Ok so this blog is titled FreeWheelin’ Book and Music Safari and so far in 2021 I have not written about any books! The reason I haven’t written about any of the book I’ve been reading is that I’ve been writing about my 30-day folk music challenge.
However, I have been reading, all be it at a slower pace than typical during the winter months. So far, I have finished three books. I finished The Boy From the Woods by Harlan Coben yesterday afternoon. It’s book number 3 for 2021.
The book is a stand alone novel and not part of the Myron Bolitar series. However, it does feature criminal lawyer Hester Crimstein, who has made appearances in many Bolitar books
In The Boy from the Woods Hester‘s grandson Matthew contacts her and asks her to look into the disappearance of a school mate, Naomi Pine. Naomi is an outcast and a target for relentless bullying.
The search for Naomi brings Hester back to her home and town, where she raised her four boys. The town where her son, Matthew‘s father lost his life in an auto accident.
To aid in the search, Hester contacts Wilde, the boy from the woods. Thirty years earlier, Wilde was found in the woods living as a feral child wirth no memory of his past. Wilde grew up in a foster home and David became his best friend.
The search for Naomi led Wilde, and Hester to the Maynard family. Their son Crash is a classmate of Naomi and Matthew and a bullier of Naomi’s.
The Maynard family is embroiled in a controversy revolving around tapes that may end the Presidential campaign of a pat reality show host. As the search for Naomi intensifies the two storylines collide and Wilde and Hester need to use all their wiles to figure it all out!!
Final Thoughts
Overall, I didn’t race though most of The Boy from the Woods like I have in other Harlan Coben books. However, the second half of the book and the conclusion more than made up for any deficiencies of the first half of the book!
Overall , I found Wilde to be an interesting character and certainly would like to see him in more action. It was also interesting to see Hester in her own book with only one reference to Myron!
I did think that aspects of the book are very timely. And considering the similarity to what we saw during the Trump presidency.
Again while I didn’t think it was Coben’s best, it’s still a 4-star book for me. I look forward know to see the Netflix show and see if the characters are anything like I imagined!!
Links for Further Explorations of the Works of Harlan Coben
Author’s Website
Wikipedia
Goodreads
Amazon
