Have we mentioned how much of a genius Harlan Coben is yet? Case in point... "The Woods", a fantastic thriller.[BR]The Woods, Coben''s "green-covered" book is amazing, had me hooked and is really one you won''t be able to put down. When you read it lying down and tell yourself "okay, one last page", forcing yourself to sit up will be harder than ever.[BR]
Paul Copeland is a brilliant country prosecutor with a razor sharp tongue and an incredibly successful career. During the trial of Copeland''s life, the trial of his career - his past comes back to haunt him. [BR]20 years ago, right after Copeland''s family immigrated to the States, they went went to work at a summer camp near a large forest in Sherman Lake. Copeland''s father was the camp''s doctor after having been out of work for years, given the Americans'' treatment of immigrants. Ira, the camp''s owner and the father of Lucy (about whom we shall elaborate shortly) is a kind, graceful person who roots for the freedom of love and mind. Lucy, his daughter, is Copeland''s love, a beautiful and smart girl. Copeland''s sister, Camille, who was around his age, had a boyfriend and along with another pair of friends she went into the woods that night to fool around... just a bunch of teenagers in love. [BR]But that night wasn''t about fooling around at all. Copeland, too, went into the forest that night, to be alone with Lucy - when he was supposed to be watching over the other kids to make sure they wouldn''t do exactly that.
[BR]The terrors that took place in the forest that night were discovered the next morning - two bodies were found, and another two were gone. Copeland lost his sister, whose body was never found. He and Lucy never saw each other again. His parents got divorced, his mother disappeared, and his father passed away - most likely due to hearbreak and self-destruction. [BR]What happened to the four young campers that night? How did Lucy come back into Copeland''s life, and what information does she have? How will Copeland deal with the new facts, 20 years later? And most importantly, what really happened in the woods?[BR]
This is an outstanding story, written as suspensfully as only Coben can. I was highly excited by "The Woods" and very much recommend it. Other Coben novels I''d recommend are "Gone For Good", "Just One Look" and "Tell No One", but those are a whole different story.[BR]Read "The Woods" - it''ll be enlightening, it''ll be scary... and it''ll be fun.