The Lying Woods

Owen Foster, a senior at Sutton's, an elite boarding school in New Orleans, is called to the headmaster's office, where his mother, Maggie, delivers devastating news. Owen's father, Robert Foster, has embezzled millions from his company, Louisiana Frac, the largest employer in their small hometown of Lake Cane, Louisiana. Robert drained employee pensions, hid debts, and generated environmental violations before vanishing with an estimated 10 million dollars. The family's assets have been seized, and Owen must leave school immediately. Before departing, Owen recalls a cryptic letter from his father mentioning a restaurant called Frank's and its Wednesday-night special. Owen keeps this letter secret.

Owen and Maggie move in with Maggie's difficult older sister, Aunt Lucinda, in Lake Cane. News coverage is relentless, and Owen's research reveals the full scope of his father's crimes and the devastation to hundreds of employees. He deletes his social media accounts and resolves to be at the restaurant in 15 days.

The novel alternates between Owen's present-day story and chapters set in the summer of 1999, following a 19-year-old drifter named Noah Bennett. Fleeing an abusive home, Noah hitchhikes to Lake Cane after buying a bus ticket as far south as his money will take him from St. Louis. He takes a job at a pecan orchard owned by Gus Trudeau, a young man whose great-grandfather first cultivated the land. Gus gives Noah a small house in a grove called the Preacher Woods, named for a mysterious figure who once wandered the trees preaching before disappearing. Gus's wife, Abby, is dying of cancer. Noah bonds with her, cutting fresh flowers for her each morning, and she asks him to promise he will not let Gus fall apart after she is gone.

In the present, Owen's first days at Lake Cane High are brutal. His former friend Seth Sullivan refuses to acknowledge him, classmates hurl insults, and a student punches him. Pippa, Owen's childhood neighbor and closest friend, confronts him with news that Maggie has endured weeks of harassment, from public ostracism to threatening messages left at their house. Owen visits Detective Hill, who shows him the evidence, including a note reading "IF HE FUCKS OVER MY FAMILY. I'LL FUCK OVER YOURS" (68) and a brick painted with "WHERE IS THE MONEY" (69). Hill reveals he knows Owen received a letter at school, but Owen denies it came from his father.

The man Owen believes to be Gus Trudeau offers him work at the orchard, cleaning the neglected main house and preparing for harvest. Owen accepts, drawn by the work and the revelation that his father once lived at this same orchard.

In the 1999 timeline, Noah and Maggie Everett, a local girl just out of high school, begin a secret romance, spending most evenings together at the Preacher Woods house. Noah makes her a copper pendant engraved with "S 6 R 9 T 4," coordinates from an old orchard map identifying their favorite pecan tree. Abby dies quietly that summer, and Gus spirals into grief. Abby's family arrives for the funeral, including her cousin Robert, who lingers afterward and begins planting ideas in Noah's head about Gus's wealth and how Noah should position himself for a better future.

Owen reconnects with Pippa through daily lunches at school. A confrontation with David, a classmate whose family lost everything to the embezzlement, forces Owen to confront the human cost of the crimes that funded his privileged life. Jack and friends visit from Sutton's and offer Owen the chance to return, with Jack's father covering expenses, but Owen declines, unwilling to leave his mother.

The threats escalate. Someone writes "THERE IS HE?" on Owen's truck window, and a flaming bottle is hurled through Lucinda's front window while Owen sleeps on the couch. He puts out the fire and finds hateful messages spray-painted across the lawn and house.

Owen attends the public auction of his family's home and belongings with Pippa. An old orchard map from the Preacher Woods house reveals that coordinates on a Polaroid Owen found and on the pendant identify specific trees. William Cooper, Jack's father, buys the Foster house for $800,000, deepening Owen's suspicion about Cooper's motives. When Owen tries to bid on his mother's silver bracelet and the copper pendant, a man hired by an anonymous buyer outbids them. Devastated, Owen kisses Pippa for the first time.

In the 1999 chapters, Noah's life collapses. While driving with Maggie, he is pulled over after an anonymous tip. A drug-sniffing dog finds drugs under the passenger seat with Noah's fingerprints on the bag. With prior arrests and no resources, his court-appointed lawyer gives him two options: confess and Maggie goes free, or go to trial with both charged. Noah confesses to protect Maggie, lying that the drugs were his. Gus arrives at the station, declares Noah innocent, and arranges a transfer to a federal facility in Florida.

Owen's investigation leads to a shattering discovery. A granite company delivers a headstone to the orchard's family cemetery bearing Gus Trudeau's name, with a death date five months earlier. The man Owen has been working for is not Gus. In the barn apartment, Owen finds Louisiana Frac documents, a letter from William Cooper about plans against Robert, photographs of Owen at various ages, and a Christmas card from his mother addressed to "Gus."

Owen drives Maggie to Frank's restaurant on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Robert does not appear, but the man Owen knew as Gus walks in. Maggie recognizes him and tells Owen the truth: This is Noah Bennett, Owen's biological father. After Noah went to prison, Gus called to tell him Maggie was pregnant. Robert stepped in, married Maggie, and raised Owen as his own. A waitress hands Owen a farewell letter from Robert expressing love and asking forgiveness.

The full story emerges through later revelations. In prison, Noah realized Robert orchestrated the drug frame-up, using a ziplock bag Noah had innocently handled to plant his fingerprints. After nearly 11 years, Noah was paroled and moved to New Orleans to watch Owen from a distance. William Cooper helped Noah monitor Robert's business. When the real Gus fell ill and died, Noah returned to the orchard, assumed his identity, and gathered evidence against Robert, who fled before he could be arrested.

Owen identifies the person behind the threats when Pippa mentions that Seth Sullivan's hand is burned, not fractured as he claimed. Owen connects the injury to the firebombing. Detective Hill's investigation reveals that Peter Blackwell, Robert's closest friend, was Robert's accomplice, funneling money through a shell company named after Blackwell's mother's maiden name. Maggie wears a wire to confront Blackwell, whose angry outburst confirms his involvement. Blackwell and Seth are arrested.

Six months later, Owen, Maggie, and Noah live together in the restored main house on the orchard. Noah and Maggie are planning a wedding beneath the pecan tree marked by the pendant's coordinates. Cooper is purchasing Louisiana Frac to rebuild and rehire employees. Blackwell has taken a plea deal, Seth received probation and moved away, and Robert Foster has never been found. On graduation day, as Pippa takes a family photo, Owen calls Noah "Dad" for the first time.