Saturday, July 16, 2022

The Match – A Novel by Harlan Coben – Book Review

 

We first met Wilde in The Boy From the Woods, reviewed earlier here on ReviewThisReviews!


The Match by Harlan Coben


In
The Match, Wilde returns in a new thriller by that 'Master of Suspense', Harlan Coben.


Synopsis


The Match book cover
Available on Amazon
Readers of The Boy From the Woods may remember that more than thirty years ago Wilde was found as a boy living feral in the woods, with no memory of his past, not even his name. He was eventually rescued and raised in a wonderful foster home, but his past remained a mystery. The policeman who first found him named him Wilde because of the way he had been living alone in the woods. He then grew up in a normal household, going to school and making friends, and later serving in the military.  But, despite all this, he still feels he belongs on his own, living in the woods away from the comforts and constraints of modern life. His simplistic life style is lived in the Ramapo Mountains, part of the Appalachian Mountains located in New Jersey and New York.  He is not completely isolated, as he keeps in touch with friends and the world via computer and cell phone.


But suddenly a DNA match on an online ancestry database brings his lost past closer than he ever dreamed when he finds a match to his father. Wilde tracks his father down only to find the man extremely hesitant to establish a relationship. So then Wilde reaches out to his last lead ~ a second cousin. Before they can connect, he discovers that the cousin has disappeared after experiencing a fall from grace that can only be described as a waking nightmare. This is connected to a Reality Show where the cousin was very famous and popular, only to have lies told about him and his wife that brought about his downfall. 


Summary


How Wilde discovers the circumstances surrounding his cousin's life and exposes a family's darkest secret, while also discovering the shocking truth of his own past, is a thrilling story that will keep you reading deep into the night. 


Another outstanding novel by Harlan Coben.


The Match, Wilde Book 2


The Match - Wilde, Book 2




The Boy from the Woods by Harlan Coben


The Boy From the Woods, Wilde, Book 1





*Book review of The Match written by Wednesday Elf









Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”


7 comments:

  1. I can believe that this book would indeed keep me reading well into the night. I did enjoy The Boy from the Woods, so have no doubt I will enjoy this follow up! Thanks Pat for this recommendation!

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    Replies
    1. I was excited when I discovered that this book was a sequel to the adventures of 'Wilde'. When I first got 'The Match', I thought I was just starting on the latest Harlan Coben book. To learn that it was about Wilde was delightful. It answers a lot of questions the reader has at the end of the first book. And concludes them quite nicely. :) Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did, Olivia, especially if you are already familiar with Wilde from book one.

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  2. While it would be interesting to learn how Wilde ending up living in the woods as a child, the rest of this story sounds like it would be rather stressful and anyone's greatest nightmare. I'm not crazy about reality tv since I know it has done a great deal of harm to regular people and their families. The more I learn about the ancestry database, the more I realize there are a lot of lives turned upside down because of it. I can certainly see how the combination of these things could make for a fabulous mystery thriller, just not something I would actually want to live.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for your thoughtful comments, Mouse. I actively dislike Reality TV and refuse to watch any of it. I was amazed by what I learned about it in this book. Reality TV does a great deal of disruption in people's lives, and even damage at times. As for finding people through your DNA, it was weird to find out that it is not all good. There have been cases where whole families had their lives disrupted and torn apart because of finding out things like 'your father is not really your father'. The author obviously did a lot of research on these subjects for this novel. Be that as it may, those two subjects DO make for an amazing mystery thriller!

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  3. I, too, refuse to watch “reality TV” shows. I think it’s a horrid genre that has had a destructive influence on our society, even though I know several kind and wonderful people who really enjoy watching it. “A chacun son goût” (to each his/her own taste), I guess!

    The scenarios and story elements you mention certainly sound like they could contribute to a very compelling (and harrowing) thriller, and although I personally couldn’t read it without having recurring nightmares, I’m sure Coben’s many fans will be in for a treat.

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  4. This sounds fantastic! Your review kept me reading every word - you've made me want to read this one! I'm not a Reality TV person either (except music competitions) but honestly, I'm curious about the reality tv aspect of this story.

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  5. This sounds like a book full of suspense and mystery! It is fascinating to think of Wilde as a boy living alone in the woods with no memory of what happened to him and how the ancestry DNA match seems to start a chain of stressful and shocking events. I can see how this storyline would keep anyone who likes thrillers and mysteries reading well into the night!

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