I’ve recently become a huge Harlan Coben fan, and my world stopped while I tore through an advanced copy of his latest.

THE BOY FROM THE WOODS is a fast-paced thriller overflowing with layers and twists, political power games and hits of humor, snappy dialogue and unique characters. (Who will forget the head of the private security detail pulling up in a minivan with her kids and the Wiggles playing on the radio?)

The story opens with a teen girl being bullied in her school assembly hall. When she disappears, one of her classmates turns to his Nana, Hester Crimstein, for help.

Hester is a 70-year-old criminal attorney with her own TV show, zero tolerance for BS, and a crush on the chief of police, whom she describes as “A grade-A prime slice of top-shelf beefcake.”

To find the missing teen, she ropes in Wilde, a highly trained ex-military dude with a murky and mysterious past, who was once her youngest son’s best buddy. No one, including Wilde, knows where he comes from, having been found feral as a child.  Although he has flashes of disturbing memories, he’s found peace as an outsider, living off the grid in his secluded ecocapsule.

Hester is full of fire and compassion; Wilde is outwardly calm and in control, but has some degree of OCD. I’m all about character, and I loved the interaction between these two unlikely friends as their quest to help one lost teenager becomes a roller coaster of unexpected events.

Add a wealthy family with well-guarded secrets and a manipulative presidential wannabe who deploys bots to muddy issues and uses the “fake news” battle cry, and this novel is one heck of a ride!

Pre-order it now and thank me in March.