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kpelican2 's review for:
The Boy from the Woods
by Harlan Coben
When I closed this book upon finishing it, the first word out of my mouth was 'wowzers'. Boy from the Woods is my first Harlan Coben novel and I am kicking myself for not having read anything of his sooner, because this was a wild(e) ride (pun obviously intended).
The two main characters, Wilde and Hester Crimstein, are what made the book for me. Their snappy repartee was a huge highlight of this novel and speak to Coben's strength in writing dialogue that is not only clever, but also downright fun.
I can always gauge my enjoyment of a novel by how cognizant I am of what page I'm on. With Boy from the Woods, I blinked and inhaled 30 pages - the pages just turned themselves. As far as the actual mystery goes, I thought the plot was going to be fairly straight-forward - teenager goes missing - but it turned out to be WAY more complicated that that (possibly a bit convoluted?). It's not necessarily hard to follow, but I personally have trouble when there are multiple subplots a large cast of characters to keep track of. Being fairly new to the mystery/thriller genre, I'm still finding my footing with the memory exercise that these types of plots require.
Having grown up in north Jersey, it was one of my first experiences with actually knowing some of the places mentioned in the book, which made the reading experience a bit surreal in a very cool way. I've already ordered the first of Coben's novels, Deal Breaker, and am excited to read more of him in the future. 4.5 stars.
The two main characters, Wilde and Hester Crimstein, are what made the book for me. Their snappy repartee was a huge highlight of this novel and speak to Coben's strength in writing dialogue that is not only clever, but also downright fun.
I can always gauge my enjoyment of a novel by how cognizant I am of what page I'm on. With Boy from the Woods, I blinked and inhaled 30 pages - the pages just turned themselves. As far as the actual mystery goes, I thought the plot was going to be fairly straight-forward - teenager goes missing - but it turned out to be WAY more complicated that that (possibly a bit convoluted?). It's not necessarily hard to follow, but I personally have trouble when there are multiple subplots a large cast of characters to keep track of. Being fairly new to the mystery/thriller genre, I'm still finding my footing with the memory exercise that these types of plots require.
Having grown up in north Jersey, it was one of my first experiences with actually knowing some of the places mentioned in the book, which made the reading experience a bit surreal in a very cool way. I've already ordered the first of Coben's novels, Deal Breaker, and am excited to read more of him in the future. 4.5 stars.