David L Jones

Among my two favorite hobbies are reading novels and running. Although I have not run many trial-runs, the few I have run were far more challenging than my normal road races on pavement. A good novel and race remain a huge portion of my diet. Perkins’s “The Woods Are Always Watching” is stuck in the middle for me. It’s like a sport with two halves: the slow moving unexcited first two quarters; and the much better second half. Just like a few fans leaving the venue at the half, if the excitement is lackluster, readers too have that choice—discontinuing the boring read. However, I gave this author (my first time reading) a chance to deliver which she did. Her vivid descriptions of nature, vegetation, elevation, climate, temperature were accurately and vividly depicted. Although I ran—moved in real life at a much faster pace than the two leading young characters (danger free), I clearly saw the landscapes she created and was able to vicariously take the story for what it is—a good fictional work!