Title: The Backwoods Snatcher
Author: Douglas E. Strait
Publisher: Stratton Press
ISBN: 978-1648958519
Pages: 127
Genre: Mystery / Thriller & Suspense
Reviewed by: Tony Espinoza
Hollywood Book Reviews
In our modern times, one of the most frightful and heartbreaking tragedies that can befell someone close to us is a disappearance. When someone we love suddenly goes missing, or is possibly kidnapped, the fear and anxiety which floods our systems and causes us so much distress embeds itself into the fabric of our very being. The desperate need to find that person and solve the mystery behind their abduction becomes an obsession for not only ourselves, but so many others all around us.
In author Douglas E. Strait’s The Backwoods Snatcher, the author explores what happens in a small town when someone begins abducting young children. After a series of abductions involving young girls over the course of several years, the people of a small town begin to grow fearful the madman behind these disappearances may very well live among them. In a desperate search of the surrounding woods around this town, the small police department must rely on the county sheriff’s department, until a local reaches out with vital information that can change everything in this small town, and possibly lead to an even deadlier result.
The author did a brilliant job of crafting a narrative which felt as adrenaline-fueled as the mystery and suspense-filled scenes of an action thriller. The race against time feeling the author was able to infuse into this narrative was heart-pumping, and the rich dynamics the author was able to establish between the cast of characters, especially the main investigators on the case, was strong enough to keep me, as a reader, invested in this narrative. The haunting nature of the mystery and the air of urgency that comes when a child’s life hangs in the balance is a fear which touches upon the fabric of our very society, and the author was able to pull at those strings and elicit a strong emotional response through vivid imagery in his writing.
This is the perfect read for those who enjoy mystery novels, especially those that enjoy fast-paced, short, suspenseful and crime thriller novels. As a fan of this genre, I found myself immediately thrust into the story, and enjoyed the quick pace of the story and the juxtaposition of the mystery’s slow burn, as each character introduced left me quickly wondering which of these people would be the madman behind these crimes.
Thoughtful, entertaining, and powerfully-written, author Douglas Strait’s The Backwoods Snatcher is a must-read novel. The twists and turns in the narrative, along with the strong emotional bond the author is able to establish between the reader and the characters, will make the story flow all that much more smoothly. The heartbreak in the latest victim’s struggle to be free, along with the investigator’s frantic search for answers will have fans hanging off of the author’s every word.