“Calling all fans of Sharp Objects and the third season of True Detective: You need to read Laura McHugh.”—Refinery29 “A perfect thriller . . . a thoughtful commentary on America’s opioid crisis and an utterly satisfying mystery.”—Janelle Brown, New York Times bestselling author of Watch Me DisappearNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY LIBRARY JOURNAL Sadie Keller is determined to find out … BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY LIBRARY JOURNAL
Sadie Keller is determined to find out how her brother died, even if no one else thinks it’s worth investigating. Untimely deaths are all too common in rural Blackwater, Kansas, where crime and overdoses are on the rise, and the small-town police force is consumed with the recent discovery of a child’s skull in the woods. Sadie is on her own, delving into the dark corners of a life her brother kept hidden and unearthing more questions than answers.
Eighteen-year-old Henley Pettit knows more than she’d like to about the seedy side of Blackwater, and she’s desperate to escape before she’s irreparably entangled in her family’s crimes. She dreams of disappearing and leaving her old life behind, but shedding the past is never easy, and getting out of town will be far more dangerous than she ever imagined.
As more bones are found in the woods, time is running out for Sadie to uncover the truth and for Henley to make her escape. Both women are torn between family loyalties and the weight of the secrets they carry, knowing full well that while some secrets are hard to live with, others will get you killed.
Like Laura McHugh’s previous award-winning thrillers, The Weight of Blood and Arrowood, The Wolf Wants In is an atmospheric, beautifully told novel that barrels toward a twisting, chilling end and keeps us turning the page to find out how these small-town secrets will unravel—and who will survive.
Praise for The Wolf Wants In
“The Wolf Wants In perfectly balances gripping suspense with stunning, lyrical prose—a rare combination, but one that seems to be McHugh’s signature gift. Atmospheric and chilling, this novel takes place in the twisted, destructive wake of the opioid crisis as one woman struggles for justice and another for redemption. A truly thrilling read.”—Jill Orr, author of the Riley Ellison mysteries
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McHugh’s latest is a raw, uncompromising tale with writing that’s both gritty and poetic. The Wolf Wants In delivers a powerful, deeply felt mystery that tugs at the heartstrings.
The Wolf Wants In tells the story of a place, and a class of people, often overlooked in fiction. Set in rural Kansas, the novel tackles opioid addiction, murder, poverty, and family loyalty, and McHugh deftly balances the darkness of her subject matter with the hopeful beauty of her writing. Three books in and McHugh keeps getting better and better.
A perfect thriller . . . a thoughtful commentary on America’s opioid crisis and an utterly satisfying mystery.
This novel takes place in a rural area in Kansas. Like many rural areas in this country there is poverty, drugs and drug overdoses which continue to increase. It’s a dark book due to the setting and the combination of people who want to make their lives better and others who are satisfied with the status quo. It’s not a light and easy book but an honest portrayal of people who are dealing with the current opioid crisis.
Shane is dead and the police see no reason to investigate. They are overwhelmed with drug deaths and decided that there was no reason to investigate a death from natural causes. His sisters, Sadie and Becca don’t believe that Shane had a heart attack as his wife claimed and don’t believe that drugs were involved in his death. Sadie is asking a lot of questions – and each answer brings more confusion and more questions. Shane’s wife is not answering any questions and seems to be in a big hurry to give away all of Shane’s belongings to her family and friends which seems very suspicious to his sisters.
Henley is an 18 year old girl who has a dream of escaping small town life. Her mother is an addict and she is often left on her own. She wants to leave her old life and her criminal family behind and find a better life far away. She has just started a relationship with one of the rich boys in town and it may keep her from fulfilling her dreams.
Sadie and Henley don’t know each other but their lives become intertwined as the mystery surrounding Shane’s death gets closer to being solved. They both have secrets in their lives that may keep them from learning the real truth.
This story is told in alternating chapters by Sadie and Henley. Pay close attention to the dates because each character’s story is told from a slightly time period. Most of Henley’s story is before Shane died and Sadie’s is after Shane is dead. As the two stories merge, the real truth comes to light.
My only complaint about this book is that there seem to be too many secondary characters and it was difficult to remember who was who. I would have been happy is Henley had fewer cousins and other relatives. Overall, it was an interesting book and was a ripped from the headlines story about issues in impoverished areas and their escalating drug issues.
Thanks to librarything for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
This quiet mystery thriller grows on you with each page. The Wolf Wants In touched on some pretty tough subjects and just sucked you right in. Truly hard to put down. I did not want to finish so took my time with it. I highly recommend this!
This is the first book I’ve read by McHugh, and I will look for more. One thing I appreciated was that the sleuth Sadie Keller is NOT a policewoman or a PI, but a social worker because I believe that people who work in the mental health industry often have to be detectives of a sort–looking in the past for clues to people’s behavior in the present. I found this book a compelling read, with a well-drawn setting and clear, original writing. I know it never quite does it justice to take a sentence out of context, but here’s one: “[S]he hadn’t anticipated the rush it would bring, the sense of disorientation after he pulled away, as though the world had tilted and clicked back into place at a slightly different angle.” Fans of Krueger’s Ordinary Grace and Franklin’s Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter may want to give this one a try.
What a stunning, slow-burn, intricate novel THE WOLF WANTS IN is! Laura McHugh is a master at creating very authentic, well-developed characters who jump off the page. She tackles difficult subjects such as drug addiction and class divide set against a vivid small-town backdrop. Both heart-wrenching and hopeful, this novel is taut, gripping, and an absolute must-read.
Highly recommend this fantastic, atmospheric & dark mystery, The Wolf Wants In by Laura McHugh. At my “Reading Like A Writer” discussion group for The Providence Athenæum, we discussed the impact of setting & how vividly rural Kansas is drawn in this story. Exploring the devastation of the opioid crisis, complicated families and what it means to survive, it’s a heartbreaking & beautifully written book that’s not to be missed.
Quick read about a small, poor town in Kansas and a few of the families that live there. Sadie, a social worker, is concerned about the death of her brother, Shane. Additionally, she is concerned about her friend, Hannah, who has a daughter and husband that are missing and presumed dead. The town has been devastated by the opioid crisis and many of the residents have drug issues.
Sadie isn’t convinced that Shane’s death was a heart attack, and she is trying to get answers from Shane’s wife, Crystal, as well as the local detective. She doesn’t seem to be getting anywhere. Crystal’s family is not the most trustworthy group. They deal drugs while running an auto shop. Henley, a member of the family, is struggling to get by when her mother goes off the wagon and gets back into drugs. She is torn between her feelings for her best friend, Charlie, and Jason – the son of the wealthy grain elevator operator. Henley desperately wants to leave the town and make a better life for herself.
Sadie discovers a connection between Charlie and Shane, and as she digs deeper, uncovers the truth.
This was a quick read, and I wanted to like the book more than I did. It was well written, but I found parts of it confusing and difficult to follow. I think some of it could have been crisper, but I appreciated that the author kept the book well under 300 pages.
#TheWolfWantsIn #LauraMcHugh
Loved it. A slow burn that ignites toward the end. Henley wants out of her small town in Kansas and away from her family’s shady business. Sadie wants to find out what really happened to her brother, Shane. She doesn’t trust what her sister-in-law said happened when he died. Henley and Sadie are on a converging path. Will they survive before it’s too late? How well do you really know your siblings? Don’t miss this book! Happy Reading
Sadie Keller wants answers. Her brother was found on the floor, dead. Powers that be have stated that the man died from a drug overdose … the leading cause of death in this small town in Kansas. The man’s wife began selling or destroying his things almost immediately after his death. She’s refused to allow an autopsy. She refuses to release his medical records to his sisters and mother.
She wants the police to look into her brother’s death, but they, too, have their hands full. A divorced man took his young daughter and never returned her to her mother. A skull is found in the woods and it’s the worst news any parent can hear. The father is found at a later date, also in the woods… both have been shot. Murder? Murder Suicide?
Are these crimes connected? The more Sadie investigates, the more she learns about small town secrets and lies. She also finds that someone wants her silenced …. maybe permanently.
This was a new author to me so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I found a well-written mystery filled with suspense, twists and turns that led to a surprising ending. There are many, many characters, all intertwined with each other, which left me puzzled for a short while. The story premise is a good one … and I liked how the author tackled today’s problem of the use of opioids, especially in the young.
Many thanks to the author / Random House – Spiegel & Grau / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
The Wolf Wants In perfectly balances gripping suspense with stunning, lyrical prose—a rare combination, but one that seems to be McHugh’s signature gift. Atmospheric and chilling, this novel takes place in the twisted, destructive wake of the opioid crisis as one woman struggles for justice and another for redemption. A truly thrilling read.
In The Wolf Wants In, Laura McHugh expertly paints a stark and haunting picture, filled with tragedy and tenderness. Poignant, atmospheric, and utterly captivating, this novel, and its characters, will stay with me for a long time.
A beautifully written literary thriller entwined with insightful family drama . . . McHugh expertly navigates the opioid crisis overtaking small-town life, taking readers on a heartfelt journey of two women coming to terms with family secrets, betrayals, and murderous acts. An absolute must-read!
If you’re looking for a writer who understands Midwestern life from the grand scales of economic and social contracts down to its tiniest customs and stoic beauty, look no further. Laura McHugh is the queen of the haunted heartland. Every scene simmers with hope and dread, making it impossible to rest until I knew these characters’ fates. An absolute must-read.
Laura McHugh’s thrilling third novel, The Wolf Wants In, puts her right alongside Daniel Woodrell and Bonnie Jo Campbell as a leading voice in rural noir. In taut yet evocative prose, McHugh unfolds an intricately plotted mystery of three murders in a small Midwestern town ravaged by the opioid epidemic and generational poverty. As the pages fly toward their devastating conclusion, we never lose sight of the way grief unravels individuals, families, and entire communities. Masterful and chilling.
This novel is narrated by two different women but their stories are intertwined by the relationship of the death of Shane. Sadie Kellers is a middle-aged divorced woman and sister to Shane. Henley Pettit is the 18-yr old daughter of a drug addict who cleans the house of the richest family in town (the Sullivan’s) and cousin of Crystle the widowed wife of Shane. Sadie becomes suspicious of her sister-in-law Crystle as she has sold off most of Shane’s possessions and isn’t willing to help Sadie find out the truth of Shane’s death. Henley wants to escape the small town of Blackwater, Kansas but finds it hard to leave because she is dating rich boy Jason Sullivan. On top of Sadie and her sister Becca trying to solve the murder of their brother there are two more murders. The bodies of Sadie’s friend Hannah’s ex-husband and their young daughter are found shot in the woods. The story jumps around a lot and is not in chronological order but as long as you keep up with the dates you can follow the storyline. I was intrigued by this novel by Laura Mchugh and found it an interesting read.
Laura McHugh writes great fiction. Always wonderful characters, with a history, and convoluted tales. The Wolf Wants In is another example. The story revolves around two women. Sadie Keller is haunted by the death of her brother. The police in rural Blackwater, Kansas seem uninterested in solving the crime which leads Sadie to launch her own search for the truth. Along the way, family secrets and her brother’s personal deceptions lead her down a convoluted path that reveals more questions than answers. And puts her life in danger.
Henley Pettit is an eighteen-year-old from the other side of the tracks. From a family with a long rap sheet. Her goal is to disappear, leave the town and her family behind. But shedding family history and leaving town is no easy task, and dangerous.
The tentacles of the two stories threaten to strangle both women before either can attain their goals. This disturbing and wonderfully written tale will keep you awake flipping the pages as fast as you can.
DP Lyle, award-winning author of the Jake Longly and Cain/Harper thriller series
A crushing narrative highlighting the opioid crisis in small town America. Laura McHugh gives outstanding perspective through her characters in supporting a plot dynamic surrounding murder, addiction, and betrayal. The story line is raw, compelling, and distinctly written to evoke a rollercoaster of emotions. What starts out to be a murder investigation soon becomes the beacon of despondence for a small town in the midst of something much larger. Wonderful read. 5 stars
Thank you to #NetGalley for this ARC of #TheWolfWantsIn