The Boy From the Woods
by Coben, Harlan
Reviews
Review this book!
The Boy From The Woods is the first book in the Wilde series by award-winning, best-selling American author, Harlan Coben. When high-profile lawyer and TV show host Hester Crimstein's sixteen-year-old grandson Matthew asks for her help, she doesn't hesitate. Matthew is worried for his much-bullied classmate, Naomi Pine, absent some days now from their school.
Hester consults her old friend Westville Police Chief Oren Carmichael, then visits Naomi's home but, prevented from seeing the girl for herself, Hester decides to involve Matthew's very capable godfather, Wilde. With conflicting information from an obstructive father and absent mother, Hester's extreme reaction, an appeal on live TV, backfires on several levels when Wilde quickly locates the girl, participating in a teen challenge game.
So when Naomi goes missing again, some weeks later, her father can't get anyone to take it very seriously. He convinces Wilde to look into it, who concludes that Naomi has left intentionally. But when her chief tormenter, Crash Maynard goes missing soon after, the reaction is very different. Suddenly wealthy TV producer Dash Maynard and his wife want to engage, despite having their own complement of security personnel, the services of Wilde and Hester.
A kidnapping? A hoax? Or have the two teens run off together somewhere?
Coben starts the story off fairly innocuously, even giving it a bit of a cosy-crime feel, but as it progresses, things quickly get real and not at all benign. He gives his characters plenty of entertaining banter, distracts the reader from a couple of very neat twists with a few red herrings, and includes some great deductive work in the lead up to a dramatic climax.
Wilde is a unique character: his background, apparently fending for himself in the woods from a young age, has endowed him with sharpened senses and superior survival skills; his further education and military service enhanced and expanded his abilities; watching how he uses them is a delight, and his insightful interpretation of human behaviour makes his inner monologue interesting.
The support cast is also not ordinary: the breathtaking audacity and consummate ease with which Coben's presidential candidate manipulates the media makes him very Trump-like; seventy-year-old Hester is a force of nature, "never avoided a controversy if she could create one"; and some characters have definitely lost sight of their moral compass while others are clearly very good actors.
With some personal issues still unresolved, Coben leaves plenty of scope for further books in the series, and the sequel, The Match, is eagerly anticipated. Very entertaining crime fiction.
The Boy From The Woods is the first book in the Wilde series by award-winning, best-selling American author, Harlan Coben. When high-profile lawyer and TV show host Hester Crimstein's sixteen-year-old grandson Matthew asks for her help, she doesn't hesitate. Matthew is worried for his much-bullied classmate, Naomi Pine, absent some days now from their school.
Hester consults her old friend Westville Police Chief Oren Carmichael, then visits Naomi's home but, prevented from seeing the girl for herself, Hester decides to involve Matthew's very capable godfather, Wilde. With conflicting information from an obstructive father and absent mother, Hester's extreme reaction, an appeal on live TV, backfires on several levels when Wilde quickly locates the girl, participating in a teen challenge game.
So when Naomi goes missing again, some weeks later, her father can't get anyone to take it very seriously. He convinces Wilde to look into it, who concludes that Naomi has left intentionally. But when her chief tormenter, Crash Maynard goes missing soon after, the reaction is very different. Suddenly wealthy TV producer Dash Maynard and his wife want to engage, despite having their own complement of security personnel, the services of Wilde and Hester.
A kidnapping? A hoax? Or have the two teens run off together somewhere?
Coben starts the story off fairly innocuously, even giving it a bit of a cosy-crime feel, but as it progresses, things quickly get real and not at all benign. He gives his characters plenty of entertaining banter, distracts the reader from a couple of very neat twists with a few red herrings, and includes some great deductive work in the lead up to a dramatic climax.
Wilde is a unique character: his background, apparently fending for himself in the woods from a young age, has endowed him with sharpened senses and superior survival skills; his further education and military service enhanced and expanded his abilities; watching how he uses them is a delight, and his insightful interpretation of human behaviour makes his inner monologue interesting.
The support cast is also not ordinary: the breathtaking audacity and consummate ease with which Coben's presidential candidate manipulates the media makes him very Trump-like; seventy-year-old Hester is a force of nature, "never avoided a controversy if she could create one"; and some characters have definitely lost sight of their moral compass while others are clearly very good actors.
With some personal issues still unresolved, Coben leaves plenty of scope for further books in the series, and the sequel, The Match, is eagerly anticipated. Very entertaining crime fiction.
Available Copies
THE BOY FROM THE WOODS
by Coben, Harlan
- Condition
- Used - Near Fine in Near Fine dust jacket; Has been gently read. Minor wear to front panel of jacket.
- Edition
- First Edition
- Published
- 2020
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9781538748145
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Trumbull, Connecticut, USA
- Item Price
-
€9.34
Show Details
The Boy From the Woods
by Harlan Coben
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Jacket Condition
- Very Good
- Edition
- First Edition
- Published
- 2020
- Binding
- Binding intact and tight
- ISBN
- 9781538748145
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Poulsbo, Washington, USA
- Item Price
-
€14.01
Show Details
The Boy from the Woods
by Coben, Harlan
- Condition
- Used - Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Fine
- Edition
- First Edition
- Published
- 2020
- Binding
- Hard Cover
- ISBN
- 9781538748145
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Webster, New York, USA
- Item Price
-
€8.41
Show Details
The Boy From the Woods
by Harlan Coben
- Condition
- Used - Near Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Near Fine
- Edition
- First
- ISBN
- 9781538748145
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Carrollton, Texas, USA
- Item Price
-
€37.35
Show Details
Boy From the Woods, The
by Coben, Harlan
- Condition
- Used - Good
- Jacket Condition
- Not Applicable
- Edition
- First UK Paperback Edition
- Published
- 2020
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN
- 9781529123838
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Buttaba, New South Wales, AUS
- Item Price
-
€4.65
Show Details
The Boy from the Woods
by Coben, Harlan
- Condition
- Like New
- Jacket Condition
- Like New
- Edition
- First Edition
- Published
- 2020-03-17
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9781538748145
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Boerne, Texas, USA
- Item Price
-
€70.04
Show Details
The Boy from the Woods
by Coben, Harlan
- Condition
- Used - Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Fine
- Edition
- US First Edition, First Printing Hardcover
- Published
- 2020
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Carmel, Indiana, USA
- Item Price
-
€18.68
Show Details
The Boy from the Woods
by Coben, Harlan
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN
- 9781538748145
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
GORING BY SEA, West Sussex, GBR
- Item Price
-
€7.69
Show Details
The Boy from the Woods
by Coben, Harlan
- Condition
- As New
- Jacket Condition
- Near Fine
- Edition
- Stated First Edition, First Printing
- Published
- 2020
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9781538748145
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Piggott, Arkansas, USA
- Item Price
-
€6.54
Show Details
The Boy from the Woods
by Coben, Harlan
- Condition
- Used - Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Fine
- Binding
- Hardback
- ISBN
- 9781538748145
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Madill, Oklahoma, USA
- Item Price
-
€23.30
Show Details
The Boy from the Woods
by Coben, Harlan
- Condition
- Used - Good
- Published
- 2020-03-17
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9781538748145
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Memphis, Tennessee, USA
- Item Price
-
€4.84
Show Details
The Boy from the Woods
by Coben, Harlan
- Condition
- Used - Very Good+
- Jacket Condition
- Very Good+
- Edition
- 1ST
- Published
- 2020
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9781538748145
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
CARSON CITY, Nevada, USA
- Item Price
-
€13.96
Show Details
The Boy from the Woods
by Coben, Harlan
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- ISBN
- 9781538748145
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Frederick, Maryland, USA
- Item Price
-
€3.91
Show Details
The Boy From The Woods
by Coben, Harlan
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Jacket Condition
- Very Good
- Edition
- First Edition
- Published
- 2020
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9781538748145
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Cadillac, Michigan, USA
- Item Price
-
€9.34
Show Details
The Boy from the Woods
by Coben, Harlan
- Condition
- Like New
- Edition
- First Edition
- Published
- 2020-03-17
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9781538748145
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Kennebunkport, Maine, USA
- Item Price
-
€50.40
Show Details
The Boy from the Woods
by Coben, Harlan
- Condition
- Used - Good
- Published
- 2020-03-17
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9781538748145
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Simi Valley, California, USA
- Item Price
-
€2.79
Show Details
The Boy from the Woods
by Harlan Coben
- Condition
- Used - Good
- Published
- 2020
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9781538748145
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Seattle, Washington, USA
- Item Price
-
€5.59
Show Details
The Boy from the Woods
by Coben, Harlan
- Condition
- Used - Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Fine
- Edition
- First edition first printing
- Published
- 2020
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9781538748145
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
St. Catharines, Ontario, CAN
- Item Price
-
€11.21
Show Details
The Boy from the Woods
by Coben, Harlan
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN
- 9781538748206
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
GORING BY SEA, West Sussex, GBR
- Item Price
-
€2.64
Show Details
The Boy from the Woods
by Coben, Harlan
- Condition
- Used-Very Good
- Jacket Condition
- Excellent
- Edition
- First Edition
- Published
- 2020-03-16
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9781538748145
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Severna Park, Maryland, USA
- Item Price
-
€4.20