One of the questions we answer a lot at the reference desk in my public library is "what should I read next?”
We get this from a lot of patrons who have exhausted the Patterson canon, are burnt out on Grisham, or need someone new to discover other than Baldacci or Connelly. These are the tried and true, "not going to read anything that isn't a mystery", well-read, can't keep 'em stocked up with enough books readers who always present the challenge to my reference desk.
Several years ago, we came up with our favorite "go-to guy" for fans of tautly written mystery and suspense: Harlan Coben.
Coben has been a librarian favorite for ages, and in recent years, is starting to get the recognition he deserves for writing crisp, clean thrillers with engaging characters, redemption at the end of the story and innocent people finally being vindicated by the last page.
One of Coben's latest thrillers, The Woods, is a stand-alone novel, a break from his popular Myron Bolitar series (Bolitar is an unusual "lead" for a mystery series, as he is, wait for it...a sports agent).
In The Woods, we open with the image of a man digging in a dense and deserted wood, searching for his daughter murdered years ago while his son stands by, unable to help his father in his fruitless search. The story slowly unravels: four teens were murdered in the woods of a summer camp years ago, indelibly impacting the families left behind, including counselor in training and brother of one of the victims, Paul "Cope" Copeland.
Cope is now the Essex County prosecutor with political aspirations, father of a young daughter and all around good guy, but when he is called to the New York City morgue, he discovers than one of the boys thought to have been murdered all those years ago was in fact only murdered a few days ago, and that he left the message that "Cope lied".
Coben deftly weaves several plot lines together in this novel - a case Copeland is arguing in court, the reuniting of two old lovers, the murders of the teens in the woods, and family secrets from a Soviet Union long gone. It's up to Cope to unravel what is truth and what are lies, both in the courtroom and out in the woods, before he loses everything that is dear to him.
Coben's characters leap off the page and come alive, and are written with depth and caring. Using wit and emotion, Coben's skillfully writes in the first person narrative - often eschewed by authors - as we follow Cope's travel into the past, through the present, and back again in the obviously unpleasant past.
Rather than reading this novel, I chose to listen to the audiobook, narrated by the unequaled Scott Brick. Brick's narration truly brings Cope to life, and is able to bring about chills, amusement or empathy through the power of his voice. I find that listening to first person narratives, rather than reading, makes it a much richer storytelling experience, and Brick is the perfect narrator to transport the listener back into “the woods”.
And so, Coben has truly become our "go-to guy" at the reference desk - we are often starting patrons on his Bolitar series, or handing out stand-alone novels, and patrons always come back with a smile - and assurance that Coben's novel was fabulous, and which one should they read next?
A job well done at the reference desk.
Stuck in a mystery rut? Give Harlan Coben a try!
Harlan Coben has written eight books in the Myron Bolitar series: Deal Breaker, Drop Shot, Fade Away, Back Spin, One False Move, The Final Detail, Darkest Fear, and Promise Me.
Coben’s eight stand alone novels include: Play Dead, Miracle Cure, Tell No One, Gone for Good, No Second Chance, Just One Look, The Innocent, The Woods, and Hold Tight. His latest novel, Long Lost, is due out in 2009.
If you enjoy reading the novels of Harlan Coben, you may also enjoy reading Robert Crais, Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly, Lee Child, Joseph Finder, or Lawrence Block.
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