The Woods

I disliked the last Harlan Coben book I read (Dealbreaker) so much, that I thought I had sworn him off as an author, but after flying from Seattle to Taipei and finishing both of my books that I had brought already, I found myself in a bookstore at the Taipei airport hoping to find anything that I could buy, in English, that I had heard of.

I hadn't heard of this book, but I had the author and took a risk and bought it.

I loved it! This is my absolute favorite kind of thriller.

A teenage son of Russian immigrants, Paul attends a summer camp where a horrible quadruple murder takes place, one of the victims being his older sister. Years later, following the death of his father, the abandonment of his mother, and his prosecution of two wealthy college boys accused of raping a black stripper (hmmmm....ripped from the headlines?), questions regarding those notorious past murders and the history of his own family arise. Paul is confronted with the ugliness of blackmail and bribery, a past love affair and his own role in the gruesome affairs of that long-ago summer.

Complicated with a likable person to cheer for, The Woods will keep you guessing and wondering page after page. It was the perfect travel book.

I think I'll give Coben another chance.