Book Review: The Boy From The Woods by Harlan Coben

Posted on May 21, 2023 by Jennifer Jones

Summary

“Thirty years ago, Wilde was found as a boy, after having lived alone in the woods, for many years, with no memory of his past. Now an adult, he still doesn’t know where he comes from, and another child has gone missing.

No one seems to take Naomi Pine’s disappearance seriously, not even her father-with one exception. Hester Crimstein, a television criminal attorney, knows through her grandson that Naomi was relentlessly bullied at school. Hester asks Wilde-with whom she shares a tragic connection-to use his unique skills to help find Naomi.

Wilde can’t ignore an outcast in trouble, but in order to find Naomi he must venture back into the community where he has never fit in, a place where the powerful are protected even when they harbor secrets that could destroy the lives of millions . . . secrets that Wilde must uncover before it’s too late”. – Goodreads

Published in March 2020, 371 Pages

My Thoughts

I’ve only recently come to Harlan Coben, having read a few of his books in the past few months and falling in love with his writing style and characters. From reading about Harlan Coben, I found out that Hester Crimstein is a character that turns up in a small way in a few of his stories. In this book she has a major part, and I can understand why readers have fallen in love with her. Hester is a sassy, bright, strong willed lawyer who has a major role in this story. I really can’t wait to read more about her in his other books.

The Boy From The Woods has a plot that gripped me immediately, and characters who had a very strong base and who kept my interest. For that matter, each of the Harlan Coben books that I’ve read, have been based on a strong storyline with great characters.

Reading this book felt like I was on a roller coaster. There was so much happening, and so much that was unexpected. Along with the story of a boy who was found in the woods years earlier, there was political scandal and intrigue, along with a teenager who had disappeared, and much, much more. I’m looking forward to reading more Harlan Coben books.

About The Author

Harlan Coben is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and one of the world’s leading storytellers. His suspense novels are published in forty-five languages and have been number one bestsellers in more than a dozen countries with seventy-five million books in print worldwide.- Goodreads

Star Rating

Please note that my star rating system isn’t at all based on literary merit, but is based on my enjoyment for the book.
For me a book that gets five stars, is a book that I really enjoyed, and found difficult to put down.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Unputdownable. Would read it again.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Fantastic read. Not to be missed

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Enjoyable. Would recommend it.

⭐️⭐️ Wouldn’t read it again.

⭐️ Don’t recommend this book at all.

The books mentioned in this post are of my own choice and have not been sent to me to review. My opinions are my own and I receive no renumeration at all for them.

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U: Unsolved by James Patterson and David Ellis #atozchallenge #audiobook

Posted on April 25, 2023 by Jennifer Jones

The Blogging from A to Z April Challenge is for bloggers who wish to participate by publishing a blog post every day in April except for Sundays. Each blog post will focus on a letter of the alphabet. For example April 1 will be A, April 2 will be B and on it goes. By the end of April, a blog post for every letter of the alphabet will have been posted. My theme for 2023 is Book Reviews.

You can read my reviews without worrying about spoilers. My reviews are quite brief and I give away nothing more than you would read on the back cover or on Goodreads.

Unsolved
Invisible $2
by
James Patterson and David Ellis

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Summary

“For Dr. David Beck, the loss was shattering. And every day for the past eight years, he has relived the horror of what happened. The gleaming lake. The pale moonlight. The piercing screams. The night his wife was taken. The last night he saw her alive.

Everyone tells him it’s time to move on, to forget the past once and for all. But for David Beck, there can be no closure. A message has appeared on his computer, a phrase only he and his dead wife know. Suddenly Beck is taunted with the impossible- that somewhere, somehow, Elizabeth is alive.

Beck has been warned to tell no one. And he doesn’t. Instead, he runs from the people he trusts the most, plunging headlong into a search for the shadowy figure whose messages hold out a desperate hope.

But already Beck is being hunted down. He’s headed straight into the heart of a dark and deadly secret- and someone intends to stop him before he gets there”. – Goodreads

Published in 2019. Audiobook from Borrowbox

My Thoughts

I didn’t read Invisible #1, but Unsolved works well as a stand alone novel. In fact, I didn’t realise this was a second book in a series, until after I’d finished reading it. I have enjoyed the James Patterson collaborations that I’ve read so far, and this novel was no different. A fast paced, detective mystery with a great story line and a few unexpected twists along the way. There were also a few chills and shivers as I was reading.

Of course, as with most James Patterson books, it’s obviously written to a formula which is quite cliche – the FBI agent who goes against protocol, but because she has great results, she gets away with it.

I enjoyed this novel very much. It was a quick read with an interesting plot and unexpected twists and turns. However, there is one thing that I didn’t like about this story, and that was the ending. It just didn’t feel right to me, and left me disappointed. Another reader could very well have a different opinion. The three and a half star rating was due to the ending. Without that ending, I probably would have given it four stars.

Star Rating

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Unputdownable. Would definitely read again
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Fantastic read. Not to be missed.
⭐️⭐️⭐️Enjoyable read. Would recommend.
⭐️⭐️Wouldn’t read again
⭐️Don’t recommend this book again

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Images and author information: Goodreads

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Next Phase In Fitness & Life and Tracking Down The Family

T: Tell No One by Harlan Coben #atozchallenge

Posted on April 24, 2023 by Jennifer Jones

You can read my reviews without worrying about spoilers. My reviews are quite brief and I give away nothing more than you would read on the back cover or on Goodreads.

TELL NO ONE
BY
HARLAN COBEN

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Summary

But already Beck is being hunted down. He’s headed straight into the heart of a dark and deadly secret- and someone intends to stop him before he gets there”. – Goodreads

Published in 2009. Paperback 70 pages.

My Thoughts

I’ve become a Coben fan over the last couple of years. Each of his books that I read, leave me wanting to read more. This very fast paced thriller had me interested until the last page. There twists and turns and then more twists and turns. The main characters, though flawed, were likeable and believable, even the more unusual characters.

Other than being a mystery/thriller, Tell No One is the love story of two children, who have been best friends since their childhood. The author has created a beautiful relationship and love between the two characters.

Quote

“There should have been a dark whisper in the wind. Or maybe a deep chill in the bone. Something. An ethereal song only Elizabeth or I could hear. A tightness in the air. Some textbook premonition. There are misfortunes we almost expect in life—what happened to my parents, for example—and then there are other dark moments, moments of sudden violence that alter everything. There was my life before the tragedy. There is my life now. The two have very little in common.”

About the Author

Harlan Coben is a #1 bestselling author and one of the world’s leading storytellers. His suspense novels are published in forty-five languages and have been number one bestsellers in more than a dozen countries with seventy-five million books in print worldwide.

Star Rating

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Images and author information: Goodreads

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Next Phase In Fitness & Life and Tracking Down The Family

M: Murder Rule by Dervla McTiernan #atozchallenge

Posted on April 15, 2023 by Jennifer Jones

You can read my reviews without worrying about spoilers. My reviews are quite brief and I give away nothing more than you would read on the back cover or on Goodreads.

THE MURDER RULE
BY
DERVLA McTIERNAN

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Summary

“………a mother daughter story—one running from a horrible truth, and the other fighting to reveal it, that twists and turns in shocking ways, from the internationally bestselling author of The Scholar and The Ruin.
First Rule: Make them like you.
Second Rule: Make them need you.
Third Rule: Make them pay.They think I’m a young, idealistic law student, that I’m passionate about reforming a corrupt and brutal system.
They think I’m working hard to impress them.
They think I’m here to save an innocent man on death row.
They’re wrong. I’m going to bury him”. – Goodreads

Published in 2022. 295 pages

My Thoughts

After reading this author’s first three books, I waited impatiently for her fourth, and The Murder Rule didn’t disappoint at all. The story alternates between the present time and diary entries from 1994. It usually takes me a while to get into books that jump around in time, but this book had me from the start. In Murder Rule we have a story of corruption and violence, which causes much confusion to the main characters.

I’ve said very little about the plot or the characters, as I’d like prospective readers to start reading with very little knowledge of the plot as I did. This is a thriller with a strong main female character and many twists and turns.

If you like a crime thriller with an usual storyline and many twists and turns, then I would recommend this book as a great read.

About the Author

Dervla McTiernan is the author of three award winning books, the Cormac Reilly series – The Ruin, The Scholar and The Good Turn. The Ruin was published in 2018 and is the first in the detective Cormac Reilly series. The Ruin was a top ten bestseller and an Amazon Best Book of July 2018. Dervla was a New Blood Panellist at Harrogate Festival. The Scholar was published in 2019 and was a top five bestseller. The Good Turn was published in 2020.

My Star Rating

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Next Phase In Fitness & Life and Tracking Down The Family