Northwoods

Written by Bill Schweigart

Narrated by Will Damron

Ex-Delta Force Davis Holland, now an agent for Customs and Border Protection, has seen it all. But nothing in his experience has prepared him for what he and the local sheriff find one freezing night in the Minnesota woods.

Investigating reports of an illegal border crossing, the two men stumble across a blood-drenched scene of mass murder, barely escaping with their lives . . . and a single clue to the mayhem: a small wooden chest placed at the heart of the massacre. Something deadly has entered Holland's territory, crossing the border from nightmare into reality.

When news of the atrocity reaches wealthy cryptozoologist Richard Severance, he sends a three-person team north to investigate. Not long ago, the members of that team-Ben McKelvie, Lindsay Clark, and Alex Standingcloud-were nearly killed by a vengeful shapeshifter. Now they are walking wounded, haunted by gruesome memories that make normal life impossible. But there is nothing normal about the horror that awaits in the Northwoods.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Dec 6, 2016
• ISBN: 9781515984337

Bill Schweigart

Bill Schweigart is the author of The Fatal Folklore Trilogy, Running Light, and Slipping The Cable. A former Coast Guard officer, he daylights as a branch chief with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). He currently lives in Arlington, Virginia, with his wife and daughter who, along with their monstrous Newfoundland and four cats, provide him with all the adventure he can handle.

Reviews for Northwoods

[carlamlee · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Book: NORTHWOODS by Bill SchweigartGenre: Horror, though the publisher lists it as urban fantasySeries: Second book, first is THE BEAST OF BARCROFTUSA Release Date: February 16, 2016Source: Arc provided by the publisher, Hydra, via NetGalleyRating: 3.5/5 starsRecommended?: Yes, with the caveat that for all its diverse characters, the presentation of the Ojibwe people and the use of Native American beliefs as monster-bait can be frustrating. The story is interesting, though, a fast-paced adventure with monsters and gore and a team-as-chosen-family that I really started to love by the end.Review:When I first saw NORTHWOODS on NetGalley, I was immediately drawn by that cover, which is both interesting enough to make me want to read the story, and a great throwback to the cheesy monster horror movies that I love. There’s a lot in the summary that appealed to me: a monster in the Minnesota woods, cryptozoology, a team previously formed in the hunt for a shapeshifter and now dealing with the trauma of that, and I was excited to have the chance to read it.This is very much a plot-driven story – as you might expect from a book about monstrous murders in the deep winter woods — but Schweigart has also created some fine characters here. Though I haven’t read the first book in the series, THE BEAST OF BARCROFT, I had no trouble immersing myself in the story, in large part, I think, because it opens with a new character, Davis Holland. Davis is a Black man who has seen too much war both as Delta Force and as Customs and Border Protection, and he is my absolute favorite character in the book. He balances federal and local law enforcement politics well, mostly with ease, but when it comes back to bite him in the ass, he doesn’t let anything stop him from protecting his new home.I was also very intrigued by Lindsay Clark and Alex Standingcloud, though less so by Ben McKelvie, who generally comes across as the standard straight white guy asshole protagonist readers are supposed to root for. Lindsay is a white lesbian, smart and sharp and shaken by what happened to them in the previous book; Alex has been mostly estranged from his Ojibwe family, particularly his father, until he has to recover from the events of THE BEAST OF BARCROFT. Now the monstrous has come home to roost, and Alex is struggling with his own identity while trying to figure out what is killing people around him. While all three are dealing with their trauma, it feels particularly real when Lindsay and Alex are alone in the woods and dealing with their trauma in different ways.There are multiple monsters in NORTHWOODS, terrible, frightening, and wondrous, and watching these two teams – Davis and his friend, Sheriff Gil Ramsey, work together from the first chapter, and Lindsay, Alex, and Ben come into the story from a different angle – try to figure out what has gone wrong, and how to save the people in the local towns, intrigued me enough I read the book in one sitting. The descriptions are sparse, but it works with the pacing, and I liked blunt writing style quite a bit.The part I had the hardest time with was the Ojibwe characters and the use of Native American lore for monsters, which also occurs in THE BEAST OF BARCROFT, as referenced in this book. It often comes across as appropriative, and I am leery of books written by white people that use Native American religious belief as actual real life monsters. I also thought John Standingcloud’s dialog was off in the pacing and word choices. (John is Alex’s father.) I’m not sure about the use of “Standingcloud” as their last name, either; all references I can find to it use “Standing Cloud,” and I can’t confirm it is usually an Ojibwe name. I can’t speak to whether the details are correct – there is quite a bit about Ojibwe burial rituals, for example – but generally they seem, to me, to be done with respect and not there for exploitation. However, the Red Cliff reservation is real, as is the Red Cliff Band, and there is no indication from the author that he worked with anyone from the reservation so as not to cause harm with his writing.There is also a spoilery thing that happens which I found infuriating. I will put it at the end of the review, so you can skip it if you choose, but it is related to this concern.Summary:I enjoyed the hell out of the story, and I liked that the characters were so diverse, though at times, it felt like a surface diversity, with no real weight to their experiences as men of color or a white lesbian to give them depth. I am leery of the use of the Ojibwe people, and particularly the Native American religious beliefs as a background for the monsters, particularly with the new information the characters receive at the end. In many ways, the Ojibwe characters are there as background for the white characters to learn what they need to know about the monsters, and that’s a pretty shitty use of the Magical Native American trope (which does not require actual magic, but is more about the deep spiritual wisdom provided by the character to the white main characters). I really do want to read more about Davis, Alex, and Lindsay, though Ben and the rich white cryptozoologist can spend 100% less time on screen and I’d be happy, and I’ll be picking up THE BEAST OF BARCROFT to see where it all began.SPOILERS BELOWI am furious that a huge part of the ending is the death and resurrection of the great white savior, Ben, while John Standingcloud and a number of unnamed Ojibwe men sacrifice themselves so the white people can live. The fact that Alex and Davis both survive salvaged this a little, but it really drove home the fact that the Ojibwe people were really there to be background for the white people a lot of the time, and there is a point where Alex literally tells the rich white cryptozoologist that he is the savior, he has to live, so Alex and Davis will stay behind to make sure the white man and the white woman can escape, which is so much bullshit I almost couldn’t finish the book.

[frankerrington · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Review copyIt's been a year since the events in The Beast of Barcroft and friends Ben McKelvie and Lindsay Clark are still trying to put their lives back together when they each get a call from the mysterious, and very wealthy, Richard Severance, asking them to drop everything and head to Minnesota.Richard has a fascination with cryptozoology, a pseudoscience involving the search for animals whose existence has not been proven due to lack of evidence. This includes living examples of animals that are otherwise considered extinct, animals whose existence lacks physical evidence but which appear in folklore, such as Bigfoot and Chupacabra; and wild animals dramatically outside their normal geographic ranges.In The Beast of Barcroft the cryptid was a mythical creature out of native american folklore, in Bill Schweigart's new book, Northwoods, there're multiple threats and once again Ben and Lindsay end up in the middle of the commotion. By the way, it's not necessary to read The Beast of Barcroft first, but it wouldn't hurt.I love how the author wasted little time in getting to the action and presenting the reader with a thrilling mystery to be unraveled over the course of the book. Schweigart's characters are multi-faceted and delightfully flawed, just like the people we know in real life. This is good, because what they encounter is so fantastical, it's nice to have some kind of grounding in reality.Much of the story takes place on the shores of Lake Superior, or Lake Gitchigumi, I mention this for no other reason than to say Gitchigumi. I just love the way the word rolls off of my tongue.Northwoods is not without its flaws, but I don't care. It was a fun read with plenty of monsters and as the pages dwindled there was plenty of action, providing an adrenaline rush which was truly satisfying.Northwoods is available now as an e-book from Hydra, an imprint of Random House.Recommended for monster fans everywhere.Bill is a former Coast Guard officer who drew from his experiences at sea to write the taut nautical thriller, Slipping the Cable. He's also the author of the chilling thriller, The Beast of Barcroft, which finds a devilish creature stalking the residents of Arlington. Bill currently lives in Arlington, VA with his wife and daughter, who along with their monstrous Newfoundland and mischievous kitten, provide him with all the adventure he can handle.

[laura6thomas-5 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC copy for my honest review.After I finished this book, I took another look at the cover art, thinking it didn’t really work. Then I thought about the story, and appreciated the subtlety. It works.And I also ran into a few references to the authors earlier book, The Beast of Barcroft, while reading this one. Many of the characters are in both books and I’ll be grabbing it to see how they came together and how they survived. Should be another wicked fun read.Circumstances land Davis Holland, an agent for Customs and Border Protection, in a small town in the Minnesota woods. He settles in, makes friends with the local police force and the citizens, and finds he likes the small town life.A routine check on a possible illegal border crossing changes things. Davis and the town sheriff discover a massacre in the woods. Bodies torn apart, gnawed upon. And resting on a stump in the center of the carnage, a small wooden chest. Such an innocuous looking item, yet it’s allure is deadly.From there, it doesn’t take long for things to get wiggy. Reinforcements are called in. People who’ve dealt with supernatural entities. Members of the team split up to find answers. Then they all converge for the final reckoning. And what a final reckoning it is.The suspense and scares begin and escalate. Some scenes rock you back on your heels. People dye. A lot of them. Some you like too. I can’t say I’m crazy about it when an author kills off characters I’ve become attached to, but that sure does hit home and make the story more genuine. So, I guess I do like it.Grab a copy. Dig in. Prepare for plenty of spine tingling action and hair raising suspense. It begins, then never lets up.

[irenecole · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This sequel to The Beast of Barcroft is a creepy, creature packed tale. This is the further adventures of Ben and Lindsay doing what they do best, getting on each others nerves with snarky but humorous affection, and hunting down deadly supernatural beings.
It will give you shivers, and not just from the icy Minnesota setting. If you liked the first book you’ll love the second, and if you haven’t read the first book you really should.

I received an advance copy for review.

[readingover50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book features the same characters as The Beast of Bancroft. This time they are fighting a much bigger and more deadly threat. I really enjoyed the story, and I liked the incorporation of Native American mythology. I thought at times, the writing was a little too descriptive for my taste, and I didn't like the constantly shifting point of view. Overall it was a solid horror story, and I enjoyed reading it.

[brandiec-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.5 starsNorthwoods was not what I was expecting from a sequel to The Beast of Barcroft. As I mentioned in my review of that book, I hoped to learn more about the relationship between Richard Severance and Alex Standingcloud; instead, I got both more and less than I wanted.On the plus side, Bill Schweigart did a wonderful job in developing Standingcloud's character, correcting the primary flaw I identified in The Beast of Barcroft. Unfortunately, this gain was more than offset by the negatives: Severance remained a cipher; Ben McKelvie and Lindsay Clark, the stars of The Beast of Barcroft, received little attention; and the plot, by introducing not one, but two, new supernatural threats, was messy. Had Schweigart limited the story to the mysterious chest and its resident hyenas, the book would have been stronger.Northwoods, despite its failure to fully live up to the promise of The Beast of Barcroft, was nevertheless a very enjoyable read. I look forward to seeing where Schweigart takes his characters in the third book of the series.I received a free copy of Northwoods through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[veronica.sparrow · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ok....I admit it. I am completely addicted to this series (I hope it is a continuing series)! This book is a second installment to Bill Schweigart's first book "The Beast of Barcroft" with the same premise and the same main characters: a group of diverse individuals investigate cases that seem out of the norm eg cryptozoological creatures (think X Files). There is so much information and lore about mythological creatures and a lot of blood and gore. What makes the book a winner for me is the way the author slowly draws out the personality and pasts of the main characters. It makes a nice balance between learning about these brave characters who I am coming to care for, and also the main story which is blood curdling horror. I also enjoyed how the author managed to introduce us to a new main character who I am looking forward to getting to know in future books. I was offered to read this book for free from the publishers (thank you!) via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Highly recommended!

[dmclane_4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the sequel to “The Beast of Barcroft” and is more of the same although in a different location. Native American Supernatural entities are also the basis of this plot. A true sequel in as much as the major characters have remained and are developed a little more. If you liked the first installment, the second will not disappoint, and may be considered a little more tightly written as the plot does not diverge as much, or as many times as in the first book. All told a worthy sequel, which is often harder to effect than to diverge from the main plot. At this point, I'm wondering what is next.