Like I had mentioned at the start of 2024, I have a lot of thrillers that I’d like to eventually get into in between by Book Club books and with my limited Audible credits. This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer was not on that list initially (but I promise I will get to this eventually!) and was instead added to the list later as I keep gathering titles that I’d like to read through. As someone who is a big fan of the Mr. Ballen YouTube channel and of camping/wilderness/hiking-gone-wrong stories, I am very pleased with my experience reading this book.
Book Review: This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer
I believe This Wretched Valley is actually the debut novel from this author and came out in January 2024 — so it’s a more recent one. The main thing you need to know going in (which I’m sure you can tell from the synopsis) is that this is an outdoor survival meets camping-gone-wrong meet paranormal horror novel:
“Take only pictures. Leave only bones.
This trip is going to be Dylan’s big break. Her geologist friend Clay has discovered an untouched cliff face in the Kentucky wilderness, and she is going to be the first person to climb it. Together with Clay, his research assistant Sylvia, and Dylan’s boyfriend Luke, Dylan is going to document her achievement on Instagram and finally cement her place as the next rising star in rock climbing.
Seven months later, three bodies are discovered in the trees just off the highway. All are in various states of decay: one a stark, white skeleton; the second emptied of its organs; and the third a mutilated corpse with the tongue, eyes, ears, and fingers removed.
But Dylan is still missing—and no trace of her, dead or alive, has been discovered.”
This Wretched Valley. Jenny Kiefer. https://www.amazon.com/This-Wretched-Valley-JENNY-KIEFER/dp/168369368X
This book’s story was structured in a way I really enjoyed; that is, it’s told by date and the beginning chapters are the aftermath. You essentially get a look at what the outside world sees and what is discovered after this whole incident right at the start; this not only makes it more interesting to learn about the “how” of it all, but also makes it more mysterious overall. From there, each chapter is a date and time (ex: March 11, 2019 11 a.m.), which — for my wilderness horror fans out there, you’ll know what I mean — makes extra creepy and macabre.
It’s like you as the reader are just waiting for the storytelling to show you what happened and how everything unfolded to get to this horrific ending. That I loved and was very interested in finding out. According to an interview early this year with NPR, Kiefer mentioned she was inspired by the Dyatlov Pass incident (which is literally the perfect inspiration for a story like this) and it’s the same thing: you know how it ends, but you’re interested in learning how it got to that ending.
Going beyond structure, however, and getting more into the meat of this book — I short-describe This Wretched Valley as Blair Witch Project meets The Shining. It has a lot of Blair Witch vibes with the concept of getting lost in the woods and just something being off or weird while hiking/camping in the woods. But the further I got, it also felt a lot like The Shining film, where everything starts off fine but things start falling apart as you progress through the story. The sense of dread this book has is pretty close to what Stephen King/Stanley Kubrick created and so is the pacing; it’s like all the small signs along the way culminate into one big boom of pure horror.
In short: I very much enjoyed this book. It’s still not quite enough to get a full 10/10 rating for me, I give it more of a 9/10, but that is not a knock on the book’s story, characters, or concept. I like this book and I am very glad I read it! Like I said, I’m a big fan of wilderness horror and “getting lost in the woods” kind of stories, and I would recommend this to fans of that genre who don’t mind a little paranormal twist. This Wretched Valley is a slightly different style of outdoor survival than The Island by Adrian McKinty, but I like them both.
My Hot Take
- ProTip: After you finish the book, go back and re-read the first chapter or two for a true “full circle” moment and get refresh your mind on the crime scene(s)
My Rating: 4/5 Stars
