Hurt Mountain

A Novel

by Angela Crook

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Pub Date 1 Mar 2024 | Archive Date 15 Mar 2024

Lake Union Publishing

General Fiction (Adult) | Women's Fiction

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Description

An estranged mother and father join forces to uncover the truth about their missing daughter in a haunting novel about trauma, loss, family, and hope.

When patrolman Brandon Hall comes upon a broken-down car on a Colorado highway, he finds a young girl in a bloodied nightgown at the wheel. In the back seat, the brutalized body of a teenage boy. The girl will say only one word: Hurt.

When the girl is admitted to the hospital, the doctor on call is Brandon’s ex-wife, Olivia Blake. For Olivia and Brandon, the traumatized Jane Doe opens a floodgate of memories. It’s been four years since they shared their own tragedy—the unsolved disappearance of their eight-year-old daughter, Carly, and the end of their marriage. As Olivia focuses on Jane Doe’s care, Brandon makes a startling discovery: a series of disappearances from across the country, over decades, that could finally lead to the truth about their missing daughter.

But will unraveling the past trigger a backslide into grief, guilt, and obsession? Or is finding out what horrors lie in the Colorado mountains the only thing that can heal them, and the mysterious young girl in their care?

An estranged mother and father join forces to uncover the truth about their missing daughter in a haunting novel about trauma, loss, family, and hope.

When patrolman Brandon Hall comes upon a...

A Note From the Publisher

Angela Crook is a novelist and mother who loves writing dark thrillers that often explore the inner workings of family relationships. She grew up splitting her time between Cleveland, Ohio, and Selma, Alabama, where she used her love of reading to escape the scorching heat. As soon as she was able, she escaped to the United States Air Force, where she spent ten years traveling the world. She currently lives in Cleveland with her two sons and three very frisky kitties. There, with the support of her writers’ group, the Literary Llamas, she is always working on her next great story.

Angela Crook is a novelist and mother who loves writing dark thrillers that often explore the inner workings of family relationships. She grew up splitting her time between Cleveland, Ohio, and...

Advance Praise

“Angela Crook’s Hurt Mountain is a riveting family drama and asks, What happens to those who survive a crime? To the parents when a child is taken? How does anyone pick up the pieces that are shattered? This book dives into that and so much more. I was hooked by the tense emotions, and the mystery at the heart of this book was so well done. I can’t wait to see what the author does next!” —Amina Akhtar, author of Almost Surely Dead and Kismet

“A mystery within a mystery frosted with a rekindled romance. Hurt Mountain is suspenseful when it should be, with vivid, intense writing that sparkles. It’s spiked with some gut punches and the splintered, aching loss of family torn apart and found. Olivia and Brandon are characters I wish I’d created. Recommended.” —Jean Rabe, USA Today and Amazon bestselling author

“Hurt Mountain is the type of story that grabs you from the first page and will have you reading long past your bedtime. Angela Crook establishes herself as a writer to watch by seamlessly blending a haunting mystery, unforgettable characters, and a plot that goes from slow burn to five-alarm blaze. I already can’t wait for her next book.” —Kellye Garrett, award-winning and Edgar-nominated author of Like A Sister and Missing White Woman

“Thrilling, tender, and highly original, Hurt Mountain combines an exploration of love and loss with a shiver of slow-burn menace. Angela Crook’s first hit has knocked it out of the park.” —Catriona McPherson, multi-award-winning author of The Child Garden and A Gingerbread House

“Angela Crook’s Hurt Mountain is a taut page-turner with characters you care about, a dark plot that propels you into a disturbing unknown, and dangers that make you cringe as you race to the novel’s satisfying conclusion. Crook firmly stakes her claim in the territory of dark thrillers. I held my breath during the last third of this novel.” —Cheryl A. Head, award-winning author of the Anthony- and Lammy-nominated Charlie Mack Motown Mysteries and Indie Next pick Time’s Undoing

“A haunting novel of pain unimaginable that bids the unsuspecting reader, ‘Follow me into the woods.’” —Clay Stafford, bestselling author

“Hurt Mountain crackles with the excitement of meeting sympathetic characters thrust into soul-breaking situations. At considerable emotional and physical peril, Dr. Olivia Blake and her ex-husband, Brandon Hall, set aside the tragedy of their missing daughter to join forces to help a traumatized teenage girl. Breakneck plotting plus a diverse cast of characters to root for make Hurt Mountain a thriller with heart.” —Delia Pitts, author of Trouble in Queenstown