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    In a Dark Wood
    In a Dark Wood
    In a Dark Wood
    Ebook61 pages

    In a Dark Wood

    By Josh Lanyon

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    Camping in the Jersey Pine Barrens may literally turn out to be a first date from hell for travel writer Tim and the cute cop who persuades him to revisit a past that Tim has done his best to forget.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJosh Lanyon
    Release dateApr 24, 2012
    ISBN9780984766925
    In a Dark Wood
    Author

    Josh Lanyon

    Author of nearly ninety titles of classic Male/Male fiction featuring twisty mystery, kickass adventure, and unapologetic man-on-man romance, JOSH LANYON’S work has been translated into eleven languages. Her FBI thriller Fair Game was the first Male/Male title to be published by Harlequin Mondadori, then the largest romance publisher in Italy. Stranger on the Shore (Harper Collins Italia) was the first M/M title to be published in print. In 2016 Fatal Shadows placed #5 in Japan’s annual Boy Love novel list (the first and only title by a foreign author to place on the list). The Adrien English series was awarded the All-Time Favorite Couple by the Goodreads M/M Romance Group. In 2019, Fatal Shadows became the first LGBTQ mobile game created by Moments: Choose Your Story.She is an EPIC Award winner, a four-time Lambda Literary Award finalist (twice for Gay Mystery), an Edgar nominee, and the first ever recipient of the Goodreads All-Time Favorite M/M Author award.Find other Josh Lanyon titles at www.joshlanyon.comFollow Josh on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads.

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    Reviews for In a Dark Wood

    4/5

    69 ratings5 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Creepy story that I didn't want to end.
    • 4/5
      A creepy little story by one of my favorite author's.Tim decides to go out with Luke, a Detective he met at a friend's party.Luke is fasinated when Tim tells a tale of when he was a boy and him and his friend stumbled upon a house in the New Jersey woods....and what they found in the Dark Wood.....So Luke decides they shodl go camping on their first date and where do you think he takes Tim?Yes, back to the woods of his childhood to face his worst nightmare...There is something living in that house...And Tim & Luke just may regret going into that dark woods.A terrific, scary, little novella that really raises the cackles.Excellent job! Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      Another great one! Loved the MCs, the short, but riveting crime/horror/thriller part. It is amazing how much good book one can put in so few words!
    • 4/5
      Worst. First. Date. Ever! Tim, an alcoholic travel writer, and Luke, a cop, meet at a dinner party. Tim recounts the story of finding human bones near a creepy house in the woods when he was a boy. The other guests think it's just a childhood prank, but Luke takes him seriously. Luke proposes they go camping for their first date, but they encounter more than they bargained for while retracing the steps of Tim's childhood adventure.
    • 4/5
      I'm a huge fan of Josh Lanyon and whether it's a long story or a short one he always manages to draw you in. This was no different, though I wasn't expecting it to be so creepy.

      I really like both Luke and Tim and can't wait to see what happens next with these two.

    Book preview

    In a Dark Wood - Josh Lanyon

    In a dark, dark wood there was a dark, dark house...

    Camping in the Jersey Pine Barrens may literally turn out to be a first date from hell for travel writer Tim North and the cute cop who persuades him to revisit a past that Tim has done his best to forget.

    In a Dark Wood

    Josh Lanyon

    We’re lost.

    Luke came up behind me. I pointed, hand shaking, at the cross carved into the white bark of the tree. We’re going in goddamned circles!

    He was silent. Beneath the drone of insects I could hear the even tenor of his breathing although we’d hiked a good nine miles already that autumn afternoon — and no end to it in sight. My head ached and I had a stitch in my side like someone was jabbing me with a hot poker.

    I lowered my pack to the ground, lowered myself to a fallen tree — this time not bothering to check for ant nests or coiled rattlers — lowered my face in my hands and lost it. I mean, lost it. Tears…oh, yeah. Shoulders shaking, shuddering sobs. I didn’t even care anymore what he thought.

    Tim… He dropped his pack too, sat down next to me on the log. He sounded sort of at a loss. After a minute he patted my shoulder. Awkwardly.

    I turned away from him and tried to wipe my face on my shirt sleeve.

    Feeling him fumbling around with his pack, I watched him through wet lashes. He pulled out his canteen, unscrewed the top and offered it to me.

    I took the canteen, swallowed the warm stale water, handed it back. Wiped my face again. Perfect. My nose was running. Not that it mattered. It wasn’t like I had a shred of dignity left.

    First dates. You’ve got to love ’em.

    But I mean, what kind of fucking sadist chooses camping for a first date?

    Fast forward to the end of this one: we’d shake hands at my brownstone door — assuming we got out of this field trip into Hell alive — and he’d promise to call, and with equal insincerity I’d say I looked forward to it.

    I’d never see him again — and that was the only bright side to this whole — literally — walking nightmare.

    Luke pulled a cloth out of his pack and wet it with the canteen. Here, look at me.

    I looked at him. He wiped my face with the wet cloth, shocking me into immobility. His own face was serious, his hazel eyes studied me. I closed my eyes and he gently swiped my eyelids, washing away the sweat and tears.

    Better?

    I lifted my lashes, got my lips steady enough to form words. Oh, sure. Great.

    I thought you were a travel writer?

    I’m not an explorer! I write about comfortable hotels with clean sheets and hot water. My idea of roughing it is a two-star restaurant!

    The corner of his mouth tugged as though, against his will, he found this just a little bit comical. What the hell could be funny about any of this?

    Listen, we’re not lost.

    I opened my mouth and he said, I don’t mean I know where we are. But I can get us out of here, if that’s what you want. I’ve got a compass and we can start walking east and be back to civilization within a few hours.

    I swallowed hard. First off, there was no place in New Jersey that even remotely qualified as civilization, but that was beside the point.

    Luke said, And, for the record, we’re not going in circles. Look again at that carving on the tree. It’s not a fresh cut. Look at the edges. They curl, but they’re worn. It’s not your mark. At least, it’s not the mark you made today.

    I blinked at him stupidly.

    He said, I think it’s your mark from twelve years ago.

    * * * * *

    Flash back four days ago to a dinner party at my best friend Rob’s place in Manhattan. Rob’d

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