10 member(s) found this review helpful.
Coben does it again and ruins all my plans to run errands, cook, clean and grocery shop today. I could not put it down! I need to plan when to start a Coben better! And just when I thought I had it all figured out, whammy a sneak attack! Loved it, Loved it!

Sondra M. (
Skybird) wrote on 9/4/2008...
6 member(s) found this review helpful.
It's been a long time since I've read a book that was so captivating that I could not put it down! This is my first Harlan Coben book, but it won't be my last. His writing style is great, the book moves along at a good pace and never gets logged down in too many details or descriptions. The clues kept me guessing and going in several different directions, right up to the very end. I really enjoyed reading this book.
4 member(s) found this review helpful.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Promise which led me to try another book by this author. I can now say for sure that I am hooked. It was difficult to put the book down.
This book could be a little confusing because of the different story lines but they all come together in the end. Again, it's one of those stories when you think you've got it figured out only to be proved wrong.
Excellent author. I can't wait to read more of his books.
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
Paul Copeland is a county prosecutor raising his young daughter alone after the premature death of his beloved wife. Early in this novel, Paul recognizes a man brought into the morgue as a teenager believed to have been murdered 20 years earlier in the woods at camp. One of the other teenagers murdered that summer was Paul's sister. With this new evidence that some teenagers may have survived the murders, Paul attempts to unravel the mystery surrounding the disappearances in the hopes of finding out what happened to his own sister that summer night in the woods.
This was not my favorite Harlan Coben novel. As with all his books, The Woods is very plot driven and has minimal character development. But, even more so than his other novels, this one seemed immature. In the book, Paul's love for his daughter was superficial and forced, as was his attraction for his camp girlfriend with whom he reunites to solve the murder mystery. And, as the events played themselves out, the story began to seem a bit too far-fetched to me.
The Woods was a quick and easy read with a lot of action that kept the story moving. But, I have no doubt Harlan Coben took about the same amount of time to write the book as I did to read it.
It was fun, but forgettable.
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
County prosecutor Paul Copeland lost a lot of loved ones in his life: his sister was murdered 20 years ago, his mother left him and his father overnight, his wife died of cancer and recently his father died as well.
Raising his six-year-old daughter with the help of his sister-in-law he now faces an angry father who's son stands trial for the rape of a young stripper girl. The father promises to do everything possible to destroy Paul's life if his money offer isn't accepted and the plaintiff doesn't accept his money offer to spare his son jail.
On top of that the past reaches into the present when suddenly a long thought dead body surfaces. One who supposedly should have been dead for about 20 years - except that the dead body is fairly fresh.
20 years ago four teenagers were killed in the woods. Two bodies surfaced and two, including Paul's sister Camille, were never found. Now Paul's hope rises that his sister might have survived as well.
Something is going on - not only in Paul's life: 20 years ago Lucy Silverstein, now known as Lucy Gold, fell in love with Paul, the junior camp counselor in her father's camp. One night, the night that would change their lives forever. While Lucy and Paul were making out in the woods, four of the campers Paul was supposed to watch over, were killed in the very same woods.
Today, due to an assignment to her students, Lucy received an anonymous journal entry about the most traumatic event in their lives. Lucy is shocked to receive a journal entry describing the events in the woods, what she and Paul saw and never told to anyone. She reaches out to Paul, ripping open old but never really healed wounds.
Together they face the mystery of what really happened back then, who killed whom, who knows and ultimately: is it possible that Camille survived the tragedy as well ? And if yes, where is she ? Where does she hide ?
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What I like about Coben are his characters which almost always are believable and seem all to real. In all the stand alone Coben novels I've read or listened to, the main character could have been the beginning of a new series after the Myron Bolitar series hasn't been continued in a long time.
Coben knows how to do it: he spins a huge cobweb, with millions of different angles,
which meet in the middle to feast on the freshly caught fly.
The Woods exceeds the the readers expectations by far.
Thrilling and gripping from the beginning to the end.
Note:
Harlan Coben recently had his novel
Tell No One made into a movie. Visit the movie site
here.

Janette E. (
luvbooks) wrote on 5/12/2008...
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
Wow! A dynamite read! Twists and turns to keep you reading! No disappointment here!
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
This was a great book. It kept my interest so well that I read it in 2 days. Great reading!
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Never read this author before, but I'm really impressed. The book doesn't have much in the "passionate romance" category, and I missed that. However, it has more twists and curves than the Indianapolis 500. You NEVER know what's going to come up next. Nothing in the plot, and sub-plot and sub-sub-plot is predictable. It was difficult to put it down for even a minute. I read the 500 pages in less than 2 days! It all starts when the county prosecutor is pulled into a death case of a man from his past. He's convinced that this man accompanied his sister 20 years prior into the woods and both consequently disappeared. I highly recommend it. If you don't have time to read it, just read the first 30 pages. You'll make time!!
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
This is the first book by him that I have read and it will not be the last.
I could not put this book down it grabbed me from the start and didn't let go until the last page.

Karen A. (
karn818) - Melrose, MA wrote on 5/15/2008...
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Wow. My first Coben book & I was very pleasantly surprised. Characters are fantastic & the ploy twists & turns.. wonderful