Publication
Detroit : Thomson Gale, 2007
Collection
Call number
Large Print Fiction C
Physical description
588 p.; 22 cm
Status
Available
Call number
Description
Twenty years ago, four teenagers at summer camp walked into the woods at night. Two were found murdered, and the others were never seen again. Four families had their lives changed forever. Now, two decades later, they are about to change again. For county prosecutor Paul Copeland, mourning the loss of his sister has only recently begun to subside. Balancing family life and a rapidly ascending career distracts him from his past traumas, but only for so long. When a homicide victim is found with evidence linking him to Cope, the well-buried family secrets are threatened. Is this victim one of the campers who disappeared with his sister? Could his sister be alive? Cope has to confront so much he left behind that summer--he must decide what is better left hidden in the dark and what truths can be brought to the light.--From publisher description.… (more)
Genres
User reviews
LibraryThing member SugarCreekRanch
Suspense/thriller with more depth and richer characters than average. The main story revolves around a summer camp killing from years ago; a new murder reveals that some of the assumed-murdered campers may have actually survived. Another plot line is a courtroom drama regarding a rape at a
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fraternity house. Good pacing, entertaining read. This was my first Harlan Coben, but it won't be my last. Show Less
LibraryThing member klarsenmd
This was a good suspense/ crime story with believable characters and interesting twists.
LibraryThing member Dunsh01
The Woods was recommended to me by another Harlan Coben fan. Without a doubt this has to my favourite so far out of the seven I have read.
I keep thinking I'm going to get sick of the same formula Coben weaves through all his stories.. murder, betrayal, twist. But I get sucked in every time. It
In true Coben fashion, this is a fast paced, page turner that is hard to put down. It's not pretentious, it's not literary, its just good old fashioned, strap on your belts for a ride, easy weekend reading. (I suggest weekend because you'll end up reading all night).
As other reviewers have pointed out... scenes are corny, characters are not necessarily well developed (but are likable - or unlikable - enough) and at times the writing isn't even all that great, though not bad enough to distract you from the story.
But as I said - Coben is not pretending to be Dickens. But he is a master of story telling. And like most of his books, "the Woods" packs a great story. If you enjoy fast paced thrillers and suspense, twists that are hard to pick, then you should enjoy this offering from Coben.
I keep thinking I'm going to get sick of the same formula Coben weaves through all his stories.. murder, betrayal, twist. But I get sucked in every time. It
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really is starting to impact on sleeptime!In true Coben fashion, this is a fast paced, page turner that is hard to put down. It's not pretentious, it's not literary, its just good old fashioned, strap on your belts for a ride, easy weekend reading. (I suggest weekend because you'll end up reading all night).
As other reviewers have pointed out... scenes are corny, characters are not necessarily well developed (but are likable - or unlikable - enough) and at times the writing isn't even all that great, though not bad enough to distract you from the story.
But as I said - Coben is not pretending to be Dickens. But he is a master of story telling. And like most of his books, "the Woods" packs a great story. If you enjoy fast paced thrillers and suspense, twists that are hard to pick, then you should enjoy this offering from Coben.
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LibraryThing member readingrat
Another entertaining mystery from Coben.
LibraryThing member thekoolaidmom
What can I say but WOW! Harlan Coben is an excellent writer! He is easy to read, funny, and great at spinning a mystery. As a novice writer, I marvel at his skill and word choices!
In "The Woods," Essex County Prosecutor Paul Copeland, Cope to his friends, balances a high-profile rape trial where he
But when Paul is called in to identify a murder victim who has Cope's name in his pocket, he is shocked to find it is the missing camper 20 years older. He is sent headlong into a quest to find the truth of what really happened that night, and what about his sister?
What he finds, though, is that the truth is far more complicated than he imagined, and sometimes the dead is better left buried.
In "The Woods," Essex County Prosecutor Paul Copeland, Cope to his friends, balances a high-profile rape trial where he
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is being pressured by the wealthy father of the defendant with his desperate need to solve the 20 year old question of what happened to his sister. As a camp counselor, Cope was on guard duty when his sister, along with four other campers, were murdered by a serial killer later imaginatively dubbed the "Summer Slasher" by the press. Two bodies were found, two, one being his sister, were never located. But when Paul is called in to identify a murder victim who has Cope's name in his pocket, he is shocked to find it is the missing camper 20 years older. He is sent headlong into a quest to find the truth of what really happened that night, and what about his sister?
What he finds, though, is that the truth is far more complicated than he imagined, and sometimes the dead is better left buried.
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LibraryThing member edwardsgt
Another excellent story by the master, which has you reading and reading until you finish it. As usual the story is set in and around Newark and relates to something which happened in someone's past, in this case Paul Copeland, a County Prosecutor. Someone appears in Paul's life to reawaken the
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events of 20 years ago at summer camp, when his sister disappeared and two people were murdered. The characters are well-drawn and the plot believable, as layers of onion skin are unpeeled about the past and your attention is held as twist follows twist. Dialogue is Coben's forte and this shows his usual humour running through it, whilst dealing with serious issues and plots. Interesting references to a couple of characters from the Myron Bolitar series, see if you can spot them! Show Less
LibraryThing member hwphoto
This book grabs you from the first page and never lets up! Just when you think you have the slightest idea what happened, the author throws in another twist to make it even more interesting. The author makes it very easy to feel the main character's emotional state throughout the story. The main
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character is very likable and has a witty sense of humor. Show Less
LibraryThing member smik
Paul Copeland, county prosecutor for Essex in New Jersey, has had an emotional roller coaster of a life. Right now he is the only immediate family his six year old daughter Cara has. Her mother died of cancer 5 years ago. Paul comes from Russian immigrant parents and recently his father died. But
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Paul's family was shattered twenty years ago when he and his sister Camille were on a holiday camp and Camille disappeared. Camille and three friends went into the woods near the camp at night. Two were found murdered but Camille and one of the boys were never found. Paul remembers that his father used to spend time searching the woods, digging for his sister's body. Now Paul recognises a murder victim as the boy who disappeared. So where is his sister? Is she still alive? An excellent read, that keeps you guessing until the final pages. Show Less
LibraryThing member ATechwreck
Excellent, can't put down mystery. Paul Copeland is a Prosecuter in NJ working on a big case involving wealthy college students raping an African-American stripper (think Duke)As the case progresses, event happen that reopen the murder of Paul's sister and 2 campmates twenty years earlier.
LibraryThing member Bookmarque
Typical of a stand-alone Coben, this novel grabs you right away and sucks you in, making you want to skip work to finish it. Hints about long-past secrets and crimes tantalize and the momentum doesn’t let up. The plot, too, is juicy and intricate, if a touch hackneyed. He does a good job of
Plot aside, I have to talk about Paul. As a character he didn't work for me. No one that nicey-nice would ever make it as a prosecutor. He's too bland. He's too namby-pamby. I didn't buy it or him. Lucy was preferable. She seemed much closer to reality than he did with his perfectly aggrieved facade and blithely unconnected love for his kid. And what is with that inner monologue? NO ONE talks like that or thinks like that. Yuck.
The hackneyed part is more of a horror movie cliché than a novel formula. Horny teenagers get killed while at summer camp. Two survive, but are semi-witness to the crimes. Two are missing presumed dead, and two are surely dead, the bodies found mutilated in the woods. The two who survive part ways and have adult ‘what if’ fantasies about each other for the rest of their lives. One has never married, and Paul Copeland is a widower. Not much doubt that they will reconnect after all is said and done.
Actually, that is one part that I got wrong. I knew that Lucy must have had something to do with the killer. Exactly why was she so insistent that Paul join her in the woods on that particular night? She had to have a purpose, but how sinister was a mystery. In the end, Paul puzzles it out and confronts her with it in, of all places, the original woods. He leaves her there and heads for the car to wait for her to come out. If she will. That’s where it ends. Ambiguous endings are nice.
What led up to it was not ambiguous much at all. There was some cover-up and lying when Paul first suspected that the fresh corpse that turned up was really the supposed victim of the attacks in the woods. His parents denied it, but he pushed. The cops pushed back. Eventually, it was proved that the 30-something dead guy was one of the presumed dead kids. Did that mean that Paul’s sister was alive, too?
Nothing stellar, prose-wise, but plot-wise there was a lot and it all fit together quite nicely. Convolutions abound with tales of KGB-sanctioned spying done by his Russian émigré parents. Cover-ups and lies by “Uncle Sosh”, Russian Mafia big-wig about Paul’s run-away mother. A Duke lacrosse style rape case for Paul to prosecute in the face of really pissed off and powerful dads. Unexpected ‘diary’ submitted to Lucy as a student’s work which tells the tale of the night the kids were killed within earshot of Paul and Lucy’s tryst. Lucy’s superannuated hippy father, living in a fugue state, still convinced it’s the 60s. Well done and a lot of fun.
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keeping the reader feeling a bit smarter than the average. At least that’s how I felt when I figured out a piece of the puzzle, or knew when some event would take place. Not that I figured out all of it. Coben didn’t want me to and I didn’t.Plot aside, I have to talk about Paul. As a character he didn't work for me. No one that nicey-nice would ever make it as a prosecutor. He's too bland. He's too namby-pamby. I didn't buy it or him. Lucy was preferable. She seemed much closer to reality than he did with his perfectly aggrieved facade and blithely unconnected love for his kid. And what is with that inner monologue? NO ONE talks like that or thinks like that. Yuck.
The hackneyed part is more of a horror movie cliché than a novel formula. Horny teenagers get killed while at summer camp. Two survive, but are semi-witness to the crimes. Two are missing presumed dead, and two are surely dead, the bodies found mutilated in the woods. The two who survive part ways and have adult ‘what if’ fantasies about each other for the rest of their lives. One has never married, and Paul Copeland is a widower. Not much doubt that they will reconnect after all is said and done.
Actually, that is one part that I got wrong. I knew that Lucy must have had something to do with the killer. Exactly why was she so insistent that Paul join her in the woods on that particular night? She had to have a purpose, but how sinister was a mystery. In the end, Paul puzzles it out and confronts her with it in, of all places, the original woods. He leaves her there and heads for the car to wait for her to come out. If she will. That’s where it ends. Ambiguous endings are nice.
What led up to it was not ambiguous much at all. There was some cover-up and lying when Paul first suspected that the fresh corpse that turned up was really the supposed victim of the attacks in the woods. His parents denied it, but he pushed. The cops pushed back. Eventually, it was proved that the 30-something dead guy was one of the presumed dead kids. Did that mean that Paul’s sister was alive, too?
Nothing stellar, prose-wise, but plot-wise there was a lot and it all fit together quite nicely. Convolutions abound with tales of KGB-sanctioned spying done by his Russian émigré parents. Cover-ups and lies by “Uncle Sosh”, Russian Mafia big-wig about Paul’s run-away mother. A Duke lacrosse style rape case for Paul to prosecute in the face of really pissed off and powerful dads. Unexpected ‘diary’ submitted to Lucy as a student’s work which tells the tale of the night the kids were killed within earshot of Paul and Lucy’s tryst. Lucy’s superannuated hippy father, living in a fugue state, still convinced it’s the 60s. Well done and a lot of fun.
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LibraryThing member twotays
Typical Coben, you don't know what is going on till the end, good twists. Good Mystery.
LibraryThing member branchhead
one of those books that you wish would not end - county prosecutor mourns the death of his sister at summer camp many years before...a long lost love comes back into his life...russian spies...where is his mother, who disappeared years ago...who killed the kids at summer camp, was it the serial
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killer now in prison...ties in with a case currently in court - black girl raped by 2 white rich guys. Show Less
LibraryThing member 23eris
I really do try to branch out sometimes, but this was another book that I wouldn't have bothered actually reading, but it was mostly acceptable as a recorded book that I listened to as a captive audience. Every time I started thinking about the story line, I was able to predict exactly what was
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going to happen next. So I simply stopped thinking, which did make it more enjoyable. Show Less
LibraryThing member ajpohren
Paul Copeland is a county prosecutor in Essex, New Jersey. He is a widower and father to a delightful six year old daughter. His life, once seemingly on a track, takes a huge detour, as the horror of one blood filled night comes back to haunt him, after 20 years.
Twenty years ago, four young teens
A homicide victim shows up and on him he is carrying information on Paul. Two detectives show up, questioning Paul and take him to the body. Once he sees the body, Paul realizes that it is Gil, one of the campers that was never found. Could this possibly mean that his sister survived that terrible night too?
This leads Paul on a search to find answers - answers some do not want figured out. Along the way, he is reunited with his first love, Lucy, who had been with him on that night twenty years ago and whom he had not seen since. Lucy is also haunted by the past and together she and Paul try to reconcile guilt and find out what truly happened in those woods so long ago.
While filled with the twists and turns that Harlan Coben is so well known for, this was a great read. I have to say that the end did not leave me with that "wow factor" that many of his previous novels have left me with. However, The Woods was a hard to put down and enjoyable novel that I would recommend to anyone looking for a great suspense story!
Twenty years ago, four young teens
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went into the woods during a stay at summer camp, and those four never came back out. Two were found dead and two never discovered - one being Paul's sister, Camille. Until now, Paul had never had reason to believe his sister made it out of those woods alive. A homicide victim shows up and on him he is carrying information on Paul. Two detectives show up, questioning Paul and take him to the body. Once he sees the body, Paul realizes that it is Gil, one of the campers that was never found. Could this possibly mean that his sister survived that terrible night too?
This leads Paul on a search to find answers - answers some do not want figured out. Along the way, he is reunited with his first love, Lucy, who had been with him on that night twenty years ago and whom he had not seen since. Lucy is also haunted by the past and together she and Paul try to reconcile guilt and find out what truly happened in those woods so long ago.
While filled with the twists and turns that Harlan Coben is so well known for, this was a great read. I have to say that the end did not leave me with that "wow factor" that many of his previous novels have left me with. However, The Woods was a hard to put down and enjoyable novel that I would recommend to anyone looking for a great suspense story!
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LibraryThing member BookerKids
Excellent read with suspense propelling every chapter. Paul, a prosectutor comes into contact with a man from his past that was believed to have been killed 20 years earlier. This strikes up the mystery of if Pauls missing sister could possibly be alive and he goes on a search to find out what
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really happened that one frightful night in camp. He wants to solve the mystery of the open case. Show Less
LibraryThing member Scrabblenut
The Woods is a great murder mystery, with complex characters and lots of surprising developments. An entertaining read.
LibraryThing member misfev
Great suspense novel from Harlan Coben about a man who is searching for what happened at a summer camp in the woods 20 years ago. I really like all of Mr. Coben's books, I think he has just the right amount of twists and turns and he can always keep you guessing. The Woods is now one of my
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favorites! Show Less
LibraryThing member nakmeister
A good, pacy thriller of novel. Possibly not quite as good as another of Coben's books, Tell No One, but still very good. I wonder though how many books he can write about family secrets going back years that come back to haunt the blissfully unaware main character years later!
LibraryThing member MonicaLynn
Awsome as usual. With his usual twists and turns it is a great read.
LibraryThing member PermaSwooned
Harlan Coben writes a great mystery. I love the ones that feature Myron Bolivar, but this is more of a stand alone. I think Paul Copeland may have appeared in a book before, and I know that Cingle Shaker, the knockout private-eye has been in one or two of his books, but for the most part, this
He is currently prosecuting 2 frat boys for raping a girl who gets by stripping and other activities. The very powerful father of one of the boys proceeds to try to dig up dirt on Paul to make him drop the case. This digs up the 20 year old murder/disappearance of his sister. Some of the things in the story seem a bit improbable to me, but you forgive Mr. Coben because it's such a good read. I'm passing this one on to my son, who is now a fan as well.
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breaks new ground.He is currently prosecuting 2 frat boys for raping a girl who gets by stripping and other activities. The very powerful father of one of the boys proceeds to try to dig up dirt on Paul to make him drop the case. This digs up the 20 year old murder/disappearance of his sister. Some of the things in the story seem a bit improbable to me, but you forgive Mr. Coben because it's such a good read. I'm passing this one on to my son, who is now a fan as well.
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LibraryThing member KPW
No red herrings in Coben's books. One of his best mysteries.
LibraryThing member redmondson
Quick read that was easy to get into. Didn't figure out all the twists ahead of time.
LibraryThing member litelady-ajh
Great book! Lots of twists & turns. Of course, you don't know the whole story until the last couple of pages.
LibraryThing member Grandeplease
The tale was a little uncomfortable to read because it deals with children and a summer camp. It kept me on the edge of my seat.
Read and enjoy.
Stop reading reviews, because you are taking a very real chance of having some of the thrill spoiled . . .
Read and enjoy.
Stop reading reviews, because you are taking a very real chance of having some of the thrill spoiled . . .
LibraryThing member miyurose
I'm very glad I didn't give up on Harlan Coben after my first mediocre experience with him. This was great. I really enjoy Coben's conversational narration style. The only thing missing for me is that I would have liked to learn more about Paul's sister (and if you read the book, I think you'll
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know what I mean). Show Less
Awards
Crime Writers' Association Awards (Shortlist — 2007)
Language
Original publication date
2007
ISBN
9781594132438