I have been reading, all be it at a slower pace than typical during the winter months. So far, I have finished three books. I finished The Boy From the Woods by Harlan Coben yesterday afternoon. It’s book number 3 for 2021.

The  book is a stand alone novel and not part of the Myron Bolitar series. However, it does feature criminal lawyer Hester Crimstein, who has made appearances in many Bolitar books

About The Boy from the Woods

In The Boy from the Woods Hester‘s grandson Matthew contacts her and asks her to look into the disappearance of a school mate, Naomi Pine. Naomi is an outcast and a target for relentless bullying.

The search for Naomi brings Hester back to her home and town, where she raised her four boys. The town where her son,  Matthew‘s father lost his life in an auto accident.

To aid in the search,  Hester contacts Wilde, the boy from the woods. Thirty years earlier, Wilde was found in the  woods living as a feral child wirth no memory of his past.  Wilde grew up in a foster home and David became his best friend.

The search for Naomi led Wilde, and Hester to the Maynard family. Their son Crash is a classmate of Naomi and Matthew and a bullier of Naomi’s.

The Maynard family is embroiled in a controversy revolving around tapes that may end the Presidential campaign of a pat reality show host. As the search for Naomi intensifies the two storylines collide and Wilde and Hester need to use all their wiles to figure it all out!!

Final Thoughts

Overall, I didn’t race though most of  The Boy from the Woods like I have in other Harlan Coben books. However, the second half of the book and the conclusion more than made up for any deficiencies of the first half of the book!

Overall , I found Wilde to be an interesting character and certainly would like to see him in more action. It was also interesting to see Hester in her own book with only one reference to Myron!

I did think that aspects of the book are very timely. And considering the similarity to what we saw during the Trump presidency.

Again while I didn’t think it was Coben’s best, it’s still a 4-star book for me. I look forward know to see the Netflix show and see if the characters are anything like I imagined!!

Links for Further Explorations of the Works of Harlan Coben

Author’s Website
Wikipedia
Goodreads
Amazon

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Table of Contents

Since I reached my 60 book goal earlier in the month, I have finished two addition books. The first book I finished was Don’t Let Go. The latest thriller from Harlan Coben. The second was Visitation Street by Ivy Pachoda. Both books were really good reads. My take on Don’t Let Go follows:

About Don’t Let Go 

Don’t Let Go is another fast-paced thriller from Coben. In this episode New Jersey Detective Napoleon “Nap” Dumas….

….hasn’t been the same since senior year of high school, when his twin brother Leo and Leo’s girlfriend Diana were found dead on the railroad tracks—and Maura, the girl Nap considered the love of his life, broke up with him and disappeared without explanation. For fifteen years, Nap has been searching, both for Maura and for the real reason behind his brother’s death. And now, it looks as though he may finally find what he’s been looking for.

The mysterious  Nike missile base located in Nap’s hometown is . Nap discovers that his brother Leo, along with Maura and several others were members of the Conspiracy Club in high school.

The Nike base was the obsession of the Conspiracy Club. The base became an agricultural research center, when the military discontinued its use. However, The club didn’t think that was the case. And they continued to observe it. Now fifteen years after the night that Leo and Diane died, the other members of the club are being killed! Did the military kill Leo and Diane? And why are they killing again after fifteen years?

Thoughts About Don’t Let Go

Once again Harlan Coben creates a great paging turning thriller about a man on a quest. Both the character and the storyline of Don’t Let Go are terrific.  As Nap tries find Maura the love of his life, but also to unearth the truth about his brother’s death. Goodreads writes this about the book…

With unmatched suspense and emotional insight, Harlan Coben explores the big secrets and little lies that can destroy a relationship, a family, and even a town in this powerful new thriller. Read More

I always enjoy both Coben’s stand alone thrillers, as well as, his Myron Bolitar series. (Myron does make a question appearance in Don’t Let Go) And as a native New Jerseyian I love the setting. I do wish though that his characters would visit South Jersey!

I also enjoy the use of the Nike base in the story. As a baby boomer I can relate to the air raid drills where we hid under our desks! I also know where there is at least one Nike base here in Burlington County, NJ.

Links

Author’s Website
Wikipedia
Goodreads
Amazon

About Harlan Coben

Harlan Coben (born 1962) is a renowned #1 New York Times bestselling American author known for fast-paced thrillers and mysteries characterized by multiple twists, domestic secrets, and long-buried past events resurfacing

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Table of Contents

Home is book 11 in the Myron Bolitar series from Harlan Coben. Once again Harlan both fictionally and writingwise brings it Home!

The Story

Home revolves around the ten year-old kidnapping of two boys Patrick and Rhys. The boys were captured, while they were playing at Patrick’s home. The kidnappers demanded ransom but nothing more was heard  about the boys.

Until Rhys’ mother Brooke receives an anonymous tip that Patrick was spotted in London. Quickly, she calls her brother Win Lockwood to check it out. Win tracks down Patrick in London. He kills three men hassling Patrick, but Patrick flees the site. So Win calls his best friend Myron Bolitar for help!! They find Patrick and bring him Home but questions remain unanswered….

Where has Patrick been for ten years? What does he remember about the day of the kidnapping? And most importantly, where is Rhys, Win’s Nephew?

Soon Win and Myron are on a quest to discover the answers to these questions. Along the way, Myron’s former partner Esperanza Spaulding and receptionist Bi Cyndi help Myron and Win discover the truth!

Thoughts about Home and the books of Harlan Coben

It’s been five years and five standalone thrillers between Myron Bolitar books and it;s great to have Myron and the gang back!

I love Harlan’s stand-alone books, but I always enjoy the Bolitar books a little more. I think it’s simply the character development over the course of a series. In a stand alone book, the reader just gets to know the characters and the book is over!

As is usually the case with Harlan Coben’s novels there is always a psychological message and in this book the message deals with friendship, family, and the meaning of home.

Here’s what some others have to say about Home

“Edgar-winner Coben’s action-packed 11th thriller featuring sports agent Myron Bolitar (after 2011’s Live Wire) blends family drama with a twisty plot… This page-turner is sure to please Coben’s many fans.” —Publishers Weekly on Home

“Series fans will be happy to see Myron, Win, Esperanza, and other recurring characters… given the size of Coben’s audience, this one is sure to be popular. With five years since the last Bolitar novel, expect holds.” —Booklist on Home

Bottom Line

Home is another winner from Harlan Coben. And I still love Myron as much as the standalones!

Rating:

Links

Author’s Website
Wikipedia
Goodreads
Amazon

About Harlan Coben

Harlan Coben (born 1962) is a renowned #1 New York Times bestselling American author known for fast-paced thrillers and mysteries characterized by multiple twists, domestic secrets, and long-buried past events resurfacing

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The Stranger – Harlan Coben Book 27 of 2015

In 2001, Harlan Coben‘s first stand alone thriller Tell No One was released. I read the paperback version in November of 2002, it was terrific and since then I haven’t missed one of his thrillers! There are few authors, who can take an ordinary person, and turn their world upside-down like Harlan Coben. He does just that in his latest thriller The Stranger.

Adam Price is living the American dream in his wife’s hometown of Cedarfield, NJ (While locales in Coben’s books are typically real, Cedarfield is a fictional town!). . He is a successful attorney with a beautiful wife,Corrine a school teacher. They have two great boys, Ryan and Thomas, who both play lacrosse, while mom serves as the treasurer of the local lacrosse organization. But on the night of the draft and the selection of the traveling team, Adam’s life starts to spiral out of control, when a Stranger approaches him and reveals a startling secret. Two years earlier Corrine had faked a pregnancy! The Stranger tells him “You know you didn’t have to stay with her” Adam eventually confronts Corrine who suddenly leaves her husband and kids telling Adam not to search for her, she needs time to sort everything out! Yeah, like that’s going to happen!! Soon Adam is on a quest to find his wife and put the pieces of his shattered life back together again!!

Adam has all sorts of questions to answer. How did the Stranger know about the pregnancy and why did he tell Adam? And why did Corrine fake the pregnancy in the first place?? And most of all where the hell did she go?? Why did she leave  him, but most importantly how could she leave her boys!!

Harlan Coben’s descriptions of life in the burbs, especially how it is among those whose children compete on traveling soccer or lacrosse teams is spot on. And while there is a certain sameness to his books, a fairly simple incident thrust someone into a life changing situation, he still makes each book exciting and interesting, No one twists and turns his way through a book like Harlan Coben and in The Stranger he certainly does that! Here’s what some others have to say about The Stranger.

 ‘With clever use of technology, convincing characters and a strong emotional heart, you’re effortlessly swept along to a tense and dramatic conclusion. Smart stuff from a classy operator.’ — Deirdre O’Brien SUNDAY MIRROR

‘The master of the twisty psychological thriller is back with another awesomely gripping mystery.’ — Boyd Tonkin HEAT

‘The twists come satisfyingly thick and fast as the plots merge before the tangled web of evens unravels into an enjoyable and somewhat surprising conclusion.’ SUNDAY EXPRESS

So check out The Stranger or any other book by Harlan Coben! You won’t be disappointed!!

Links for Further Explorations of the Works of Harlan Coben

Harlan Coben’s Website
Wikipedia:Harlan Coben
Goodreads
Amazon
Review at NJ.com

P.S. I particularly enjoyed the cameo appearance of an unnamed participant in Adam’s basketball game!!

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When NYPD Detective Kat Donovan sends her ex-fiancée Jeff Raynes “Their Video” on the dating site  You are just my type.com and his response is “It’s Cute”, Kat doesn’t understand his response.

Eighteen years earlier, before he dumped her and left town, their love was real and magical. Sure his dating site biography says he is a widower, but should his response be that lame?

Well, he just wants to move on thinks Kat and so does Kat.  She has more important things to do too, her father’s murderer is dying and she needs to visit one more time before he dies.  When she does the hit man who killed her father, once again proclaims his innocence.

Soon the son of a woman who has gone from her Connecticut home visits Kat in hopes that she will help him find his mother. Why thinks Kat- because the man she ran away with is none other than Jeff Raynes!  So begins Kat’s quest in Harlan Coben‘s latest  Missing You!. Maybe I should say quests because Kat needs to know what happened on the night of her father’s murder, along with what happened to Dana Phelps, the missing Connecticut woman and Brandon’s mother along with the reason that Jeff ran out on her with no explanation.  None of the quests are free from potential pain to those involved!!

So once again Harlan Coben builds  great story around a simple action i.e. a friend signs you up for an on-line dating service and the first time you go in you find an old love. How will he or she react?  Is it better to leave the past behind??? This time throws a potential danger in getting carried away by an on-line dating service!! The book is Harlan Coben at his best and is one of the few books that I couldn’t put down this year!! When I found the book in the library I had a few days previously checked out two other books. I thought no I’ll just wait and read it later. Then I thought, no it’s Harlan Coben, it will go fast and it will be great! I was right on both counts.

This is book 19 for 2014 – if I can finish to more before the end of the month I’ll be averaging 3 books a month and that will be a great recovery considering the way that the year started!! It is also the 19th Harlan Coben book that is one my Goodreads bookshelf and they all are good reads!!!

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Missing You – Harlan Coben – Journeys into the Past are necessary and often painful!

When NYPD Detective Kat Donovan sends her ex-fiancée Jeff Raynes “Their Video” on the dating site  You are just my type.com and his response is “It’s Cute”, Kat doesn’t understand his response.  Eighteen years earlier, before he dumped her and left town, their love was real and magical. Sure his dating site biography says he is a widower, but should his response be that lame? Well, he just wants to move on thinks Kat and so does Kat.  She has more important things to do too, her father’s murderer is dying and she needs to visit one more time before he dies.  When she does the hit man who killed her father, once again proclaims his innocence.

Soon the son of a woman who has gone from her Connecticut home visits Kat in hopes that she will help him find his mother. Why thinks Kat- because the man she ran away with is none other than Jeff Raynes!  So begins Kat’s quest in Harlan Coben‘s latest  Missing You!. Maybe I should say quests because Kat needs to know what happened on the night of her father’s murder, along with what happened to Dana Phelps, the missing Connecticut woman and Brandon’s mother along with the reason that Jeff ran out on her with no explanation.  None of the quests are free from potential pain to those involved!!

So once again Harlan Coben builds  great story around a simple action i.e. a friend signs you up for an on-line dating service and the first time you go in you find an old love. How will he or she react?  Is it better to leave the past behind??? This time throws a potential danger in getting carried away by an on-line dating service!! The book is Harlan Coben at his best. It is one of the few books that I couldn’t put down this year!! When I found the book in the library I had a few days previously checked out two other books. I thought no I’ll just wait and read it later. Then I thought, no it’s Harlan Coben, it will go fast and it will be great! I was right on both counts.

This is the 19th book I’ve read in 2014.  if I can finish to more before the end of the month I’ll be averaging 3 books a month. That will be a great recovery considering the way that the year started!! It is also the 19th Harlan Coben book that is one my Goodreads bookshelf. And they all are good reads!!!

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Ray Levine an ex-photojournalist, who has now fallen so far that he is taking pictures as a fake paparazzi. Ray visits the same abandoned iron mill in the New Jersey Pines every year on February 18th. On that date, seventeen years earlier his life came crashing down, when his girlfriend found an abusive customer, Stewart Green, who she knew from the strip club  where she worked, lying in a pool of blood along the path that Ray was now walking. She ran to protect herself – to protect Ray.

Megan Pierce was that girlfriend,back then she was “Cassie”, now she is a mother two living the suburban life, with a loving husband and two children, with a wanderlust for the “old life”. When the old bartender at the club appears and tells her she may have seen the old customer alive, and another man goes missing on the same day as Stewart Green, Megan is drawn back to Atlantic City to try to help the police solve the case. The detective on the case is Broome, he has been haunted by the case since it happened, wanting to help the widow Green find closure. All three are drawn into the story woven from the mind of Harlan Coben in his latest novel Stay Close , book number 26 for 2012! Like most of Coben’s books this one is a page turner, the characters are well drawn and are three people living lives they never wanted, hiding secrets that even the closest to them would never suspect.

Coben writes with wit and irony, and his flair for exposing the frail balance point between order and chaos in our lives has never been stronger than in this suspenseful outing.- Publishers Weekly

Here is an interview from the Today Show with Al Roker and Harlan discussing Stay Close. The best news from this clip is that Harlan is working on adaptations of  both Tell No One and Stay Close. I can’t wait. If you’ve never read Harlan Coben, this is a good one to start with, actually, any of his books are great reads!!

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Live Wire – Harlan Coben (Myron Bolitar #10)

 Live Wire by Harlan Coben.starts when  Suzze T a former tennis star and client visits Myron and asks him to find an anonymous Facebook member, The Facebook member  left a post questioning the paternity of her unborn child. She also wants Myron to find her husband Lex Rider. Rider is also one of Myron’s clients.He is a member of the famous rock band HorsePowe. Horsepower is  fronted by, the looks to die for, but reclusive, Gabriel Wire. Suzze tells Myron that Lex ran off after seeing the post.

When Myron finds Lex he also finds someone he wasn’t looking for: his sister-in-law Kitty Bolitar. Kitty and Myron’s brother Brad are estranged from the Bolitar family. They ran off years ago and now live a nomadic life roaming the world. As the story unwinds Myron, Kitty and Suzze and Lex’s lives becomes entwined. As everyone faces lies  they’ve told, that have upset their world! Myron is also confronted with his past and sometimes doesn’t like what he sees!

Thoughts about Live Wire

Live Wire is a fast paced read with lots of twists and turns. The conclusion left me a little misty eyed! I love the characters in the Bolitar book’s: Myron, and his best friend Win. along with his business partner Esperanza and receptionist Big Cindi. Add to these characters Myron’s parents Al and Ellen and his nephew Mickey, throw some gangsters the Ache brothers and hit man Evan Crisp, stir up their lives, and what you have is a great book. I don’t know whether you want to pick up the series at Book 10 but I think you could and still enjoy it!

The book also sets the stage for Coben’s first young adult book Shelter which will be released in September. So check it out!

As for me I’m off to the wilds of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula  via  Steve Hamilton’s new Alex McKnight novel Misery Bay. It’s the first McKnight novel since 2006’s A Stolen Season!

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