Predatory Natures, Amy Goldsmith
Predatory Natures, Amy Goldsmith
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Predatory Natures

Author: Amy Goldsmith

Narrator: Candace Moll

Unabridged: 12 hr 28 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/08/2025


Synopsis

A teen girl's dream job aboard a luxury train derails when she discovers the strange cargo being transported—a mysterious and beautiful greenhouse—but its flowering façade may hide deadly thorns beneath, in this atmospheric and lush novel from the author of Those We Drown.

When Lara Williams gets a summer job aboard the luxury train the Banebury, she thinks she’s landed a five-star escape from her past. Even after she learns that her ex-friend Rhys, who she definitely did not have feelings for  before their relationship imploded, is one of her coworkers, she’s determined to make  things work.

But on the first day of their journey, the trip takes a strange turn. Two mysterious carriages filled with an array of beautiful and rare plants are attached to the Banebury in the middle of the night.

And with them comes a pair of siblings. Wealthy, mysterious, and charismatic, Gwen and Gwydion claim the plants they’re transporting are for research, but Lara can’t shake the feeling that there’s something . . . otherworldly about the strange blooms. Something that will stop at nothing to ensure the Banebury never reaches its destination.

Soon Lara will learn: You can’t outrun your troubles. You have to grab them by their roots. And if she can’t unearth the secrets of the Banebury, they might drag her down for good. . . .

About The Author

Amy Goldsmith grew up on the south coast of England, obsessed with obscure 70s horror movies and antiquarian ghost stories. She studied Psychology at the University of Sussex and, after gaining her Postgraduate Certificate in Education, moved to inner London to teach. Now, she lives back on the south coast where she still teaches English and spends her weekends trawling antiques shops for haunted mirrors. She is the author of Those We Drown, Our Wicked Histories and Predatory Natures.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Nilufer on July 23, 2025

Young Lara Williams, fleeing a high school scandal that tarnished her reputation and caused her to fail her classes, finds a job aboard the luxury train The Banebury during the off-season. The position offers her a chance to make the most of her gap year, leaving her trauma behind. However, she is s......more

Goodreads review by nika.ex.libris on March 20, 2025

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for sending me an eARC! After reading the synopsis, I realized I needed this! The plot takes place on a train (Amy, thank you). It was incredibly atmospheric, vividly described, and easy to read. The story is told from the perspective of the FMC and has two timelines:......more

Goodreads review by Books_the_Magical_Fruit on July 07, 2025

The plot, setting, and characters are intriguing, but please note that this is an extremely slow burn. The constant flipping back and forth between timelines drove me a little crazy…I felt like the author held back TOO much of the backstory, and I was constantly jarred out of the much more interesti......more

Goodreads review by Sequoia on January 06, 2025

Thank you Netgalley and Delacorte Press for allowing me to read and review Predatory Natures! All thoughts and opinions are my own. "Wishing there was a way to forget all this, to rewind the past, erase the darkness, the memories that always seep back when the night is quiet." Amy Goldsmith wrote two......more

Goodreads review by Marcella on December 12, 2024

Mysterious train and chilly atmosphere. Sleuthing and investigation, angst and drama... and all the horrific details. I really enjoyed this chilly ride on The Banebury! Lara is a strong lead, recovering and discovering herself after a toxic relationship. Rhys is a dear. Gwydion is smoking hot but as......more


Quotes

★ "Goldsmith deftly braids folklore, supernatural horror, and romantic suspense into a layered novel that confronts emotional abuse." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

"This engaging, well-paced novel explores horrors both supernatural and very much of this world. Dark, page-turning, folkloric horror." —Kirkus Reviews

"Goldsmith cultivates a fierce, frightening fantasy....Predatory Natures grafts itself into the flourishing genre of botanical horror, joining the ranks of Krystal Sutherland’s House of Hollow (2021) and Andrea Hannah’s Where Darkness Blooms (2023)." —Booklist

"A ­solid work of atmospheric botanical ­horror." —School Library Journal