‘Out of the Woods’ is heartbreaking tale of trauma and survival

Victims of the most heinous crimes aren’t always at the center of the story when the news cameras, podcasts and true crime aficionados rush in to document the case. Often these victims are never the ones telling their story and when everyone moves one they are forgotten while their perpetrators live in infamy. Author Gregg Olsen seeks to remedy this situation in his newest work which considers what happens to those victims once everyone else moves on.

“Out of the Woods: Girl, a Killer, and a Lifelong Struggle to Find the Way Home,” is a heartbreaking tale that forces readers to confront the unbearably grim reality of survival. More than just the graphic details that happened to Shasta Groene in the Montana woods, Olsen take readers through the aftermath of what it actually means to have survived the unimaginable.

At 8, Groene was kidnapped by a man who has just murdered her family. But the nightmare wasn’t over. For seven weeks she and her brother were subjected to severe physical and sexual abuse. And while she survived the terrible ordeal, it would be decades before she truly made it out of the woods.

From police transcripts, news clippings and interviews with Groene herself, Olsen gives voice to Groene who has said she never felt heard because what she lived through was too painful for others to hear. And she is right. The disturbing details — each worse than the one before — of the 47 days Groene spend with a serial killer are difficult to stomach, even for the most season detective or true crime fan. Yet, they are central to understanding her, her struggles and hard road to recovery.

Despite the horrifying details, Olsen is able to create a somewhat hopeful story. An honest story at what it means to be a survivor. A story of trauma and survival that will send true crime devotees through a roller coaster of emotions and leave them shocked to their core.

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