The Woods by Harlan Coben

TITLE: THE WOODS
AUTHOR: HARLAN COBEN
GENRE: ACTION/SUSPENSE
RATING: 5 STARS

The other day I was looking for something new to read. I asked for suggestions from friends, stating that I really wanting a mystery/suspense novel. Someone mentioned trying out Harlan Coben. Well, I've never read any of his books before, although I have seen them from time to time at the book store. One of the few that I could easily get my hands on right away was The Woods. I was immediately hooked!

The protagonist is Paul Copeland. 20 years ago, at summer camp, his sister and 3 other teens all snuck into the woods at night. The next day 2 of them were found dead. Paul's sister and one other teen were never found again, although some of their clothing was found. Paul has never really gotten over the events. How can you ever truly move on if you never find the body? There is always that small seed of hope.  Some unexpected events cause him to start looking into the past, and Paul's life and emotions are taken on a wild ride.

I was hooked on this book from beginning to end. When you read a lot of mysteries, sometimes you can predict what the outcome of a particular book is. For this book, I never would have guessed it! There were so many fantastic twists and turns that the book took! And even after everything is over, and you think that you have learned it all, one last bombshell is dropped! I loved that Coben ended the book not telling us how that particular piece of information would affect everyone in the long run. This was a phenomenal story and I have ever intention of picking up another Coben novel! Loved it!