If You Go Down to the Woods is the debut novel by Seth C Adams, and what a thrilling read it is! The story is told from the perspective of Joey reminiscing about his 13 year old self and a summer of discovery and a whole lot of trouble.
Joey is 13 years old and has just moved to Payne, a small town in Arizona, from California with his parents and sister. A new beginning, and the start of new adventures.
While out exploring, he sees something glinting in the woods and on his was to find it meets Fat Bobby being bullied by 3 older boys – this is the beginning of trouble for Joey. He some becomes friends with Bobby, along with Jim and Tara (the girl of his dreams) and their summer adventure begins, starting with the formation of The Outsiders’ Club!
While exploring the woods they stumble across an abandoned car that will lead them all into even deeper trouble. When curiosity finally get the better of them they finally opened the locked car, making 2 discoveries; a fortune in cash and a dead body. With the discoveries comes a lot a danger and sees the friends getting into some serious trouble when people start turning up to collect what belongs to them.
Overall, I thought this was a fantastic book. As a big fan of Stephen King and Dean Koontz I thought this was in a very similar style and storytelling. A coming of age story with lots of twists and turns, fraught with danger! Also one of family, friendship and loyalty.
It has been very well written and I loved the authors use of descriptive terms. This is an author I will be looking out for more of in the future.
A thrilling and exciting read, Seth C Adams is a fantastic storyteller.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £8.99 (Paperback) / £1.99 (Kindle)
Available to buy from Amazon here.
