I truly enjoyed this unique novel by Diane Les Becquets featuring two women -- Amy Ray Latour, a bow hunter in pursuit of elk; and Pru Hathaway, the search and rescue ranger who, with her dog Kona, searches for Amy when she disappears during a camping trip.

The novel is told in alternating chapters from both Amy and Pru's point of view, and also goes back in forth in time so the reader learns about each woman's childhood, young adult life, and current situation. While at the most literal level Amy is "lost" and Pru "seeks" her, the reader learns that in the metaphorical sense each of the women is both "lost" and "seeking". Both characters have a realistic depth to them, and Les Becquets gives us a novel that feels both character-driven, with the suspense of wanting to know how the plot will end.

I mention the two women as main characters, but Les Becquets beautifully draws a third character worth mentioning -- the landscape. Nature plays an important role in the story and the author's vibrant description of the setting (and Amy and Pru's love of nature) is thoroughly enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Les Bequets does an impressive job of creating a sense of place. I miss reading of these lands already. ( )

Maybe a 4.5. The ending of survival novels is always so damn satisfying. I listened to this on audiobook, which I wouldn't recommend. I had to to listen to the beginning chapters several times in order to follow the story since you're following two different POVs. And the first two-thirds of the book was a bit of a slog. It was fine but kind of boring. I didn't think it would win me over as much as it did. Things don't really kick off until we're deep into the survival part of the story and secrets about Amy Raye's life start to come out. I really loved her, she was a hot mess, emphasis on the hot. Prue's POV was epically boring, but necessary because through her we got to see how Amy Raye's secrets impacted her loved ones. This is probably the first book I've read about a "bad wife" and I want to read a thousand more. Loving, supportive, unproblematic husbands married to women hellbent on making a mess of their lives...*chefs kiss*. ( )

Wonderful book. A perfect blend of action, introspection, appreciation of the wilderness and some of the issues facing women today. Well-written and it has a dog! ( )

This is a tale of survival – both of the elements in the wild and of life in general. Told through the eyes of two tough women, this story is mainly about Amy Rae, a hunter (in more than one sense of the term) who goes missing when conditions turn bad. Injured, lost, and soon presumed dead, Amy Rae struggles to survive while also struggling with her dark past. A damaged character, at times her pain radiates off the pages, but it is that very pain that fuels her will to survive.

The other narrator is Pru, one of the officials called in on the initial search for Amy Rae. The more Pru gets to know about Amy Rae, the more she feels the need to discover what has happened to the missing woman, if only to provide her family with some closure. The more the reader gets to know about Pru, the more apparent it becomes that there are many parallels between the two independent women, although they have chosen different ways to handle their pain.

This is the first adult novel by author Diane Les Becquets. The writing is lovely, the story engaging, and the pacing suspenseful. Quite honestly, I didn’t know how the story would end until I finished reading. There were a few loose ends that I would have liked tied up – such as what became of certain characters, but I see this as a good thing. Too often lately I’ve found that I don’t care enough about the characters I’ve been reading to give them a second thought after I’ve closed the book. Les Becquets is definitely an author to watch. 5 stars. ( )