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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!
Run Away was a favorite read of mine in 2019. I loved the mystery and the shocking finale. In that intense thriller, I was introduced to Simon Greene and his quest to find his daughter, who had gone missing. Along the way, he encountered fierce lawyer, Hester Crimstein. In her seventies, Hester is a non-stop juggernaut of a personality with a nationally-aired television show. I had wondered what she had done while separated from Simon. In the Boy from the Woods, we find out.
The Boy from the Woods is Harlan Coben's latest novel. It is published by Grand Central Publishing, an imprint of the Hatchett Book Group. In this story that happens simultaneously with Run Away, we find Hester Crimstein is separated from her client, Simon Greene. Working to clear his name after the events of that novel's opening, Hester is contacted by her grandson, Matthew. The teen is worried about his classmate, Naomi Pine, who has mysteriously disappeared without warning. A bullied girl, their school seems to not care or notice her disappearance. This causes Matthew to suspect a group of teens, led by rich kid Crash Maynard, of involvement in Pine's vanishing. Hester is protective of Matthew and would go to great lengths to help him. However, she is still working with Simon Greene and needs assistance. She looks to Wilde, Matthew's godfather, for help.
Discovered as a young boy living in the woods, Wilde became national news. Along the way, he exhibited heightened learning capabilities. And as an adult, his military career led him down dark paths. Living by himself in the woods, he continues to have limited human contact. He is loyal to those he lets in, including Hester's family. He agrees to help find Naomi. Then a group of clandestine military men enters the town where Naomi disappeared and another teen goes missing. Hester and Wilde begin to see that something worse may be happening when the family of one of the teens is sent a body part of their missing son. A race against time begins as the boy from the woods must use all his skills as an adult to prevent the unthinkable.
The Boy from the Woods gave us an interesting line up of characters to follow. Bringing back Hester Crimstein was a wise choice on Coben's behalf. She was as feisty and unmoving as she was in Run Away. I enjoyed her relationship with Wilde. Since he was close to her now-deceased son, it gave her more of a backstory. I liked the side characters and their motives. But this book seemed to start as one narrative and was changed halfway through, giving it an almost two-books-in-one feel. I was unsure where the storyline was going and when part of the mystery was solved at the mid-point, I could not help but be a bit let down. The book as a whole felt detached and the ending was a bit rushed since much of the first two parts were backstory and some slower moments in the novel.
I read the Boy from the Woods in part with the narration of actor Steven Weber (IZombie, Wings). He once again gave Hester Crimstein a voice that often had me laughing out loud. His delivery of intense moments added to the story. It was another excellent performance.
The Boy from the Woods was three-star read for me. It felt like it did not know what it wanted to be for a lot of the book. But I did love reading another Hester Crimstein story. Whenever she popped up it was always a good time. This was still a fun book to read despite my issues with it. And I recommend it as a great way to pass the time while self quarantining.
Have fun reading this week. Let me know in the comments below what you are reading this week.
Also please follow me on my social media platforms and enjoy shopping with me at eBay and the Book Depository.
Because there is always time to read,
Xepherus3
At Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.com/?a_aid=Xepherus3
At eBay: http://stores.ebay.com/xepherusstudios
At Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/11975160-xepherus3
At Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xepherusstudios/
At RedBubble: http://www.redbubble.com/people/xepherus3
At Twitter: https://twitter.com/XepherusStudios
My Amazon Wish List: https://amzn.com/w/3J58FXCH0Y44F
All written content (c) Copyright 2020 by Thomas Bahr II
Run Away was a favorite read of mine in 2019. I loved the mystery and the shocking finale. In that intense thriller, I was introduced to Simon Greene and his quest to find his daughter, who had gone missing. Along the way, he encountered fierce lawyer, Hester Crimstein. In her seventies, Hester is a non-stop juggernaut of a personality with a nationally-aired television show. I had wondered what she had done while separated from Simon. In the Boy from the Woods, we find out.
The Boy from the Woods is Harlan Coben's latest novel. It is published by Grand Central Publishing, an imprint of the Hatchett Book Group. In this story that happens simultaneously with Run Away, we find Hester Crimstein is separated from her client, Simon Greene. Working to clear his name after the events of that novel's opening, Hester is contacted by her grandson, Matthew. The teen is worried about his classmate, Naomi Pine, who has mysteriously disappeared without warning. A bullied girl, their school seems to not care or notice her disappearance. This causes Matthew to suspect a group of teens, led by rich kid Crash Maynard, of involvement in Pine's vanishing. Hester is protective of Matthew and would go to great lengths to help him. However, she is still working with Simon Greene and needs assistance. She looks to Wilde, Matthew's godfather, for help.
Discovered as a young boy living in the woods, Wilde became national news. Along the way, he exhibited heightened learning capabilities. And as an adult, his military career led him down dark paths. Living by himself in the woods, he continues to have limited human contact. He is loyal to those he lets in, including Hester's family. He agrees to help find Naomi. Then a group of clandestine military men enters the town where Naomi disappeared and another teen goes missing. Hester and Wilde begin to see that something worse may be happening when the family of one of the teens is sent a body part of their missing son. A race against time begins as the boy from the woods must use all his skills as an adult to prevent the unthinkable.
The Boy from the Woods gave us an interesting line up of characters to follow. Bringing back Hester Crimstein was a wise choice on Coben's behalf. She was as feisty and unmoving as she was in Run Away. I enjoyed her relationship with Wilde. Since he was close to her now-deceased son, it gave her more of a backstory. I liked the side characters and their motives. But this book seemed to start as one narrative and was changed halfway through, giving it an almost two-books-in-one feel. I was unsure where the storyline was going and when part of the mystery was solved at the mid-point, I could not help but be a bit let down. The book as a whole felt detached and the ending was a bit rushed since much of the first two parts were backstory and some slower moments in the novel.
I read the Boy from the Woods in part with the narration of actor Steven Weber (IZombie, Wings). He once again gave Hester Crimstein a voice that often had me laughing out loud. His delivery of intense moments added to the story. It was another excellent performance.
The Boy from the Woods was three-star read for me. It felt like it did not know what it wanted to be for a lot of the book. But I did love reading another Hester Crimstein story. Whenever she popped up it was always a good time. This was still a fun book to read despite my issues with it. And I recommend it as a great way to pass the time while self quarantining.
Have fun reading this week. Let me know in the comments below what you are reading this week.
Also please follow me on my social media platforms and enjoy shopping with me at eBay and the Book Depository.
Because there is always time to read,
Xepherus3
At Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.com/?a_aid=Xepherus3
At eBay: http://stores.ebay.com/xepherusstudios
At Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/11975160-xepherus3
At Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xepherusstudios/
At RedBubble: http://www.redbubble.com/people/xepherus3
At Twitter: https://twitter.com/XepherusStudios
My Amazon Wish List: https://amzn.com/w/3J58FXCH0Y44F
All written content (c) Copyright 2020 by Thomas Bahr II
fast-paced
Not bad for a thriller, but it wants to be about three different books. The start of a series about the main character, but so many seeds are dropped for future installments at one point I thought I accidentally picked up a book three of something.
Short. Goes pretty fast.
Short. Goes pretty fast.
Huh? That was uncharacteristically bad for such a great author. The great reviews on the book cover must be about some other book. Perhaps tying all the loose ends into a sequel might redeem some of the mess.
3.5, rounded up. Fairly entertaining story, finished it quickly!
I enjoyed this. I also like all the Easter eggs to other Coben books.
Quite a few surprises! While reading, I felt the story was going in too many directions, but classic Coben, it all tied together very neatly and satisfying. This book is back to the early Coben books I truly loved!
Really liked a lot of this book, especially a few of our main characters. On rare occasion do I like multiple POVs, but the author really shaped each individual well. Only big complaint was the ending: felt like a 100 dominos fell over at the same time. The book's ending could have been a bit longer to space things out and give us more of Wilde's story.
Harlan Coben never disappoints. The boy from the woods is a real page turner with unexpected twists and interesting characters. 4 stars instead of 5 because of the imbalance between the search for clues and the story coming together in the end.