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Average Customer Rating:

Above average thriller

Customer Rating:

The Woods Paul Copeland is a county prosecutor who was at a summer camp twenty years ago where four children were murdered and this has come back to haunt him and threaten his career. Far too much of the first half of the novel is taken up with a court case of date rape that seems to belong to another novel, the purpose solely to enable the wealthy father of the accused youngsters to pry into Copeland's past. Exactly the same purpose could have been achieved without the long irrelevant court scenes slowing down the pace of the novel to a point where I nearly gave up. However after this initial aberration the plot gains pace and with good character development I thoroughly enjoyed my first (and probably not the best) Coben novel. A good but not outstanding read.

trash fiction - rubbish!

Customer Rating:

I was led to Coben by suggestions and links from other books on amazon. Having read RJ Ellory's superb work I came to Harlen Coben with great anticipation. I have been thoroughly disappointed. Cliche ridden rubbish. Boogie monsters in the woods, etc. Come on. If you want something to read on the beach and you're 16 then Coben is for you, otherwise you should try elsewhere, I am frankly amazed why this author is so popular. I have to admit i didn't finish this book - i lost it whilst on holiday. I really did want to finish it and then refer to the text whilst i wrote this review (my second ever). However i couldn't bring myself to waste any more money. I groaned continually at the shoddy plot and narrative. I feel it's written in the style of another literary travesty - The Da Vinci Code - written like a tv mini series CSI or some other flimsy tat. Anybody looking for great prose and drama, suspense and originality could do a lot worse than RJ Ellory. The intellectually challeneged should stick with Coben, horses for courses i guess.

Brilliant	Customer Rating:
Well this is by far the best book I have read for years, so much so that I am writing this review. The book tells an amazing story that is well written and in such a way that it is incredibly difficult to put down, I will definetly buy more of this author and a very recommended book!!!

Not His Best, but an OK Read

Customer Rating:

I've now read 6 Harlan Coben novels and he is currently one of my favourite authors. I only gave this book - The Woods - 3 stars, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it at all. Compared to his other books I've read I found this one only worthy of 3 stars instead of the 4 or 5 ratings I've given to his previous novels. Maybe I'm getting more used to Coben's style and formula, I'm not really sure, but I found The Woods to be a lot more predictable than his previous works. The twists and turns were not as intricate or ambiguous. I tended to see what was coming before it happened. And occassionally there seemed to be a sudden, unexpected twist that didn't really seem to make a lot of sense in the overall context of the plot. Some almost contrived twists in an attempt to make it less predictable. The pace was definitely slower in this novel too. These are just my own personal views. Everything aside, I still enjoyed reading the book and I would recommend reading The Woods if you are a fan of the genre. I just feel that Coben fans (like myself) might be a touch disappointed with this one compared to earlier works. How To Keep Your Man: And Keep Him For Good Real Life Dramas - Volume One: 1 Darren G. Burton

MY FIRST COBEN BUT NOT MY LAST

Customer Rating:

This is my first Harlan Coben book and I took it on holiday with me. Like other reviewers, I enjoyed the plot very much and all the twists and turns kept me gripped from the start. Unfortunately it got me so hooked I finished the book in a couple of days, which left me with nothing else to read for the rest of the holiday! For my next holiday I will be taking a large number of Coben's books which I'm sure will be equally as good as The Woods. Highly recommended.