Meike Reviews Harlan Coben’s ‘The Boy from the Woods’

Check out Meike’s review for Harlan Coben’s latest, The Boy From the Woods.

A little over 20 years ago, two hikers discovered a young boy foraging in New Jersey’s Ramapo Mountain State Forest. Despite the authorities’ exhaustive search for the boy’s family, no one ever came forward to claim him so he entered the foster system. Now an adult, the former lost boy named Wilde works as a private investigator for a firm he co-owns with his foster sister.

At the beginning of Coben’s latest thriller, Wilde’s godson Matthew Crimstein comes to him with anunusual request—he wants Wilde to find his classmate Naomi Pine who has stopped coming to school. Matthew is unwilling to admit why he’s concerned, only that Naomi—the victim of relentless bullying for years—may be in trouble. Naomi is found fairly quickly, and it turns out she was hiding as part of an elaborate ruse—a game called The Challenge.

However, she soon goes missing again, and when another classmate—Crash Maynard, son of wealthy reality TV producer Dash Maynard and his wife Delia—goes missing as well, events begin to escalate. This time there’s a ransom demand for Crash’s return, but the kidnappers don’t want money—they want Dash to turn over some videotapes that presumably implicate divisive presidential candidate Rusty Eggers in something that could derail is campaign. Not sure to what lengths the kidnappers are willing to
go, Wilde is forced to act quickly in his search to locate Crash and Naomi before any harm can come to them.

Coben draws together so many threads in this story that it’s incredibly multi-faceted and deeply entertaining. Long-time fans of Coben’s work will recognize Matthew Crimstein’s grandmother as none other famed television attorney Hester Crimstein, who appeared as a peripheral character in earlier Coben books (and Hester is working on a case with Simon Greene, protagonist of last year’s Coben smash Run Away). Coben spins a compelling back story for Wilde—a boy living in the woods with no memory of the past, yet fiercely intelligent with the ability to read and write when he’s found. The crux of the kidnapping case hinges on some mysterious videotapes that in the wrong hands can derail the political ambitions of a hugely popular but equally polarizing presidential candidate. Throw in Coben’s trademark wit and dramatic flair and you’ll find yourself canceling weekend plans so that you can rip through to the finish.

While our doors remained closed to the public through March 29th, you can grab your copy of The Boy From the Woods by ordering online or giving us a call at (512) 472 – 5050 to request curbside pick-up service.