a great read...one that has earned a place on my keeper shelf. Here’s a blurb:

There is a place in Minnesota with hundreds of miles of glacial lakes and untouched forests called the Boundary Waters. Ten years ago, a man and his son trekked into this wilderness and never returned.

Search teams found their campsite ravaged by what looked like a bear. They were presumed dead until a decade later...the son reappears. Discovered while ransacking an outfitter store, he is violent and uncommunicative and is sent to a psychiatric facility. Maya Stark, the assistant language therapist, is charged with making a connection with the high-profile patient. No matter how hard she tries, he refuses to answer questions about his father or the last ten years of his life.

But Maya, who was abandoned by her own mother, has secrets, too. And as she’s drawn closer to this enigmatic boy who is no longer a boy, she’ll risk everything to reunite him with his father who has disappeared from the known world.