The Boy from the Woods (ARC review)

I first heard of Harlan Coben after his runaway success with his book Runaway, but anyone interested in diving into the mystery/thriller genre will more than likely come upon his books at one time or another. 

I was excited to finally get to know his writing, especially considering that his newest features an amateur detective figure quite unlike any other I’d encountered.

Over 20 years ago, Wilde was found in the woods where he had apparently been living for his entire life. No one knows where he came from, or why, or how. Now, Wilde must help his godson, Matthew, and Matthew’s grandmother, a TV Lawyer, to track down a missing girl. But she’s not the only one who will disappear…

This book is never boring. A host of interesting subplots trot along beside the main mystery, creating intrigue at every turn, and when they’re not in play, there’s plenty of drama between characters to be had in order to keep you reading. 

The somewhat large cast of characters is easily accessible despite their numbers, as they are all more or less mystery-trope types that most readers will be familiar with. But, admittedly, mystery-trope types done well…or at least in a somewhat interesting way. 

However, while Wilde’s past may have set him apart from many other mystery-genre main characters, I couldn’t help but feel that the details of his backstory were incredibly underutilized. In fact, his being the ‘boy from the woods’ was not really a factor in the story at all, or at least not enough to seem like it should warrant title-hood. It’s a hook. Plain and simple. And, when combined with his ex-military status, explains his action-movie-hero moments, interesting skills, and…well, extreme paranoia. At times, with the sheer amount of backstory skimmed over for Wilde and some of the other characters, it felt like there was a whole other story between the lines of this book that had already happened, and that would have honestly been more interesting.

Readers will have to accept some plot holes and unrealistic details in order to fully appreciate the coolness factor of this story, which it is definitely trying hard for. Unfortunately, trying for coolness is probably my least favorite characteristic in a book, especially since it usually means that the relatability and realism of the characters usually suffers. Which was the case here. The cool-factor didn’t make up for the lack of investment I felt in all of the characters. It didn’t help that they were all not only more or less unlikeable (not always on purpose), but weren’t particularly unique…even when they were trying to be.

Inevitably, this meant that I also wasn’t very invested in the mystery, which ends up being surprising more so because there are so very many things going on to distract from the main plot than because the plot was particularly well laid out.

Disappointed, to say the least, and more than a little bit bored, I’d, unfortunately, have to rate The Boy from the Woods 2.5 out of 5 stars. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for a copy in exchange for an honest review!