49 MILES ALONE

The Utah wilderness offers cousins Katie and Aster an awe-inspiring setting in which to heal—and maybe even save another person’s life.

Bestselling author Richards’ latest is told in chapters that alternate points of view between the two main characters, as well as a mysterious, unnamed third voice. The novel opens on a night that changes everything for the two girls. Then the action jumps ahead 11 months, as Aster and Katie, who share a love of hiking, are dropped off for a 49-mile, multiday backpacking trip in Utah during which trauma, healing, and a growing, menacing mystery unfold. Wilderness thrills move the story along, although the number of challenges the girls face does begin to beggar belief: scorpions, prickly pear thorns, illness, flooding, a rattlesnake, losing the trail, running low on food and water, encountering sinister people, and experiencing a terrifying accident. The writing evokes a powerful sense of place in the descriptions of the canyons and in the information on outdoor preparedness and safety. But the novel’s real strength lies in the thoughts and conversations the cousins share around being a survivor of trauma as well as the complexities of navigating a relationship with a survivor. They heal while they traverse an unforgiving environment that demands all their wits to survive as the novel comes to a heart-pounding conclusion. Most characters are coded white.

A gripping story of strength in the face of unrelenting challenges.