The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King

It is early June and Trisha McFarland, a nine-year-old girl, sets out on a hike in the New England woods with her mother and older brother Pete. Ever since the divorce Mom and Pete have been arguing, and this family weekend is no different. So when Trisha has to pee in the forest, neither Pete nor her mom – who are busy fighting – notice as she scurries away into the trees.

But instead of heading back the way she came, Trisha decides to go down a different path to rejoin her family, and soon finds herself lost in the woods. As the hours pass, Trisha finds herself stumbling through the forest, and with each step getting more lost. When night arrives she has to scramble just to stay alive. With each passing day her ordeal worsens, with her only human contact being her walkman, which allows her to listen to Boston Red Sox games, and to hear if her favourite closing pitcher Tom Gordon can save the game.

In this high-enjoyable novel, Stephen King takes us into the mind of a lost child, who caught in an unimaginable situation is forced to find ways to survive, while trying to keep away from the mysterious creature that keeps following her through the trees.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars