The Wilds

The dual time line dual pov tale of Keir, a woman bedeviled by her past and missing in the present. Elin Warner and her brother Isaac are on a camping trip she hopes will rebuild their bond and he hopes will help his friend Finn, whose sister Keir disappeared in the park in Portugal where they are camping. Keir's story- her relationship with Zeph-might seem familiar but there's more here than meets the eye. Elin finds the park and the group of people they meet camping there odd and menacing but do they know what happened to Keir? There are some twists, especially for Elin-who has struggled with memory issues since being injured (I missed the last book but I was okay without the details). It's atmospheric, the characters work and the story telling will keep you turning the pages. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. No spoilers from me!

I've read all 3 of Elin Warner's adventures they were all good made me nervous fearful esp for her - but this one not sure how to say it pleasantly hopeful.(not sure if thats even it) And alittle disappointed that they didn't find Zeph in the bottom of the wolf trap alive so that he could have been arrested for putting Romy and Kier through all he did - seems like he got the easy way out.

I loved the Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse, another eerie, atmospheric novel that had me on the edge of my seat, which is why I picked The Wilds. With DS Elin Warner as a central character, I knew I was in for a treat. There are echoes of Daphne du Maurier in Pearse’s writing, even though she has her own unique and expressive voice.

On holiday in Portugal with her brother, Isaac, Elin finds an encampment in a forest which may have something to do with Kier, a young woman who disappeared a year ago. With a track record of traumatic investigations, this is a distraction she doesn’t need. But a recce of this nature; searching for a missing person, is part of her fabric. There’s no way she can ignore this case.

Sliding back three years to Kier’s story, where she is running the terrible events of the past, we learn about her relationship with her boyfriend which appears on the outside to be idyllic. But very soon degrades to jealousy and beyond. As the past converges with the present, the story becomes so unsettling, it is clear nothing is what it seems. This spine-tingling, atmospheric thriller keeps you looking over your shoulder with that undefinable feeling you’re being watched. But Elin, for all her complexities, emerges as a proficient investigator. Slowly dark hidden secrets emerge from the shadows and when she uncovers a shocking revelation, she is finally able to gain the loyalty of the members in the encampment. The distressing truth of what happened to Kier is finally revealed.

Pearse has such a wonderful sense of setting, and the tension makes you turn the pages. Dark, suspenseful, and downright unsettling, this is a book to savor. With twists and turns galore, it is another example of a skillful writer which, if Hitchcock were still around, would make the screen.

It is an intriguing story that follows Elin Warner as she goes on a trip to Portugal to try and connect with her brother. What she does not know is that he is there to look into the disappearance of a friends sister, and things may not be entirely as they seem. Set in the wilds of a national park in Portugal, with a missing girl that Elin has a strange feeling about whist trying to get closer to her brother and missing her new partner as well as what happened to her recently have her a little on edge and jumpy and suspicious of everyone. The truth will blow your mind! It's thrilling and full of twists and turns and told from two perspectives as well as two different timelines. I really enjoyed it, and it's an easy read for a Sunday afternoon!

Atmospheric and suspenseful - the perfect wrap-up to this phase of Elin’s story! I loved the addition of Kier’s POV and the alternating chapters and timelines. This book really kept me guessing, giving just enough hits to keep me engaged. I loved the whole concept of “the wilds” and the themes found within this story. I really hope to see more of Elin in the future!

If you read 'The Sanatorium' and 'The Retreat', you will want to read 'The Wilds'. It could work as a stand alone but is missing a lot of details from the first two books. In my opinion, 'The Retreat' was the best book of the three. Sanatorium was oddly interesting and got me to read The Retreat. If a Elin Warner book four comes out, I'll read it. The book started out with chapters alternating between Kier-2018 and Elin-2021. It started to get annoying but halfway through, Elin has has several chapters in a row. The pace was very slow. The ending was unsatisfying. Was anyone arrested or jailed, a happy ending? Then there was the stupid. Like people, including Detective Elin Warner and her brother standing there watching a man being beaten but do almost nothing to help him. They talk about it but don't even yell. I just couldn't give this book more than three stars because of stupid things like that, the ending and the slow pace.

This is it—the grand finale of the Elin Warner series that kicked off with the fantastic The Sanatorium. Now, if you haven’t read the first two, you’ll miss a bit of the backstory, but honestly, if you’re cool with diving in blind, The Wilds works as a solid stand-alone mystery too. As usual, Pearse nails the whole “setting the scene” thing. Much of this one takes place in the wild, rugged mountains of Portugal, and trust me, the descriptions are marvelous.

The first quarter? Total page-turner. But, just like the other books in this series, the plot starts wobbling. There’s an early twist that had me going, "Wait, what?"—not in the good, twisty-mystery way, but more in the confused, head-scratching way. Overall, The Wilds brings the suspense, but it doesn’t quite hit the heights I was hoping for. Good? Sure. But it could’ve been great.