The Boy From The Woods
Harlan Coben
Grand Central Publishing, March 2020
ISBN 978-1-5387-4814-5
Hard Cover
At the start of this novel we are introduced to the boy referred to in the book’s title. Thirty years ago, Wilde, as he is now known, was discovered living in the woods in a rural area of New Jersey. According to the police there was never any report of a missing child. No relatives ever came forward to claim him.
Intriguing as that opening of Coben’s new stand alone is, the novel moves to the present and concerns another child who has gone missing. Her name is Naomi Pines and she’s a teenager who attends a local high school in the town of Westville, New Jersey.  Matthew, a fellow student, is concerned for Naomi’s welfare. He’s contacted his grandmother, Hester Crimstein, a well-known New York criminal attorney to enlist her help.
Hester sets things in motion in the search to find Naomi, calling on the local police and contacting Wilde, who’d been befriended by Hester’s son David, Matthew’s father, years ago.
The relationships in this novel are complicated and there are a few more characters to meet who are involved in a political plot pertaining to a candidate running for President of the United States.
I’m sure you’ll agree that this might be hard to keep track of, but rest assured you are in the hands of a well known and loved Master. Jump in…you’ll be glad you did. I thoroughly enjoyed this and hope Mr. Coben will return to with a sequel so that we might learn more about the Wilde boy from the woods.
Respectfully submitted.
Reviewed by guest reviewer Moyra Tarling, May 2020.
Buried Under Books 