The Woods (Hardcover)

by Harlan Coben (Author)
Key Phrases: Gil Perez, Manolo Santiago, Wayne Steubens (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
At the start of this disappointing stand-alone from bestseller Coben (Promise Me), Paul "Cope" Copeland, acting county prosecutor for Essex County, N.J., and Lucy Gold, his long-lost summer camp love, are still haunted by a fateful night, decades earlier, when their nighttime tryst allowed some younger campers, including Cope's sister, to venture into the nearby forest, where they apparently fell victim to the Summer Slasher, a serial killer. Cope's intense focus on a high-profile rape prosecution of some wealthy college students shifts after one of the Slasher's victims, whose body was never found, turns up as a recent corpse in Manhattan, casting doubt on the official theory of the old case. Cope's own actions on that night again come under scrutiny, even as the highly placed fathers of the men he's prosecuting work to unearth as many skeletons as possible to pressure him into dropping the rape case. Less than compelling characters fail to compensate for a host of implausibilities. Hopefully, Coben will return to form with his next book. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Bookmarks Magazine
In this stand-alone legal thriller, Harlan Coben presents a riveting courtroom drama, creates riveting players, and delves into family secrets, love, loss, mistakes, and betrayal. A few critics noted that while The Woods falls into Coben's typical formula—a past crime affects innocent people in the present—it still comes off as fresh. The trial scenes, Cope's ruminations on what really happened that night, and the back-and-forth narration are particularly well done. Only the Washington Post faulted the novel's cheap thrills, improbable revelations, and awkward conclusion. Nevertheless, few readers will remain unaffected by its emotional heft.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult (April 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525950125
• ISBN-13: 978-0525950127
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (202 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #60,469 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #36 in

  Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Authors, A-Z > ( C ) > Coben, Harlan

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 4 1/2 Stars...Soft-Hearted, Shallower, Suspenseful, June 3, 2007

By	Eric Wilson "novelist" (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

With "The Woods," Coben proves again to be one of the most consistent thriller writers around. This is familiar territory, with familiar themes and characters (even a few carryovers from previous stories), and yet Coben manages to connect with us on emotional and intellectual levels.

Twenty years earlier, the Copeland family dealt with a horrific situation involving the woods surrounding a summer camp. Now, one of the original homicide victims has resurfaced--with a different name and hints that he survived. Paul Copeland finds himself dragged back into the anguish of that dreadful evening. Not only did he lose his sister, he lost real connection with his parents, due to their grief. As he explores the widening mysteries, he is faced to confront hard truths about each and every person he has loved.

As always, Coben mixes suspense, mystery, subplots, and twists, with themes of family and loyalty and loss. "The Woods" is a fast read. Although a bit shallower on some levels than "Gone for Good" or "Tell No One," this story still gives us more reason to care than many other thrillers out there. Coben's soft heart comes through once again--and for that, I'll keep coming back.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great writing, but some of the plot is "out there", January 26, 2008

By	Linda Bulger (Avon, Maine) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Originality is always a prized quality in a novel, but sometimes you just need a predictable, unchallenging, fast-food sort of book for a hectic time. That's when I turn to the "thrillers" shelf and writers like Harlan Coben.

"The Woods" is the story of Essex County Prosecutor Paul Copeland and his twenty-year-old family tragedy. His sister, Camille, and three other campers went into the woods one summer night; two bodies were found, but not his sister's. The tragedy tore Paul's family apart, and he never came to terms with his role as the camp counselor who should have been keeping watch.

When the other missing camper turns up dead -- but recently so -- Paul's world spins out of control again. He's embroiled in the rape trial of two fraternity boys and their families will do anything to keep the boys out of prison. The threat to Paul's family and career is vicious -- unrealistically so, I thought, but maybe I'm naive in the wicked ways of the world.

Coben writes with a satisfying assurance and the characters are reasonably well-defined, though the women are strangely stereotyped and hard to know. Paul Copeland moves plausibly through the well-paced story. While I didn't care passionately about his outcome, I did wish him well -- assuming that everything would be happily resolved, as it usually is in this type of book. Coben surprised me with an ambiguous ending, which I considered to be a good thing.

The complicated plot is developed and wrapped up well, a real strength of this book, though there are some elements that fit poorly in the story. Specifically, I wish he had downplayed or eliminated the brutal tactics of the accused boys' families; the stunning private investigator posing as the dead man's girlfriend; the brain-fried ex-hippie; and especially the KGB retrospective. The KGB connection should not, in my opinion, have been written into the plot; it was the jarring element for me.

I also would have preferred more development of a story line with Paul's sister-in-law and her husband, accused of embezzling from a charity in the name of Paul's late wife. Paul seems to have given that situation less attention than expected.

In spite of the shortcomings of the plot, I did enjoy Coben's smooth, satisfying writing and the effective flow of the story -- and the way "The Woods" represents the genre. I knew Coben's work only by reputation, and I would read another for the pleasure of his writing style.

For those strong pluses, and considering this book against others of its type, I am going with four stars.

Linda Bulger, 2008

24 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ordinary people with extraordinary secretes. . ., April 20, 2007

By	Fred Black "Black Beard" (Florida) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Just started reading Coben recently; I had recommended "Tourist in the Yucatan" to a friend. He already read "Tourist" and recommended I should also like Coben as thier styles were similar. Well, I took my friends advice and have become a big Harlen Coben fan! I like the way Coben takes seemingly ordinary people and then puts them in extraordinary circumstances. I think it makes for a much better thriller than the typical world weary cops and detectives or the super-human antics of some of the genre's characters. With Coben we real people in unreal or terrifying situations and that makes it seem all the more real. He also knows how to create emotional connections between the reader and the characters.

In this one we have a county prosecutor who is pulled into reliving an old tragedy from his youth and his loss of innocense. The story is ultimately about redemption. If you are looking for a smart thriller that does not follow the rules, I highly recommend this book!