Northwoods

By: Bill Schweigart

Narrated by: Will Damron

Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's Summary

Ex-Delta Force Davis Holland, now an agent for Customs and Border Protection, has seen it all. But nothing in his experience has prepared him for what he and the local sheriff find one freezing night in the Minnesota woods.

Investigating reports of an illegal border crossing, the two men stumble across a blood-drenched scene of mass murder, barely escaping with their lives... and a single clue to the mayhem: a small wooden chest placed at the heart of the massacre. Something deadly has entered Holland's territory, crossing the border from nightmare into reality.

When news of the atrocity reaches wealthy cryptozoologist Richard Severance, he sends a three-person team north to investigate. Not long ago, the members of that team - Ben McKelvie, Lindsay Clark, and Alex Standingcloud - were nearly killed by a vengeful shapeshifter. Now they are walking wounded, haunted by gruesome memories that make normal life impossible. But there is nothing normal about the horror that awaits in the Northwoods.

©2016 William Schweigart (P)2016 Tantor

Critic Reviews

"With its vivid descriptions and realistic but sympathetic characterizations, Northwoods will stay with the reader long after the last page is turned." ( New York Journal of Books)

Backwoods X-files

Another fantabulous read, but would recommend reading The Beast of Barcroft first... This one can stand alone, but the context and history of the previous will make this one all the more enjoyable... Northwoods has a similar flavor and appeal as Beast, mixing science, native traditions, and seemingly unrelated legends/mythos w/ those things creeping around in the dark corners of our imaginations... The Back and forth between character perspectives and locales makes for some delightful mini cliff hangers, which in turn ratchets up the tension and chills... There's some incredible attention to detail, and precision of research, creating a rich and rereadable experience... Found myself rewinding on several occasions to reread a particularly enjoyable passage or humorous happening, and you will absolutely catch yourself laughing out loud at many points... Vivid settings and characters beyond engaging... The team's grouping is interestingly diverse w/o beating you over the head w/ it...It's a fun trip into the weird and arcane, and if you like that sorta of stuff like me you'll undoubtedly appreciate this cryptothriller story and series... Think I just coined a term;) Quite excited for book 3, and have it on good authority that it has recently been recently turned into its publisher... Worth the credit, price, or whatever, and you're welcome...

great for guys wanting a fun read

This is a great book if you are a teenage to 30 something guy looking for a monster story with everything... but I'm a 40 something married woman. Don't get me wrong I love love love a good monster story which is why I got this book and I'm married to a soldier and am pretty sure my husband would love it. That being said... there were some scenes in it that we over the top gratuitous for me, but don't let that stop you from getting this one. It was still a fun listen.

I loved it!

If you could sum up Northwoods in three words, what would they be?

SuspensefulRoller-CoasterExciting

What other book might you compare Northwoods to and why?

While this is direct sequel to The Beast Of Barcroft, the author has upped his game tremendously. And while Beast was quite good, Northwoods is Great! We have many of the same players here and a few new ones.

Which scene was your favorite?

The battle on the lake and the "cavalry" arriving.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes actually. What happens to Gus and then Ben. That's all I can say without spoilers.

Any additional comments?

I have already pre-ordered the third book in this series and am hoping for many more. But the series needs some way of identifying it so that we can direct more people to it. A very well done novel and well worth seeking out.

Read book one first

Any additional comments?

I just started this book and i was so lost and confused from all the references to the past and to previous character development that I had to put it down and read book one . Only 3 hours into book one it is glaringly obvious that i needed to read "The Beast of Barcroft" first. Luckily it's pretty good so far. I'm upset that this wasn't listed as a series or I wouldn't have made this mistake.

Riveting

This was actually one of the best books I've listened to in a while. I'm eager to listen to more from this author and narrator. I loved the Native lore brought into present day. The tragedy in true heroism. It was never slow or awkward. And well done for a book that switches from one characters narration to the next, not disorienting at all. Two thumbs up.

Beast of Barcroft...part deux.

Northwoods is an exciting thriller comprised of paranormal entities and Ojibwe Indian legends. Our protagonist David Holland is former Special Forces now an agent for Customs and Border Protection. It all starts with a possible border crossing into the Northwoods of Minnesota. Mystery, action and tension escalate from there on. People begin to show up dead, mangled and partially eaten, graves disturbed and huge shadows of legendary beasts appear on land and in the lakes. A paranormal research team is sent in and together with Holland they struggle to make sense of the death and chaos erupting around them. An artifact is found at one of the deadly scenes which only confounds and complicates matters further since no one knows what it is, where it came from, or how it fits into the current circumstances. Reference is made to a previous book “The Beast of Barcroft” in which this research team took part, but the books can stand on their own. This is an interesting story (if not a bit long-winded at times), decent characters, with plenty of mystery and action; well done Mr. Schweigart. Will Damron also does a fine job as narrator.

Good story. Not ground breaking, but a good, fun romp.

Writing is very solid, dialogue is smooth (this is rare and essential to a good immersive book) and characters are well developed and believable. Story gets a little far fetched (very quickly), but if you like supernatural and fantasy, you'll enjoy this high pace, well written, good vs evil escape into what could be...

Northwoods Beast

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, but I would warn them that the story, at least in audio, is hard to follow timeline-wise. I don't know that it would be easier to follow in print but it would be easier to flip back to check the 'when' of some events. And it helps to have read the first story in the series, The Beast of Barcroft. This isn't exactly a sequel but it does feature the same core group of characters. I enjoyed the fast pace, witting writing and several truly creepy scares but I deducted some points for the convoluted time line. Will Damron did a fine job. He's one of those narrators who you don't notice (in a good way).

Disappointed

I read the first book in this series just to get to this one because I thought it sounded good. Gave the beast of barcroft a pass and the benefit of the doubt thinking it was an ok start to a possibly good series. But this was very disappointing for me. Seems the author wanted to play more into the lesbian character trying to have sex with every female she ran across verses keeping her mind on the problem at hand. For having been so disturbed and traumatised from her experiences in the first book it sure didn't affect her labido. I'm completely against sodomy in the first place but her relationship with Ben, the other main character was irritating to say the least due to their argumentative way of speaking to each other. Beyond that the book was just very average at best. Weird supernatural silliness, a lot of which weren't explained thoroughly mixed in with awkward and boring characters that kinda faded in and out throughout the book gave me a detached reading experience.
The entire read for me was unsatisfactory from the beginning. Was expecting a quick and easy read with a bit of a scary or spookiness but this was actually kinda irritating. Probably would not have finished it if it had been much longer.

A roller coaster of HUH????

The story was all over the place and it wasn't until the last hour do you realize where the author is trying to get too. If you're looking for action thriller this is not it.