The Boy From The Woods by Harlan Coben

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The private investigator’s name is Wilde. As a very young boy, he was found by some hikers in the Ramapo Mountain State Forest 24 years ago. He didn’t remember ever not being in the forest and didn’t know his name but somehow had learned English. Taking the name Wilde seemed logical.

Now in his 40s, he has a godson, Sweet Water High School student Matthew Crimstein, who is worried about a classmate Naomi Pine who has gone missing. Wilde is trying to help but learns that Naomi’s problems may be linked to another high school associate, Crash Maynard, whose TV producer father, Dash Maynard, is close friends with reality TV star–turned–presidential hopeful Rusty Eggers.

Naomi is found but then a week later disappears again, and about the same time, Crash disappears too.  They are assumed to be together, but a ransom note arrives and demands incriminating videotapes of Rusty Eggers that Dash and Delia Maynard have hidden for 30 years.

Wilde seems a little weak as the investigator in a Coben plot, but the story holds our attention and brings some big surprises at the end.

The Boy from the Woods Quotes.

Matthew had learned an awful truth: You grow immune to cruelty. It has become the norm. You accept it. You move on. - Chapter 1

Someone once told Hester that memories hurt, the good ones most of all. As she got older, Hester realized just how true that was. - Chapter 3

Laila was gorgeous. There was no way around it. She dazzled in the fitted gray business suit that hugged where it should, which in her case was everywhere. - Chapter 3

beating in her chest. Age was a funny thing. You're in high school again when your heart starts beating like this. - Chapter 4

A child comes out hardwired. That was what you learned as a parent - that your kid is who he is and what he is and that you, as a parent, significantly overstate your importance in his development. A dear friend once told her that being a parent is like being a car mechanic - you can repair the car and take care of the car and keep the car on the road, but you can't fundamentally change the car. If a sports car drives into your garage for repairs, it isn’t driving out an SUV. Same with kids. Chapter 5,

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