Julie's Review: The Woods

Summary: 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. ~amazon.com

Review: Both my step-dad and dad read this and told me I would really like it and they were right. This book is an adventure in twists and turns. The main character, Paul Copeland is a good guy who made a mistake 20 years ago and that mistake haunts him to this day. 20 years ago there were 4 murders at a camp in "the woods" and Paul was there but it what capacity we aren't quite sure because teh story is told from his point of view. We have to take the story at face value and believe that he's telling us the truth. Of course Coben is really good at making us believe in Paul (or Cope as he's called throughout the novel) because he puts him in a position that typically earns respect...Prosecutor. There are several different story plots going on in The Woods. There's the current trial that Paul is prosecuting, the murders that happened years ago at the camp, his dad's history and what happened to Paul's mom. Early in the book and even towards the end I wondered how Mr. Coben was going to wrap it up in a nice bow, but he did so in a satisfying ending.

The characters are intriguing and very well rounded. You get a sense of who Paul and Lucy were 20 years ago and why they became who they are. I enjoyed how Paul's current trial wrapped into his past.

This is an very solid mystery thriller that keeps you guessing until the final pages and even keeps you guessing after you've finished it.

I will leave you with this last thought..."The sins of the father are to be laid upon the children." ~Merchant of Venice act III, sc. V, l. 1(Shakespeare)

Final Take: 4.0/5