Harlan Coben (Run Away) delivers yet again with The Boy from the Woods, a sweeping thriller of teen bullying, attorney-client privilege and secrets of the rich and powerful.
High-powered attorney Hester Crimstein gets a sudden visit from her grandson Matthew. He begs her to help find his missing classmate, Naomi, who was being bullied by rich and popular student Crash Maynard. Hester enlists Wilde--the titular boy now grown up and working as a private investigator--to find Naomi. Wilde quickly finds Naomi and discovers her "disappearance" was part of an elaborate prank by Crash and his friends.
They had convinced Naomi to go missing in exchange for the bullying to stop. She goes back to school, but the bullying intensifies. A distraught Naomi disappears again. No one takes it seriously except Wilde, a former outsider himself. This time, he can't find her. Wilde rushes to confront Crash, but Crash has gone missing as well; his parents, Dash and Delia Maynard, receive a ransom note. The wealthy Maynards think they are being targeted for their politics. They demand Hester and Wilde find their son before he's harmed. Wilde agrees to help because he thinks Crash's and Naomi's disappearances are connected. But will he be able to save both kids?
Fans of Coben's Myron Bolitar novels will recognize Hester Crimstein from her brief, applaud-worthy appearances. In this standalone, the author shows a softer Hester by explaining the bluster behind this formidable, no-nonsense attorney. In creating the role of Wilde, Coben introduces a reclusive and complicated hero extremely adept at solving mysteries--except for how and why he became "the boy from the woods." --Paul Dinh-McCrillis, freelance reviewer