The Boy From The Woods
"...‘The Boy from the Woods’ is Coben firing on full cylinders. "
Synopsis:
Thirty years ago, a child was found in the New Jersey backwoods.
He had been living a feral existence, with no memory of how he got there or even who he is. Everyone just calls him Wilde.
Now a former soldier and security expert, he lives off the grid, shunned by the community – until they need him.
A child has gone missing. With her family suspecting she's just playing a disappearing game, nobody seems concerned except for criminal attorney, Hester Crimstein. She contacts Wilde, asking him to use his unique skills to find the girl, Naomi.
But even he can find no trace of her. One day passes, then a second, then a third. On the fourth, a human finger shows up in the mail. And now Wilde knows this is no game. It's a race against time to save the girl's life – and expose the town's dark trove of secrets.
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Review:
This is not your usual 'girl goes missing' plotline as Harlan Coben never writes simple plots. Not only has Naomi gone missing, but another classmate disappears. Together with two missing teenagers, a possible murder, a shady politician, the mystery surrounding Wilde's origins, some missing video tapes this isn't a straight forward plot, but Coben is an expert at seamlessly weaving intricate story lines together in such a way that everything makes sense. Coben has included a huge case of characters, yet makes it easy to follow and all needed for the plot. 'The Boy from the Woods' is a rare book in that there is no superfluous writing. Every word is part of the story. My only negative about this book was I found Hester to be a little irritating and two of the characters names (Crash and Dash). Apart from those small niggles, 'The Boy from the Woods' is Coben firing on full cylinders. This is another page turner from Coben who every time manages to pull the cat out of the bag and deliver an ending that isn't expected by his reader. Sublime.