The Forest of Lying Trees

By Renée Miller

Hazel Bennett has spent her life listening to the forest in a way no one else can. Through the vibrations of wood and soil, she can sense the hidden struggles of trees-the desperate pull of dying roots, the silence of severed branches, and the strange rhythms buried beneath the mountain. When a vast stretch of the Western Reserve begins to collapse into an unnatural blight, Hazel discovers that the trees are not suffering from an ordinary disease. They are reacting to something far more disturbing: a lie that has poisoned the forest's ancient network of trust.The evidence leads Hazel back to the catastrophic fire of 1984, the disaster that shaped her family's legacy. Official records claim lightning ignited the blaze, but the trees remember a different story. As Hazel and forestry expert Micah Turner investigate, they uncover a secret protected for forty years by her grandfather, Leonard Hayes-the respected warden who may have concealed the truth to protect a frightened child and preserve the family's land.Now the forest is tearing itself apart, and Hazel's cousin Preston is determined to silence her before the truth threatens the Hayes estate. With the county preparing to cut down the dying timber, Hazel faces an impossible choice: protect the reputation of the man she loved, or expose the secret that may destroy the mountain-and the community built upon it.The deeper Hazel listens, the more she understands that the forest's survival depends on more than science or sacrifice. Its wounded roots need the truth that was buried beneath the soil. To save the trees, Hazel must lead the people of Oakhaven into the heart of the blighted basin and confront the legacy of a mercy that became a devastating deception.A haunting ecological fantasy about family loyalty, buried guilt, and the fragile bonds that hold a living world together, The Forest of Lying Trees asks whether a lie can ever protect what we love-or whether truth is the only way to let it live.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0HQCTT57H
• ISBN13: 9798183039443
• Release Date: November 2026
• Publisher: Renee Miller
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.49 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"