The Woods
Free Book Review

Free Book Review: The Woods Book Summary

Paul Copeland's life has been touched by extreme tragedy more than once. From the time his sister Camille was supposedly murdered at summer camp, to his mother running away leaving him and his father behind, and most recently his wife dying of cancer, Cope's no stranger to heartache and loss. When Gil Perez's body, the boy who was supposed to have died with his sister eighteen years ago, turns up all of the sudden Cope's past is brought front and center.

While his personal life is falling apart he is also in the process of defending a young black girl in a very high profile rape case. Dragging his past back out into the open even further is EJ Jenrette, the father of the son Cope is trying to lock up for the disturbing rape of Chamique Johnson.

To add more intrigue to the mix, his first love Lucy wants to see him again after twenty years of no contact. Her father ran the summer camp where Cope's sister died and her family has also been destroyed albeit in a much different way as they were blamed for the crime. Seems that Lucy has also been receiving mysterious innuendos that somebody knows who she is and is after the truth of what really happened that night.

With an ending that is impossible to predict, Cope's past, for better or for worse, is about to be exposed and there is no end to the shocking secrets that will be revealed.

Free Book Review: The Woods Opinion

Harlan Coben is an absolute genius. He takes the suspense novel to a whole level in The Woods. From the first moment when Cope recognizes the scar on Gil Perez's arm to a startling revelation that changes his life right at the end, this is no ordinary mystery.

The thing that sets this book apart from other's in it's genre is the fact that it's not just a blood and guts murder story. It's not just your typical rape case that the good guys are trying to win. It's not a stereotypical mobster tale. It's a little bit of all these things but the heart of the story lies much deeper. It's about how far a parent will go to protect their child. It's about how one small, seemingly insignificant decision, can change the course of our whole lives. And mostly it's about how the actions of one person, like the ripples on a lake, affect and touch all the lives of the people around them.

As if the reader is not already completely impressed by Coben's writing, he weaves in plenty of characters - both primary and secondary - that are wholly 3-dimensional. You love some, you hate some, you feel sorry for some, you get so angry at some you actually shout at the book, whatever the emotion may be, it's strong. I doubt you'll come across a character in this book that you don't care about or don't remember. It can be as small as the pity you feel for Jerry Flynn's role in Chamique's rape or as large as the disgust you feel for Wayne Steubens once the truth comes out, the point is, Coben does an excellent job of making us feel our way through this story.

I have gone on and read three more of Coben's books (and I plan to read all the rest!) and each one has been better than the next. There are some themes that keep popping up (a past crime resurfacing being the most major so if you're a Cold Case fan you'll love this author) and each time Coben proves that he is a master of his craft.

Free Book Review: The Woods Discussion Questions

1. Would you do anything, right or wrong, to protect your child?
2. How far can pain push a man?
3. Are people like Wayne Steubens a product of their environment or are they born that way?

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