A major Stark House discovery

"His debut novel is simply brilliant. It is humorous and poignant and above all else, it is an important novel everyone should read." -- Charlie Stella, author of Eddie's World, Johnny Porno, Rough Riders

"Against all reason, against his will, a man must begin a slow tumble back to the light after a loss no one should have to endure. Darren Rome Leo's new voice in fiction is not a breath of fresh air: it's a triumphant shout. The Trees Beneath Us may never be a classic, but it should be." -- Jacquelyn Mitchard, Oprah's Book Club author of The Deep End of the Ocean

"D.R. Leo writes with the fluency of thought. His direct and unadorned sentences can skip gracefully up a forest trail or tunnel into the mind's dark recesses. Before you know it, they've taken you to some place wholly familiar, and yet entirely strange." --Richard Adams Carey, author of The Philosopher Fishand Raven's Children

"From the first step onto the trail to his last words on the page, Darren Leo writes about healing, grief, and the intersection of the two with the authentic voice of someone who knows both. The Trees Beneath Us is a book that helps us understand what challenges us to go on, what gives us strength, and when we’ve had enough suffering to walk back into our lives." – Ann Garvin best selling author The Dog Year

"Darren Leo's sterling prose and dramatic sense of incident make this hike on the Application Trail a philosophical adventure that gives voice to cries from the heart." - Merle Drown, author of Plowing Up a Snake and The Suburbs of Heaven

"Finn is on a mission which he himself chooses not to label. Sometimes it's a battle. Sometimes there are moments of gentle purity. There is also grim humor here. It took me on a trip I had never been on before."—Greg Shepard, publisher of Stark House Press