The Woodkin Alexander James 9780744302417

After secrets and betrayal shatter his marriage, Josh Mallory seeks solace on the Pacific Crest Trail, in the mountains of Washington. On the trail, he's just another hiker. On the trail, he can outrun the memories. But this backpacking trip swiftly turns grisly when he comes across the body of another hiker who seems to have fallen to his death. Josh is forced to detour through a small mountain town, where missing hiker posters flutter in the windows, and residents show no interest in hearing about the dead hiker. Unease that something is not quite right chases him back to the trail.

But night falls too quickly and in his haste to get away, he becomes trapped on a mountain ridge beneath the light of a full moon. Feeling more and more uneasy, Josh soon realizes that he may not be alone on the mountain, and begins to fear that, like the missing hikers, he won't make it out alive.

Alexander spent most of his childhood in southern Germany, and then went to culinary school in South Louisiana. He's worked as a chef in everything from atrocious mall restaurants to a northern Italian farm-to-fork joint with Michelin dreams. He started writing because he's only got another ten years or so left in his knees. When he's not sweating through a crushing dinner service, he's either drinking Scotch whisky in front of his computer keyboard or backpacking...also with Scotch whisky.