Longtime readers of Practical Travel Gear may remember Amy Hagstrom, outdoors enthusiast and excellent travel industry writer and editor. She also happens to be celebrating her debut novel, The Wild Between Us. Get used to seeing her name around, because her novel game is strong and you’ll be seeing a second story before you know it.
Scheduled for release on November 7, The Wild Between Us weaves a tragic search-and-rescue mission from the past with an eerily similar case in the present. The dual-timeline story set in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, forces Silas Matheson to reckon with the past, while mining it for clues with estranged friends Meg and Danny—all while searching for Silas’ two young boys, missing somewhere in the wilderness.
Hagstrom mines her own past experience for this gripping story, from her time living in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest and volunteer EMT work with her county’s Search and Rescue unit. Once I began reading The Wild Between Us, I couldn’t put it down, and despite being on the road on assignment, I spent every spare moment with the book. Not only is the story suspenseful, the description of the setting made me feel as if I were there amid the backdrop of alpine meadows, ponderosa pines, and craggy granite.
The addictive novel is an ideal travel companion for a long plane flight, hours by the pool, a relaxing weekend, a cozy fire in a mountain lodge—even a campsite. Plus, it’s holiday season, so when you get the book for yourself, consider also getting copies for outdoor-loving friends and family. The story may fuel “what would you do?” conversations around a campfire.
Get The Wild Between Us (prices range from $12.49 to $16.99 for the paperback) at your local independent bookstore, Bookshop, or any other online bookseller.