The Boy from the Woods

This is my first Harlan Coben book, and while I enjoyed it, I expected more about “the boy in the woods.” The story starts out with a little preface about finding a boy in the woods, no parents, no idea how he got there, or how long he survived in the woods. Fast forward 30yrs and the boy, Wilde is hired by Hester, the mother of David, Wildes best friend growing up, to find Naomi, a missing girl, after Hester’s grandson, Mathew is concerned for her. Naomi is found but then she goes missing again and Wilde is brought in again, but now another kid goes missing and it turns into a complex political scheme kidnapping..

The turns and twists in the plot were there to sidetrack you and keep you guessing, but if you paid attention to the details, you could pretty easily guess who was behind the kidnapping and what happened to the missing girl Naomi. I was disappointed that the book really didn’t get into Wildes past or how he was abandoned in the woods or where he came from.

Coben's new protagonist, known as Wilde, is a mystery to everyone, including himself. In 1986, he was just a boy found living feral in the woods. He had no memory of his past or how he came to be alone in the woods.

Thirty-four years later, high-powered celebrity lawyer Hester Crimstein is a widow who knows the pain of losing a beloved child. Her son, David, has been dead for ten years. After Wilde was discovered in the woods behind the Crimstein home, David and Wilde were close friends, and David's death hit Wilde hard, too. Now David's widow, Laila, continues residing in the family home where Hester and her late husband, Ira, raised David and his two brothers. Also still mourning David, she is raising their teenage son, Matthew. Day after day, Matthew watches his classmate, Naomi, being taunted and bullied at school. But he doesn't stand up to her tormenters. So when she disappears, he feels guilty. Even Ava O'Brien, the only teacher who seemed to have a rapport with Naomi, has no idea where she may have gone. Matthew enlists his grandmother to help him find out what happened to her. And Hester retains Wilde because of his military background, as well as the time he spent running an investigative/security firm with his adopted sister.

Among the students who abused Naomi was Crash Maynard, the pampered son of Dash and Delia Maynard. Dash is a successful reality television show producer who allegedly films everything his unwitting cast members do and say, including private dressing room conversations. He is the long-time friend of Rusty Eggers, a controversial U.S. senator running for president. Rumors swirl that Dash could destroy the careers of many celebrities and politicians -- including Eggers -- by releasing video footage of them. And a group of citizens dedicated to ensuring that Eggers is never elected are calling Dash to do just that so the public can see what Eggers is really like in unguarded moments.

At the center of the story is Wilde, a man who learned as a child to navigate the world alone and has never been able to approach life any other way. He cares deeply about others, but cannot sustain relationships for any period of time. He lives in a customized spheroid-shaped pod called an Ecocapsule deep in the woods, and relocates it frequently. Keenly intelligent, fit, and highly trained at West Point before serving in special forces units overseas, Wilde either can't or won't assimilate into "normal" society. But Wilde feels a fondness for and sense of obligation to Hester because of his relationship with David and the fact that he was with David on the night he died. He is also fond of Matthew and has remained a presence in the fatherless boy's life.

Coben slyly and effortlessly tackles social issues, including schoolhouse bullying, the existential danger to the country of electing a leader with a nefarious past and malignant disposition, and the lengths to which some are willing to go in the name of a cause. An undisputed master storyteller, he deftly weaves several story lines that initially appear disparate into a seamless tale. The pace of the book never slows as he gradually pulls the threads together into a cohesive narrative involving long-held secrets, political intrigue, and tenuous alliances. Devotion to the future of the country leads to the implementation of deadly, vigilante-like measures. Once Wilde pieces together enough information to understand the motivation and potential consequences, he races to stop further harm from being inflicted.

Hester appeared in prior novels, including Run Away in 2019, but Coben gives readers insight into her psyche in The Boy from the Woods. Her crisp, sometimes caustic repartee with Oren Carmichael, the divorced police chief, is both hilarious and endearing, illustrating her vulnerability and humanity. Wilde is an intriguing riddle -- self-sufficient and guarded, compassionate and surprisingly sensitive to others' feelings, but morally ambiguous. Why does he hesitate to avail himself of available technology to learn the identity of his parents and ascertain how he ended up alone in the woods all those years ago? What causes him to maintain his solitary existence when he seems to want to establish and maintain close relationships? Coben's nuanced, empathetic, and surprisingly likable characters elevate the mystery and, in combination with the unexpected conclusion, leave many questions unanswered. Coben fans know that his characters, like Hester, have a way of resurfacing in subsequent novels. So there's hope that Coben will ask "What if . . .?" and be inspired to continue Wilde's story in a future release.

The Boy from the Woods proves yet again that Coben is one of an elite group of American authors who consistently deliver entertaining, inventive thrillers featuring intriguing, layered characters.

Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.