How do I even describe this book? It feels like that friend we all have who promises a wild night out but then spends half the evening texting someone else instead of fully committing to the party. 

The story follows Erin Harper, a freelance writer on a mission to unravel the mystery of her brother’s disappearance in the shadowy Mt. Hood National Forest. Wagner sets the stage beautifully with the description’s of damp moss, glowing fungi, and a creeping sense that the trees might just swallow you whole. 

Erin’s quest takes a turn when she finds a body in a creek, only for it to vanish from the morgue like a magician’s assistant, leaving behind fingerprints at a murder scene. Is it a serial killer? Alien spores? The forest itself? 

And while the mystery keeps you guessing, the resolution left me scratching my head, wondering if I’d missed a trail marker. I won’t spoil, but sometimes I was like, “what?” and also “who is this again?” Because it felt like there were 20 characters that are just Count Olaf in a different costume.