What Waits in the Woods: A Chilling Novel of Suspense with a Shocking Twist

by Terri Parlato

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Her ballet career derailed by injury, a once-promising young dancer returns to her hometown only to face a grisly discovery – and the increasingly alarming realization that nothing from her past is quite what she believed – in this electrifyingly twisty suburban thriller for fans of Stacy Willingham, Greer Hendricks, and Megan Miranda.

“A moody, atmospheric thriller perfectly crafted.” —Charlie Donlea, USA Today bestselling author of Twenty Years Later on All the Dark Places

When Esmé Foster left the Boston suburbs to become a professional ballerina, the future shimmered with promise. Eleven years later, her career has been derailed by an injury, and Esme knows it’s time to come back to Graybridge to help her brother care for their ailing father. But her return coincides with an unthinkable crime. Kara Cunningham, one of Esme’s high school friends, is found dead in the woods behind the Fosters’ house.

Esmé is shocked and grieving, but also uneasy. In her dreams, she still sees the man who showed up at the scene of the car accident that killed her mother—and told Esmé he was going to kill her too. Family and friends insisted the figure was a product of Esmé’s imagination, that she was concussed after the crash. But she and Kara looked alike, sharing the same petite build, the same hair color. Could Kara’s murder have been a case of mistaken identity? 

Detective Rita Myers is familiar with close-knit communities like Graybridge, where, beneath the friendliness, there are whispers and secrets. The town has seen other tragedies too, including the long-ago drowning of a young girl in a pond, deep in the woods. Even within the once-close circle of friends that included Kara and Esmé, Rita discerns a ripple of mistrust.

Day by day, Esmé discovers more about the place she left behind—and the friends and family she thought she knew. Soon, shining a light into the darkness to learn what really happened the night Kara died is the only way she can bring the nightmare to an end . . .

"A must read...I loved this book.” —Lisa Jackson, # 1 New York Times bestselling author on All the Dark Places

“Hooks you immediately.  Sharp characters and a plot full of twists kept the pages turning to the last.  Fantastic read!” —Mary Burton, New York Times bestselling author on All the Dark Places
  • ISBN10 1496738594
  • ISBN13 9781496738592
  • Publish Date 26 December 2023
  • Publish Status Active
  • Publish Country US
  • Imprint Kensington Publishing