Back in November 2025 I found out that book two in the Beneath the Trees series was having a second volume. I tend not to pre order that far in advance, but I said, Screw it! This gal will have her day…. ah book!
And in July 2026 Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring by Patrick Horvath, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, and a few others, came out. Okay, yes it is good, but I had built up volume one so much and had such high expectations for volume two, it was not as good as before, but still it is good. But not good in the way that happy happy woodland creatures frolic in the woods kind of good. It is not where all the animals live happy and healthy. Trust me, they are lucky to live let alone happily. 
SPOILER:
Book one has Samatha (a bear) living in a small town where there is a serial killer loose. And this really pisses her off because if people start investigating those killings, her own misdoings under the trees of the forest (and elsewhere) will be unmasked and there is nothing like having people learn that two serial killers live in the same small town!
Obviously this is very horror and gore based, very intense situations and triggers of all kinds (death, blood, drug use, addition, violence, animals deaths, elder abuse, guns, langauge…. It actually might be easier to say what isn’t there). Again, there is BLOOD. There is icky chopping up the bodies kind of icky. There is Sam’s narration of what she is thinking and how she has decided almost 10 years after one of her kills she has a need to reach out to that victim’s sister, who cannot let the event die and is still looking for answers.
Long story short, it is once again, not a happily ever after, but who cares? Life in this small town is dying. The town has lost jobs, people are all but broken, forest is being cut down, and the highway is coming in. The town has citizens down on their luck, but big business is coming in (strip mall). And so what the wild creatures are in the middle of town, just walking up the street. They are just wild animals that need to be put down. Progress must be made! People must die….
This book has layers, it takes time to explore them. Do not rush, just enjoy the satisfying climax of the kill, I mean the read.
