The Woods

I haven't read many books recently (thanks to my manga obsession) but this was a really great, if somewhat predictable thriller!

This is my 3rd Harlan Coben book. I had a similar experience as the books before i.e. A DECENT Thriller. The major advantage of Harlan Coben's books is that they keep you interested from the very first chapter and are very easy to read. The disadvantage is the characters and it's a very forgettable story. Mind you, I am not someone who looks for unique or interesting characters when reading a Thriller book, but the characters in Harlen Corben's books are too lame and boring for me to care anything for them. They are not clever either. It is just the narrative that keeps you interested.

Coming to this particular book, as usual, starts out very interesting but slows down as the book progresses(One reason is the courtroom subplot). I thought I would end up giving a 2.5 stars but the climax is good/decent enough for me to push it up to 3. (Complaint 1)One thing that irritated me was the ML doing almost nothing except going from place to place and flashing his prosecutor ID at people's faces to get the information out of them. He does nothing to uncover the truth. Most of the information/investigation is given to him by his PA. (Complaint 2) I felt the subplots(KGB Russia and courtroom case) used as threads to complete the main plot were forced. They didn't seem organic.

Suggestion: If you are someone who is OK with absurd/ suspension of disbelief and looking for some quick, easy read, you can give this a try.

PS(slight spoilers)
After reading three Harlen Coben books, I realized that the surprise/shock factor he uses at the beginning of the book to keep us interested is almost the same( Bringing back someone who is presumed to be dead)

A county prosecutor's complicated past is dug up, during a trial involving a loaded defendant.

Engaging writing as far as thrillers are concerned.
Humor✅️
Not too macho, lots of practical women ✅️
For some reason all women are hot. It felt a little unnecessary, to mention how his jaw dropped every time. Anyway feminine beauty is art for him. So, it's... fine. I guess.

You do see some of the twists coming earlier in the story, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable.

A good light read.

This is the first book I have read by this author but it definitely won't be the last. Wow. Amazing.

This was a quick read although nothing special. I was expecting more suspense and maybe a bit more creepiness compared to court-room drama, sleuthing and inconsequential - almost random - KGB old boys. It felt a bit drawn out and slow-paced with no shock reveals to speak of. As the Goodreads ratings say “it was OK”.

What irked me most was that it felt at times as if the author, through these characters, was trying to justify things like toxic masculinity, objectification of women, xenophobia and other such things. That grated on me because not only was it a bit gross, trying to rationalise objectionable behaviour (including the far-right), but also utterly unnecessary; it added nothing to the story so only seemed to be there for the author to moan about ‘political correctness'. While I tried to ignore these sections and get on with the story, it has certainly put me off reading more of Coben's work in the future.

Interesting but not as involving as the previous books I've read by him.

So. I read suspense / mystery stories while I exercise on a stationary bike. I try to pick books that won't require 100% concentration on my part nor a dictionary close by. However, the books do need to be suspenseful and keep me going through my horrible exercise experience because I hate rigorous exercise.

This book was intense. The author is absolutely masterful at peeling back the layers of the story in a way that makes me look forward to exercise, and that is not easy and not accomplished often by the suspense books I choose to read. 5 stars for that.

3 stars in looking back on the story overall. The ending did not have the oomph I was hoping for, the big crescendo reveal was not as awesome as the leading story would have me believe. Still, I don't read a book solely for the ending, that's silly. The destination is not the main point of the read for me, but it is still important. The main character was very unsympathetic to me, but there were some other fun or intriguing characters to make up for that.

I average to get 4 stars overall. I will be checking out many more of Mr. Coben's standalone suspense novels (I've read one Myron Bolitar book, haven't felt compelled to read another yet). Most of all, I love that I looked forward to exercise because it meant I would get to read another 50 pages of this book.

Some of the twists were a little predictable, but I still immensely enjoyed this Coben. Would of liked to seen more from his Russian ‘uncle' but it wasn't to be, perhaps he will feature in his own story sometime? Loren Muse has been in a few now, so can she have her own series or at least a headline act.