When long-hidden secrets about his past come to light, John Wade―a Vietnam veteran and recent candidate for the U.S. Senate―retreats with his wife, Kathy, to a lakeside cabin in northern Minnesota. Within days of their arrival, Kathy mysteriously vanishes into the watery wilderness. As a search is begun, several explanations, all of them disturbing, rise to the surface in this unforgettable story about the vagaries of memory, love, and deception.

“A gut-punch of a novel… O’Brien turns the thriller form inside out.” ―Seattle Post-Intelligencer“A memorable mystery story charged with haunting ambiguity… If any American novelist is creating more beautifully written, emotionally harrowing tales than Tim O’Brien, I don’t know who it could be.” ―Entertainment Weekly

“Serious, gracefully written, and at the same time, as gripping as a thriller.” ―Wall Street Journal

“Not only brilliant but riveting… In the Lake of the Woods is not only a book you don’t turn away from, it’s a book you can’t put down. It comes not just as a literary event but almost a literary miracle.” ―San Jose Mercury News