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“'I see my father with that shovel.' ”

written by Janet Lewison on 03/08/2009

'I see my father with that shovel.'



Harlan Coben opens his bestselling crime novel The Woods with this disturbing recollection. Significantly it is 'that shovel' and as we accompany the protagonist 'Cope' through his difficult confrontations with his past, which is fraught with betrayals, Soviet barbarism, mistaken identity and death, we gradually realise how ironically appropriate the opening line might be. What is the father digging for? Who is his trying to resurrect bone by bone? Actions are metaphors for life itself.



For Paul Copeland (a county Prosecutor) finds 'seeing' profoundly challenging. There are so many secrets past and present, that his whole identity about who is is comes under savage scrutiny. Deceit is ubiquitous. Blindness is survival, yet self-destruction. The price of being Lazarus is high indeed!



Coben is superb at layering his novels in terms of plot and he renders the lives of his characters surreal. Like an archaelogical dig(first line again) The Woods visits and then revisits the past proving that any apparent fact, any assumption can be placed in jeopardy through a moment's revelation.



There is something very solid and enduring about Coben's narrative here and character and place are given enough 'reality' to persuade and support the changing possibilities of the intricate plot. The protaganonist has a dependable foil called 'Muse(!!) and the writing style is polished and assured.



Enough to say that 'everything connects' and the final pages of the novel still holds out an element of surprise with a somewhat ambiguous ending.



A very entertaining and quite creepy read I have to admit