Book ~ "I Will Find You" (2023) Harlan Coben

From Goodreads ~ David and Cheryl Burroughs were living the dream life when tragedy struck. Now, five years after that terrible night, Cheryl is remarried. And David is serving a life sentence in a maximum-security prison for the brutal murder of their son.

Then Cheryl’s sister, Rachel, arrives unexpectedly during visiting hours and drops a bombshell. She’s come with a photograph that a friend took on vacation at a theme park with a boy in the background who has a familiar, distinctive birthmark … and even though David and Rachel realize it can’t be, they both just know. It's David’s son, Matthew, and he's still alive.

David plans a harrowing escape from prison, determined to do what seems impossible - save his son, clear his own name, and discover the real story of what happened that devastating night.

While his wife, Cheryl, who is a doctor had been at work, David had a few too many drinks and passed out. He woke up to discover their three-year-old son, Matthew, bludgeoned to death in his bed. When a witness testifies she saw David burying a bat, which turns out to be the murder weapon and has his fingerprints, David is arrested and convicted and sent to prison for life.

Five years later, after refusing to see any visitors, Cheryl's sister, Rachel, visits him in prison. She brings along a recent picture of a boy she thinks may be Matthew. Convinced she is right, David breaks out of prison and they go on a quest to find out if Matthew is indeed alive and if he is, where he is and get him back.

I've read a few books by this author and thought this one was really convoluted and farfetched ... I've enjoyed others more. It's written in first person perspective in David's voice and third person perspective depending on where the action was. The FBI agents who investigate after David has broken out of prison are ridiculous and unprofessional ... I don't know if it was supposed to be humorous but I found them annoying and don't think they would be permitted to act that way. The ending comes together quickly and wasn't hard to see it coming about halfway through the book. As a head's up, there is swearing and violence.

Book ~ "The Boy From the Woods" (2020) Harlan Coben

From Goodreads ~ Thirty years ago, Wilde was found as a boy living feral in the woods, with no memory of his past. Now an adult, he still doesn't know where he comes from, and another child has gone missing.

No one seems to take Naomi Pine's disappearance seriously, not even her father - with one exception. Hester Crimstein, a television criminal attorney, knows through her grandson that Naomi was relentlessly bullied at school. Hester asks Wilde-with whom she shares a tragic connection-to use his unique skills to help find Naomi.

Wilde can't ignore an outcast in trouble but in order to find Naomi he must venture back into the community where he has never fit in, a place where the powerful are protected even when they harbor secrets that could destroy the lives of millions ... secrets that Wilde must uncover before it's too late.

When Wilde was young, he was found wandering around in the woods alone.  He didn't know his name or where he came from and was put in foster care.  He's lived his life basically as a loner, living in an eco-trailer in the words, though he is close to a few people including his teenage godson, Matthew; Matthew's mother, Laila (she is the widow of his best friend, David) and Hester, David's mother.  

Matthew becomes concerned when Naomi, one of his classmates who is constantly being bullied, disappears and he looks to his grandmother and Wilde for help in finding her.  Once she is found, she disappears again along with one of the more popular boys, whose family is rich.  There are rumours that they had run off together.  Or does it have something to do with a radical senator, who wants to be president, and the supposed tapes about him revealing a secret?

I've read a few books by this author and thought this one was okay.  There was a lot going on that seemed convoluted but it all came together in the end.  The book is written in third person perspective, with a focus on wherever the action was.  This is the first in the "Wilde" series ... I'd read the second one a couple weeks ago not knowing it was part of a series.  The second one worked as a stand alone but reading this first one explained a lot of the references in the second one.  As a head's up, there is swearing.

Book ~ "The Match" (2022) Harlan Coben

From Goodreads ~ Wilde has grown up knowing nothing of his family, and even less about his own identity . All he knows is that, as a young child, he was found living a feral existence in the Ramapo mountains of New Jersey.

He became known simply as Wilde, the boy from the woods.

Now Wilde has had a hit on the DNA website he has been researching. A 100% match. His father. They meet up, and Wilde soon realises that his father doesn't even know he had a son and is as mystified as Wilde is by his existence.

Undaunted, Wilde continues his research for his family on DNA websites where he becomes caught up in a community of online doxxers, a secret group committed to exposing anonymous trolls.

Then one by one these doxxers start to die, and it soon becomes clear that a serial killer is targeting this secret community - and that his next victim might be Wilde himself.

When Wilde was young, he was found wandering around in the woods alone.  He didn't know his name or where he came from and was put in foster care.  He's lived his life basically as a loner, living in an eco-trailer in the words, though he is close to a few people including his godson, Matthew; Matthew's mother, Laila (she is the widow of his best friend, David) and Hester, David's mother.  He is starting to get curious about where he came from so he sends his DNA to a site and gets a close match who he discovers is his father.  They meet and and rather than causing problems for his newly found father, he doesn't contact him again.

Wilde also gets a match to a second cousin named Peter.  Peter was on a reality show where he met his wife, Jenn, and they seemed like a perfect couple.  But then things came out about Peter and it seemed that he can't face them and disappeared ... everyone assumes he has committed suicide.  Wilde isn't sure he believes this, especially once people start getting murdered and Peter seems to be a key.

I've read a few books by this author and thought this one was okay.  There was a lot going on that seemed a bit convoluted but it all came together in the end.  The book is written in third person perspective, with a focus on wherever the action was.  It is in first person perspective in some chapters in the killer's voice.  This is the second in the "Wilde" series ... I didn't realize this when I started reading it.  It worked as a stand alone, though it would be helpful to have read the first one (which I will) because there were references to things that had happened in the past.  As a head's up, there is swearing.

Book ~ "Win" (2021) Harlan Coben

From Goodreads ~ Over twenty years ago, the heiress Patricia Lockwood was abducted during a robbery of her family's estate, then locked inside an isolated cabin for months. Patricia escaped but so did her captors - and the items stolen from her family were never recovered.

Until now. On the Upper West Side, a recluse is found murdered in his penthouse apartment, alongside two objects of note: a stolen Vermeer painting and a leather suitcase bearing the initials WHL3. For the first time in years, the authorities have a lead - not only on Patricia's kidnapping, but also on another FBI cold case - with the suitcase and painting both pointing them toward one man.

Windsor Horne Lockwood III - or Win, as his few friends call him - doesn't know how his suitcase and his family's stolen painting ended up with a dead man. But his interest is piqued, especially when the FBI tells him that the man who kidnapped his cousin was also behind an act of domestic terrorism - and that the conspirators may still be at large. The two cases have baffled the FBI for decades, but Win has three things the FBI doesn't: a personal connection to the case; an ungodly fortune; and his own unique brand of justice.

Win is a very rich man who is able to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, however he wants.  When a "hermit" is found dead in his penthouse apartment, Win wonders why the police contact him and take him to the man's apartment.  It soon becomes clear when Win sees a painting that had been stolen from his family more than twenty years ago along with a small suitcase that was given to him by an aunt.  

His uncle, Aldrich, had been murdered more than 20 years ago, a murder that had never been solved.  At that time, a couple paintings the family had lent to a university had been stolen ... and it's one of these paintings that was found in the hermit's apartment (the other painting is still missing).  The same night Aldrich was murdered, his teenage daughter, Patricia (Win's cousin), was kidnapped and told to pack a suitcase ... it's the same suitcase that was found in the hermit's apartment.  Patricia was held in the "Hut of Horrors" and tortured and raped for months and managed to escape.  She's moved on with her life by helping abused girls and women.

Win's friend, PT, who may or may not be still in the FBI, asks Win to find out what's going on since Win will be able to do things that the FBI and police aren't legally able to.  As Win digs, he discovers that the hermit may be part of the infamous Jane Street Six, a group that had been rebelling against the Vietnam  War to disastrous results and no one ever saw again.

There's a lot going on in this book and it's fairly convoluted ... but it all comes together and made sense in the end.  I found it a bit slow to get going but it picked up after a while.  It is written in first person perspective in Win's voice and at times he's speaking to us, the reader.  I know that Win is very rich and very arrogant but I found his demeanor and arrogance over the top, unlikable and annoying.  

There were many references to Win's good (and only?) friend, Myron Bolitar, though he never makes an appearance.  There is a series featuring Myron written by this author and apparently Win is one of the characters (I haven't read any).  I'm assuming this is the first spin-off of a new series featuring Win.  I found the constant references to Myron strange as it didn't seem to add anything to the story.

Book ~ "The Stranger" (2015) Harlan Coben

From Goodreads ~ The Stranger appears out of nowhere, perhaps in a bar, or a parking lot or at the grocery store. His identity is unknown. His motives are unclear. His information is undeniable. Then he whispers a few words in your ear and disappears, leaving you picking up the pieces of your shattered world. 

Adam Price has a lot to lose: a comfortable marriage to a beautiful woman, two wonderful sons and all the trappings of the American Dream: a big house, a good job, a seemingly perfect life. 

Then he runs into the Stranger. When he learns a devastating secret about his wife, Corinne, he confronts her and the mirage of perfection disappears as if it never existed at all. Soon Adam finds himself tangled in something far darker than even Corinne’s deception, and realizes that if he doesn’t make exactly the right moves, the conspiracy he’s stumbled into will not only ruin lives - it will end them.

Adam has a good life.  He is lawyer, is happily married to Corinne and has two great sons.  That all changes when a stranger approaches him in the legion and reveals to him a secret ... Corinne had faked her pregnancy and miscarriage two years ago.  Needless to say, Adam is shocked, hurt and angry.  When he confronts Corinne about it, their lives then fall apart.

Though the focus is on Adam dealing with his wife's disturbing secret and the ramifications, also interspersed throughout in the book are the secrets the Stranger reveals to others and the reasons.

I enjoyed this book ... the story of a stranger revealing secrets and potentially ruining people's lives was an interesting concept.  It's written in third person perspective and I liked the writing style.  There is a lot going on and there is a purpose for it all.  There are lots of twists and turns and I didn't see the ending coming.

I liked Adam.  Everything is going well until his world is torn apart.  He loves his family and is trying to make sense of what is going on.  He's not sure whether others in his community, who he has known for years, are working with him or against him and he doesn't know who he can trust.

I've read a couple of this author's books and look forward to reading his others.

Book ~ "Missing You" (2014) Harlan Coben

From Goodreads ~ It's a profile, like all the others on the online dating site. But as NYPD Detective Kat Donovan focuses on the accompanying picture, she feels her whole world explode, as emotions she’s ignored for decades come crashing down on her. Staring back at her is her ex-fiancé Jeff, the man who shattered her heart - and who she hasn’t seen in 18 years.

Kat feels a spark, wondering if this might be the moment when past tragedies recede and a new world opens up to her. But when she reaches out to the man in the profile, her reawakened hope quickly darkens into suspicion and then terror as an unspeakable conspiracy comes to light, in which monsters prey upon the most vulnerable.

As the body count mounts and Kat's hope for a second chance with Jeff grows more and more elusive, she is consumed by an investigation that challenges her feelings about everyone she ever loved - her former fiancé, her mother, and even her father, whose cruel murder so long ago has never been fully explained. With lives on the line, including her own, Kat must venture deeper into the darkness than she ever has before, and discover if she has the strength to survive what she finds there.

Because she has no life, Kat's best friend, Stacey, signs her up to an online dating site.  Out of curiosity one night, she logs on and comes across the profile of her ex-fiancé, Jeff, who had suddenly dumped her 18 years ago.  Bolstered by liquor, she sends him a message.  He responds back with a strange message and then blows her off.

Kat is tormented by the death of her father, also a cop, almost 20 years ago.  His self-confessed murderer is dying in prison and Kat still wants to know who had hired him and why so she can have closure.  As she continues to investigate she discovers things aren't what's they'd seemed with her dad and colleagues.

In the meantime, Kat is approached by a young man named Brandon who says his mother, Dana, has disappeared.  Kat checks things out ... Dana was meeting a man she met online for a vacation and it appears that Brandon is having a hard time with his mother finally moving on after the death of his father.  Brandon won't let Kat walk away from this and as she digs deeper, she realizes that what he may have cause for alarm.

This the first book I've read by this author in a long time ... and I don't know why I haven't read more of his over the years because I enjoyed this one and the ones I've read in the past.  I've put him on my "to be read" list so I can catch up.

It's written in third person perspective and I liked the writing style.  There are a lot of storylines going on and in the beginning I was wondering what the point was ... but it all eventually makes sense.  I was satisfied with the ending and who murdered her father and why.

There are a lot of characters but it's not hard to keep them straight.  I liked Kat ... she's been carrying a lot of baggage over the years and will do anything she has to to have closure.  She has a great support system with her best friend, Stacey, and her father's former partner, Stagger.  Chaz, her partner, provides some comedic situations.  Brandon, though young, is likeable and, despite being a troublemaker in his teens, had a good head on his shoulders.

I recommend this book ... it's a page-turner!