What do readers think of Man in the Woods by Scott Spencer? Write your own review.

I give this book 3 stars with great trepidation, because I absolutely love the writing style of Scott Spencer. His descriptive prose has no match with any current author that I've read. My hesitation with a higher rating stems from loss of plot momentum for the middle 50 of the book. As Paul grapples with his conscience and loses touch with reality, the book slows to an idle that endured way too long. I never learned enough about Will to be even remotely sympathetic to his death, and I found Ruby to be an over-indulged, slightly creepy child. Paul's character was well-developed and I enjoyed reading about his relationship with Kate. In the future, I might pick up another book by Spencer, once I'm able to forget how frustrated I was with this one.

While Scott Spencer brings to life each of his characters in his book “Man in the Woods”, I feel there are too many characters that stray from the main story line. Man in the Woods is a story about the chance meeting of two men in the woods and how that meeting changes the lives of so many. The story revolves around Paul Phillips, a carpenter, who finds his place in the world when he meets Kate Ellis, a recovering alcoholic, and Will Claff, a cruel man who is running away from his gambling debts and the dog Woody who was renamed Shep when he is saved by Paul. The ending would be good for a discussion group.

I enjoyed this book overall but more for the writing than for the story. The quiet tone/voice of this novel emphasizes the underlying tension running throughout, and there are some great lines of razor-sharp description. But I felt a disconnect with most of the characters, especially the main ones, and I found I didn't care what happened to them as much as I wanted to.

Probably from the time I learned how to read I was taught that if you had NOTHING nice to say...don't say anything at all. Therefore.. I am saying NOTHING!