The Woods

This is my 3rd Harlan Coben book. I had a similar experience as the books before i.e. A DECENT Thriller. The major advantage of Harlan Coben's books is that they keep you interested from the very first chapter and are very easy to read. The disadvantage is the characters and it's a very forgettable story. Mind you, I am not someone who looks for unique or interesting characters when reading a Thriller book, but the characters in Harlen Corben's books are too lame and boring for me to care anything for them. They are not clever either. It is just the narrative that keeps you interested.

Coming to this particular book, as usual, starts out very interesting but slows down as the book progresses(One reason is the courtroom subplot). I thought I would end up giving a 2.5 stars but the climax is good/decent enough for me to push it up to 3. (Complaint 1)One thing that irritated me was the ML doing almost nothing except going from place to place and flashing his prosecutor ID at people's faces to get the information out of them. He does nothing to uncover the truth. Most of the information/investigation is given to him by his PA. (Complaint 2) I felt the subplots(KGB Russia and courtroom case) used as threads to complete the main plot were forced. They didn't seem organic.

Suggestion: If you are someone who is OK with absurd/ suspension of disbelief and looking for some quick, easy read, you can give this a try.

PS(slight spoilers)
After reading three Harlen Coben books, I realized that the surprise/shock factor he uses at the beginning of the book to keep us interested is almost the same( Bringing back someone who is presumed to be dead)