NOVEMBER 2018 - AudioFile
Narrator Patricia Rodriguez uses her excellent vocal talents for empathy and emotion as she describes Lloyd, an emotionally wounded young man who finds himself in a psychiatric ward after being arrested for breaking into an outfitters store. Until then, Lloyd had been missing for over 10 years. He’d disappeared in the Minnesota woods and been presumed dead when searchers found the remains of a campsite that showed signs of a bear attack. Rodriguez takes a loving tone as language therapist Maya Stark helps the young man cope with his trauma and uncovers what happened in the lost decade. Rodriguez adds a sense of urgency to dramatic scenes and turns up the compassion as the story unfolds and Maya tries to find Lloyd’s father. R.O. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
07/09/2018
Freshly certified speech therapist Maya Stark, the narrator of this atmospheric though flawed psychological thriller from Mejia (Everything You Want Me to Be), knows she’s in over her head when Dr. Mehta—who only a few years ago was her own psychiatrist at the Duluth, Minn., mental hospital where she now works—pressures her into trying to break through to 19-year-old Lucas Blackthorn, a violent, silent new patient. Until his recent arrest during an attempted robbery, Lucas was presumed dead after vanishing a decade earlier with his father into the vast Boundary Waters wilderness on the Canadian border. The ruggedly handsome Lucas—and his single-minded determination to escape back into the wild to save his ailing parent—will soon affect Maya so deeply that she embarks on a series of increasingly dangerous decisions that could cost her job. Although overly plotted, especially with what feel like forced symmetries between Maya’s and Lucas’s backstories, the novel is saved by its arresting characters—none more so than the mysterious, primeval expanse of the Boundary Waters itself. Mejia remains a writer to watch. Agent: Stephanie Cabot, Gernert Company (Sept.)
The Real Book Spy
"Mindy Mejia kicks things up a notch, delivering another nail-biting page-turner that grabs you early and never lets go."
Kimberly Belle
A boy missing for ten years emerges from the Minnesota wilderness in Mindy Mejia’s spellbinding page-turner, LEAVE NO TRACE. Dark and atmospheric, with palpably vivid details and complex characters harboring plenty of secrets, Leave No Trace is the perfect combination of gorgeous prose and edge-of-your-seat storytelling. Clear your calendar, this is a book you’ll want to swallow in one sitting. A stunner!
Minneapolis Star-Tribune
"This psychological thriller is a triumph."
Booklist (starred review)
"The author uses Lake Superior's violent storms and the Boundary Waters' forbidding wilderness to intensify the story's emotional impact and heighten its exploration into the unpredictability of half-buried secrets."
Hannah Mary McKinnon
I fell in love with Mindy Mejia’s EVERYTHING YOU WANT ME TO BE, and with LEAVE NO TRACE she solidifies her position as one of my go-to authors. Smart, sophisticated and with characters so real, I kept expecting Maya and Lucas to stroll out of the forest. This novel deserves the top-spot on your reading list!
Best New Books Barnes & Noble.com
"Fascinating."
"Best Books of 2018" Real Simple
"This psychological mystery explores the impact of a life lived in true isolation."
City Pages
"Mejia wows again with wonderful words, great character development, and a beautiful homage to the Boundary Waters."
New York Journal of Books
"Mejia’s writing crosses back and forth between exquisite literary descriptions and thrilleresque escapes and acts of violence."
Always with a Book
"A thrilling, addictive read."
"Best of 2018: Mysteries" South Florida Sun Sentinel
"An insightful look into mental health issues, a media frenzy and life in the wild."
E. C. Diskin
"Leave No Trace is a masterful gem with that rare combination of provocative and magical descriptions, compelling characters, and a breathtaking, heart-pounding plot. A powerful journey exploring the fluidity of sanity, the pain of depression, and the healing properties of the natural world. I haven't been this transported by a journey in the woods since reading Cheryl Strayed's Wild. This story will linger with readers long after the last page is turned."
Minnesota Monthly Magazine
With intensely complicated characters, a fast-paced plot, lots of twists and turns, and an impeccable ending, LEAVE NO TRACE is the type of book one finishes in one sitting, preferably with rain pattering on the window and a cup of coffee in hand.
The Internet Review of Books
"he writing is so good, and the story so mysterious, that Mejia kept me turning pages for the answers to all the riddles. Readers who enjoyed books by Gillian Flynn or Tana French should enjoy this one. “
US Weekly
"Mindy Mejia's latest is riveting."
Reviews by Jules
"An exciting mystery that keeps you turning the pages to find out more. Must read!"
Associated Press
"Excellent . . . A strong sense of place infuses LEAVE NO TRACE, especially the expansive Boundary Watersa place of wild beauty."
Lori Rader-Day
"Mindy Mejia’s LEAVE NO TRACE leaves the reader breathless: Daring characters, a suspenseful story you will tear through, and the ticking clock of an approaching dark, cold Minnesota winter. Riveting."
Bustle
"If you couldn't tear yourself away from Everything You Want Me to Be, you definitely need to pick up this new book by Mindy Mejia."
"Top Reads of 2018" BOLO Books
"Leave No Trace is an entertaining book that also alters one’s world view just a bit in the end."
Karen Katchur
Set against the backdrop of Minnesota's Boundary Waters, Mindy Mejia continues to create characters that are both vulnerable and strong as they navigate the wild terrain through seemingly impossible relationships. LEAVE NO TRACE is a thrill ride of a novel that captures the ferocity of both nature and humankind. The story of Maya and Lucas is one I won't soon forget.
Amy Gentry
A tense and gripping read that plumbs the depths of grief and longing, LEAVE NO TRACE is as thrilling as a whitewater rapid and as dark as the Minnesotan wilderness itself. Mejia has a gift for creating characters who feel like family, and by the end of this book I would have followed her gutsy speech-therapist heroine Maya to the ends of the earth. Through twist after twist, this riveting story will have you asking yourself just how far you would go to find out exactly where you came from.
Laura McHugh
"Riveting and beautifully rendered, LEAVE NO TRACE hooks you from the first page and never lets go. A must-read thriller."
Booklist
"The author uses Lake Superior's violent storms and the Boundary Waters' forbidding wilderness to intensify the story's emotional impact and heighten its exploration into the unpredictability of half-buried secrets."
Booklist
"The author uses Lake Superior's violent storms and the Boundary Waters' forbidding wilderness to intensify the story's emotional impact and heighten its exploration into the unpredictability of half-buried secrets."
The Associated Press
"Excellent . . . A strong sense of place infuses LEAVE NO TRACE, especially the expansive Boundary Watersa place of wild beauty."
Suspense Magazine
"An excellent book full of surprises, fans will be thrilled to find that this is one tale that falls into that very slim category of rare 'one-day' reads."
Shelf Awareness
"Readers will surely find this unsettling, character-driven descent into secret desires and hidden faces everything they wanted to see from a talented writer and then some."
InStyle
Fans of Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl will devour this fast-paced story.
Marie Claire
"In the spirit of The Lovely Bones and Everything I Never Told You...compelling."
The Wall Street Journal
"Ms. Mejia displays the enviable ability and assurance of such contemporaries as Megan Abbott and Laura Lippman in convincingly charting inter-generational passion and angst."
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"Mindy Mejia's evocative and provocative mystery . . . . makes for a sophisticated and wicked whodunit."
People
Best New Books Pick
NOVEMBER 2018 - AudioFile
Narrator Patricia Rodriguez uses her excellent vocal talents for empathy and emotion as she describes Lloyd, an emotionally wounded young man who finds himself in a psychiatric ward after being arrested for breaking into an outfitters store. Until then, Lloyd had been missing for over 10 years. He’d disappeared in the Minnesota woods and been presumed dead when searchers found the remains of a campsite that showed signs of a bear attack. Rodriguez takes a loving tone as language therapist Maya Stark helps the young man cope with his trauma and uncovers what happened in the lost decade. Rodriguez adds a sense of urgency to dramatic scenes and turns up the compassion as the story unfolds and Maya tries to find Lloyd’s father. R.O. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2018-07-02
A young woman with a troubled past helps an unusual young man find his father in the beautiful but dangerous wilds of Minnesota.Twenty-three-year-old speech therapist Maya Stark was lucky to get the job at the Congdon Psychiatric Facility considering that she used to be a patient there. After Maya's mother, Jane, a geologist who fostered her daughter's love for the natural world, tried to kill herself and then disappeared, Maya lost her way, making a bad decision that led to a shocking act of violence and then to a stint at Congdon. But she got herself together, got her degree, and she loves her job. She's even rebuilding her relationship with her father, though she finds it hard to let people get close to her. When 19-year-old Lucas Blackthorn is admitted after a burglary attempt, he seems to recognize Maya, but that would be impossible since he's spent the past 10 years off the grid after disappearing into the expansive Boundary Waters with his father, Josiah. His first encounter with Maya ends with a cord around her neck as he tries to escape, but Maya refuses to let the incident slow her down. Despite Lucas' aggressiveness, Maya is one of the few people he responds to, and her boss and former doctor assigns her to his case. Maya is surprised but undeniably intrigued and begins to look forward to her time with this sad young man. They eventually form a bond, and when Maya discovers that Lucas' father is still alive but in danger, she finds she's willing to do just about anything to get them back together before it's too late. Bathed in shades of melancholy, Maya's narration, woven in with Lucas and Josiah's heartbreaking story, is a testament to resiliency, and when Maya reveals her secret—the event that led to her time in Congdon—it's a shocker. But it's her ability to endure and thrive that makes her so fascinating; she's actually quite a kick-ass when push comes to shove. Keep tissues handy for this one but be assured that, in the end, there is hope to be found.Mejia's (Everything You Want Me To Be, 2017) thrilling tale works both as an engaging mystery and a haunting meditation on grief, abandonment, and the lost places within ourselves. Brutal, devastating, and utterly riveting.