Judy's Review:

This is the long-awaited and deeply engrossing sequel to Coben’s “The Boy from the Woods,” the story of Wilde, a feral child found aged 5 living alone and abandoned in the Ramapo Mountains in New Jersey.

Three decades later the solitary Wilde succumbs to the urge to trace his parents through a DNA ancestry website. He finds his father in Nevada, who tells Wilde he had no idea he had a son, and that he must be the product of a one-night stand with a woman whose name he can’t remember.

He is deeply unhappy about telling his wife and daughters he has an illegitimate child, so, none the wiser about how he came to be abandoned in the woods, Wilde retreats and abandons his DNA search.

Richard's Review:

But the ancestry website is still active, and the next message Wilde receives is a desperate plea for help from PB, an anonymous “cousin” who claims he’s related to Wilde through his unknown mother. From here the book kicks off on a wild, twisting, compelling journey through murder and revenge, an adventure that takes in the twisted morality and big bucks of Reality TV shows, as well as the sinister world of dark web vigilantes who crusade anonymously against cruelty and abuse, doling out harsh and terrifying punishments.

This is an excellent book, full of suspense, tension and great characters. Wilde is fascinating, strong yet vulnerable, and his emotional relationships with the tiny handful of people he trusts are touchingly handled. You find yourself rooting for this modern day Mowgli, as the tabloids call him, and hoping he’ll find happiness. It’s unputdownable, and we loved it.