Customer Reviews

In the Forest of Harm (Random House Large Print)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Sallie Bissell has just become my favorite new fiction author. Her book, In the Forest of Harm, captured my attention from the very first paragraph. She leads the reader on a spellbinding journey while creating characters that are compelling, believable and of the heart. Entering the world of her main character, Mary Crow, we meet a purposeful and determined woman who needs no rescue by a white knight, rather looks within herself to find her strength. She follows a trecherous path into the unknown, because she must, because it could have been no other way. Sallie Bissels ranks with Tami Hoag in creating a witty and courageous female protagonist. I can't wait to read more and hope there is a follow-up book arriving soon!

I read suspense fiction ravenously, and admit I didn't expect much from what appeared to be a simple story. Boy was I wrong! This was intelligently written and brave. Where other authors might shy away from open brutality, this author jumped right in, shocking the reader into rapt attention. I couldn't wait to read what would happen next! The interplay between the characters was wonderful, and not at all "coddling," as many women-oriented novels are. There haven't been many books in the past few years that made me want to sleep with the lights on...this was certainly one of them.

I anxiously await Sallie Bissell's next book.

I felt compelled to finish this one (if only to review it adequately) but there were times I wanted to put it down because of the excessive, graphic violence in several places- including a rape scene with such detail that I truly became sick to my stomach. Some readers, however, might consider this a recommendation for this book, depending on their tastes (not me). I'm able to stomach violence if there are other redeeming factors to a book, but this one didn't have strong, compelling characters or other qualities to balance the violence.
The story itself focuses on Mary Crow, a woman who lost her mother to a violent murder and rape and whose entire life has been shaped by that traumatic event, eventually leading her into a life as a lawyer, prosecuting criminals. After trying several especially grueling cases in a row, she decides to take a vacation with two of her best friends. But two men (one with vengence on his mind against Mary, the other a deranged bad guy living in the woods) end up making the camping trip more terrifying than fun.
There isn't anything particularly surprising about this book and you'll see what's coming ahead of time. If your interest is held by violence and you don't care much about characters seeming real, you won't mind reading this one - and your interest will be held. But I felt less than satisfied.

Talk about not being able to put a book down! This suspense thriller by Ms. Bissell is the quintessential example of just that. When I began reading the book at the sedate hour of 8:00 PM, who would have thought that at 2 bells AM I would still be at it. Slow reader, maybe, but her descriptions of the forest and the relationships of the winsome trio of ladies makes you want to linger at times to enjoy the language. Recommendation....READ IT!

I can't believe this is a debut novel -- I can't wait for more books by Sallie Bissell.

In The Forest of Harm is a thriller that also celebrates the courage and determination of women. My favorite part is when Mary is watching her friends walk away from her and she thinks of them as her "War Women". This is not a case of "Mary Crow saves the day". It is a team effort between her and her two friends, friends that have never been in the strange woods before that Mary knows so well. The twists and turns of the plot are intruiging. The whole idea of the women being attacked by a madman, and then tracking that madman to save their friend, totally unaware that a very different kind of madman is tracking them -- it made for incredibly suspenseful reading. I don't agree that with other reviewers who say that it showed more victimization of women. I thought it showed the triumph of women and their grit and determination despite being faced with a situation they never expected to encounter in their wildest dreams. As to the reviewer who said that one of the murders was left "unsolved", I think that is because Bissell is saving that for one of her upcoming books about DA Mary Crow.

This is the story of a camping trip gone wrong in the mountains on the North Carolina Tennessee border. Mary Crow and her two friends Alex and Joan are getting away from it all for the weekend by returning to Mary's childhood home. No sooner do they reach their destination than they're attacked by a deranged backwoodsman who kidnaps one of the women. The story then takes on a hunted becomes the hunter, who in turn is also being hunted, line, for while Mary is chasing the kidnapper, she is also being stalked by another man who is intent on exacting a revenge of his own.

This is Sallie Bissell's debut novel and it is one of the most suspenseful books I have read in a long time. As the story was nearing the climax, I actually realised that I was holding my breath and reading it out of the corner of my eye (a bit like not wanting to watch the scary parts of a movie, I suppose). This book is highly recommended, no I'll go further than that, it's one of the best suspense novels I've read in the last 5 years (there, now you've got to read it, don't you).

I just finished reading this book. It took me all day but the book caught me from the first chapter. I could not put it down until I finished it. Can't wait for the sequel.

The style is erratic, the heroines and hero are cardboard, the villains are over-the-top,and the action disintegrates into one peril after another. Worse, frequently these perils are resolved by luck or coincidence, so the heroines can be swept into yet more gratuitous danger. Mary and Joan are trapped in a huge, dark, impenetrable thicket from which there seems to be no escape--to wit:"nothing could save them now." Brrr.

They fall asleep, apparently doomed. They wake up,but by some deus ex machina are at the thicket's edge--saved! The old deus gets quite a workout before this book is over.

Events are stitched together by awkward exposition: "Mary slid to the ground beside Joan and told her that the barefoot man kept snakes and traps and a curious collection of souvenirs; that Alex had been tied up but that she was alive; that Mary had fallen into a snakepit kept by Ulagu. She did not, however, reveal to Joan that the barefoot man may well have beaten Alex to death just minutes ago."

There are some admirable descriptions of nature here and there, and the pace is nonstop. But too often the story comes across as a gross-out version of "The Perils of Pauline," in which it is no longer enough to lash Pauline to the train tracks; no, first she must be beaten (especially about the face), tortured, and raped.

Why did I finish the thing? A friend, disturbed by the book, asked me to read it; she was especially bothered by the ending. I slogged through, but under normal circumstances, I'd never have made it to the end of the first chapter.

Mary Crow carries with her the turbulent memories of her childhood following the brutal rape and murder of her mother. However, Mary's tough spirit lives on and in adult years she becomes an assistant DA. After her sixth conviction, a man who committed rape and murder, Mary and two of her friends set out on a camping trip on Mary's old home turf, only to find they become the predators of two violent men. The story contained among these pages is filled with suspense and keeps the reader riveted to their seat from start to finish. Lock the doors, pull down the shades and turn up the lights; it is the type of book that will keep you reading well into the night.

Newcomer novelist Sallie Bissell must have been practicing on the sly to deliver this highly professional thriller. Three attractive ladies, all lawyers, take a camping trip to Nantahala National Forest, the former home of Mary Crow, who is one-half Cherokee and the instigator of the excursion. They plan on a long weekend of hiking, sight seeing and general fun.

Shades of "Deliverance," there are some bad folks out there! The tale becomes grim and violent as a repulsive, half-crazed mountain man and a strangely obsessed brother of a defendant Ms. Crow successfully prosecuted for murder track the three women. The mayhem is nonstop and sometimes gruesome; this is not a story for the faint of heart. Yet the women develop amazing courage and inner strength through their ordeal. The terror trip seems to be endless, yet I read the book in one hypnotized sitting.

The book has excellent pace, and the descriptions of the mountain scenery are excellent. Some of the dialogue is stilted, particularly when the women are bantering back and forth, but this is a small flaw. The characterizations are solid if not inspired. I look forward to the next Mary Crow outing.