In a short time, Sarah Pearse has made quite a name for herself in the psychological thriller and mystery genres. In her third and latest novel, THE WILDS, a missing person investigation unveils itself bit by bit in a nerve-wracking tale that will confound readers right up until the last page.

The creepy prologue is set inside a van located somewhere in a public park at night. A young woman is terrorized by the monster she hasn’t been able to outrun. This brief scene sets the tone for the book and is rolled out from the perspectives of both the victim, Kier Templer, and Detective Elin Warner, who finds herself inexplicably tied to Kier’s case quite by accident.

"THE WILDS is a nicely layered, complex thriller that had me guessing until the end and threw me for more than a few surprises along the way."

Elin and her brother, Isaac, are taking a unique vacation in the Parque Nacional in Portugal where they are living in a large airstream van amidst the flourishing wilderness. Isaac happens to mention early on that a friend, Penn, asked that they keep their eyes open while they are there as his twin sister, Kier, may have disappeared suspiciously from the same park. The current-day story with Elin takes place in 2021, while the chapters told from Kier’s point of view begin three years earlier.

Kier has not had an easy life. She is trying to remain focused on Penn’s nuptials to his fiancée, Mila. Yet she always lives in the shadow of that unthinkable night when their mother murdered their father, stabbing him 34 times. Violence has continued to haunt Kier as she is involved with Zeph, a popular chef and an overly protective, sometimes physically abusive, lover. This causes her to look into how his prior relationship ended. He has nothing but bad things to say about his ex, Romy, whom Kier has been unable to find as it seems she just up and left town. Kier suspects foul play, especially when a necklace belonging to Romy is found among some of Zeph’s possessions.

While staying at their camp, Elin and Isaac come upon the remains of a camper that was burned to the ground. Digging through the destruction yields items that may have been Kier’s. When they uncover a hard drive, they're able to turn up a photo that shows Kier was there. Maggie and Ted, who manage the park, seem somewhat suspicious, and Elin and Isaac don't know if they're helping or attempting to hide something.

As Elin begins to throw herself into Kier’s case, it jogs her memory to a time in Devon when they met. She was checking on Kier, who she had just witnessed being pushed around by someone who appeared to be her boyfriend outside of a club. It is at this point that things really begin to fall into place and become quite personal for Elin.

Sarah Pearse has much more up her sleeve as readers will be rewarded when this slow burn of a mystery begins to roll with revelation after revelation, and the identities of various players are called into question. THE WILDS is a nicely layered, complex thriller that had me guessing until the end and threw me for more than a few surprises along the way.