When three friends lose their way in a serial killer’s old hunting ground, they must fight to survive the threat in the woods—and each other—in this spiky, heart-pounding slasher.

Never turn your back on a friend.

Jade, Stef, and Zoe are hiking Washington’s Bones Hollow Trail, braving cougars, black bears, and the storms that roll in without warning. The friends’ paranoia isn’t helped by listening to a true crime podcast about the serial killer who once roamed this same forest.

Then when Stef twists her ankle—badly—there’s no one to hear them scream for help. The only sign of life for miles is a cabin that looks to be straight out of a horror movie, with a man who’s all too eager to invite them in.

As things take a chilling turn, the friends must find a way to stay alive together. After all, who can you trust when your back’s against the wall? But unfortunately for them, the only thing more twisted than this nightmare is their friendship . . .

I received an advance copy of this book courtesy of the publisher. All thoughts are my own.

This book was a lot of fun, and it threw together a bunch of things I love into one package. Slashers. Serial killers. Toxic friendships. If you put those three ingredients in a blender, you basically get Backstabbers, and I was here for all of it.
On top of the horror, it’s also a pretty scathing look at how badly people want to be famous right now. The whole culture of going viral, of turning anything into content, of chasing attention at any cost, gets skewered here, and it adds a layer that made the whole thing feel really timely.

Three friends, Jade, Stef, and Zoe, are out hiking a remote trail in Washington. This isn’t just casual hike on well-traveled trails, this is real wilderness with predators and weather that turns on you fast. To set the mood, because apparently they hate themselves, they’re passing the time with a true crime podcast about the killer who used to stalk these very woods. Because, why not, right? Then Stef wrecks her ankle, and suddenly three friends on a fun hike become three friends stranded miles from anyone who could help. The only thing nearby is a cabin in the middle of nowhere (because of course there is), and the guy who lives there is a little too happy to wave them inside. As you can imagine, things go bad from there. Then they go worse.

What I loved most is that each of these girls is her own person. None of them is a carbon copy of the others. They have distinct personalities, distinct flaws, and distinct ways of reacting when everything starts falling apart, and that made the whole dynamic so much more fun to watch. When you’ve got three well-drawn characters who don’t fully trust each other trapped in a nightmare scenario in the middle of nowhere, the tension comes as much from the friendships as it does from the actual killer.

I was 100% behind Jade. I totally understood her, and Steph, while kind of annoying, grew on me and perfectly served her purpose. (If you’re a fan of slashers you kind of figure out early what Steph’s storyline is going to be.) Then there’s Zoe. Oh, Zoe. She might be one of the worst friends in recent fiction, and I mean that as the highest compliment to the author. The entire time I was reading, I kept comparing her to Juno from The Descent. If you’ve seen that movie, you know exactly the kind of friend I’m talking about. If you haven’t, just know that Zoe is the person you do not want next to you when things go sideways in the woods.

The serial killer here is handled really well. I won’t get into specifics, but the way Jabore builds that element is sharp. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t surprised by the twists, and I clocked a lot of them coming, but I didn’t care, because watching them actually play out was a blast. And the ending? I absolutely loved how it all wrapped up. Absolutely no notes.

The pacing is exactly what you want from a book like this. It’s quick and doesn’t overstay its welcome or get bogged down in unnecessary detail. The woods are creepy, the cabin is creepy, the dread builds at a good clip, and before you know it you’re racing toward the finish.

I did an immersive read with this one and the narration by Brittany Pressley was perfect. She captured the personalities of all of the women expertly. If you’re an audiobook lover, I recommend this one.

This is a perfect summer read. It’s the kind of book you can knock out in a day on a porch or by a pool, and it’ll keep you turning pages the whole time. If you’re into slashers, serial killers, unreliable characters, and friends who will absolutely stab each other in the back while lost in some creepy-ass woods, this one is built for you. Add it to your pile now. You can thank me later.