Through a Yellow Wood

Through a Yellow Wood, by Carolyn J. Rose, is a re-visit to the alluring Catskill Mountains and the haunted shore of Hemlock Lake. Dan Stone returns to the charred remains of his family home to rebuild; and to face the ghost of  the boyhood friend who tried to murder him seven months ago. The book carries the reader through an ebb and tide of excruciating memories as it moves among the characters that populated Hemlock Lake. Yet, it has it's own agenda.

Who savagely killed the old man that lived on the mountain ridge? Who shot, execution-style, his kennel of Search & Rescue dogs?  What macabre secret was the murderer hiding in the beautiful, craggy, hills and dales of the Catskill range near the old, deserted campground. 

Dan Stone and his girlfriend, Camille, while trying to get past the tragic history of a year ago, are resurrecting a life together but soon find themselves caught up in the mystery of the ridge.  In the process they become reluctant parents to teenaged, Julie, the daughter of the man who almost killed Dan.

Through A Yellow Wood is a tangled web of raw emotion and strangling fear. There is a madman, a serial killer, afoot in the region of Hemlock Lake.  His targets are young, teenage girls with long, brown hair - just like Julie's.

Carolyn Rose is a writer of rare talent.  Her words take the reader into her world through sight, sound and smell. You walk with her on the mountaintop; you feel the fear, the painful grip of death.

I would recommend that you read the first book, Hemlock Lake, although Through A Yellow Wood is a stand alone tale. By reading the previous book you have a better understanding of the characters and reality of life in the Catskills.