In the Lake of the Woods Tim O'Brien

Main characters

• John Wade - A 41-year-old man at the height of his political career. The lieutenant governor of Minnesota, John was running for the U.S. Senate when details of unseemly war actions in Vietnam were revealed; he was overwhelmingly defeated in the primary.
• Kathy Wade - John's wife, has been intimately involved with him since their college days. She has stood by him despite her loathing for politics. Kathy is aware that John represses memories of his past, which arise in his dreams and subconscious. Kathy is secretly glad that he will be out of politics and more involved with her again.

Secondary characters

• An unnamed Narrator, who admits his own unreliability on several occasions. He appears to be unconnected to the Wades but obsessed with their case. He has interviewed surviving characters and built a narrative on his own speculation. He served in Vietnam during the war.
• Ruth Rasmussen, a close neighbor. When Kathy goes missing, Ruth supports John and helps him through the search effort.
• Claude Rasmussen, the husband of Ruth, acts as a friend to John. During the investigation, they become closer.
• Eleanor Wade, John's mother; she comments on his isolation as a child, as well as the transformation of his personality because of his father's abuse.
• Paul Wade, John's father, who committed suicide. Although alcoholic and often abusive, he was still idolized by John.
• Patricia S. Hood, Kathy's sister, who never trusted John. Patricia assists in the search efforts when she hears the news of her missing sister, and becomes suspicious at John's reluctance to get involved with the search.
• Arthur Lux, the sheriff of Lake of the Woods County. He heads the investigation.
• Vinny Pearson, runs the Texaco station while serving as the police.
• Myra Shaw, Vinny's cousin, reports witnessing some events with John and Kathy.
• Anthony (Tony) Carbo served as John's campaign manager through his political career.
• Sandra Karra, owns Karra's Studio of Magic. She speculated that John had a crush on her.
• The many men of Charlie Company
• PFC Weatherby, a soldier in John's Charlie Company.
• Richard Thinbill, begged for John to release information about the Vietnam events to the authorities.