This is the second book in the 'Wilde' series, featuring the former 'feral boy' who lived alone in the woods as a child. Though the novel is a sequel, Coben provides enough information to read the book as a standalone.
*****
After Wilde was found in the forest when he about five or six, the boy grew up in a foster home, and later became a special forces soldier. Wilde now lives in an ecocapsule in the woods, and being an expert in surveillance and tracking, works as a private investigator.
People close to Wilde have urged him to look into his background, and perhaps identify his biological parents, which might explain how Wilde ended up a virtual orphan in the woods. Wilde resisted examining his history for years, but now - at around the age of forty - Wilde takes the plunge and sends his DNA to a site called DNAYourStory.
Wilde gets two hits, a man named Daniel Carter who seems to be his birth father and a second cousin named Peter Bennett, who's a reality TV star. Wilde contacts Daniel Carter, who claims he never knew Wilde existed, and says the boy must have resulted from a one-night-stand.
Wilde then tries to get in touch with Peter Bennett, who appears to be missing. Bennett's siblings fear he may have committed suicide because Peter's reality career - which began on a dating game that led to marriage - hit a giant snag, and Peter's been tormented and doxxed by trolls ever since.
It seems producers of reality shows are manipulative and sneaky, and will do almost anything to boost audience interest.
Wilde thinks Peter might lead him to his birth mother, so he sets out to search for the reality star, whom he hopes is still alive.
In this endeavor Wilde is assisted by his friends, including famous criminal attorney Hester Crimstein and Hester's sheriff boyfriend Oren Carmichael;
Hester's grandson Matthew;
and Wilde's foster sister, security expert Rola Naser.
Wilde's investigations are interspersed with chapters about 'Boomerang', a very secretive group of computer experts/vigilantes who target online trolls.
When a troll is deemed to have crossed the line with despicable/damaging comments, Boomerang takes action, and the 'revenge' is commensurate with the offense, though killing is definitely OFF the table.
As things play out, someone starts murdering online trolls, and some of the victims seem to have a connection with Wilde's inquiries. This puts Wilde on the cops' radar, which is never a good thing.
Meanwhile, Wilde - who was previously involved in a romance with Hester's widowed daughter-in-law Laila - is drawn to the beautiful woman once again.
By the end of the book we know more about Wilde's backstory, and a sequel would seem to be on the horizon.
This fast-paced thriller is a page turner that would probably appeal to many fans of the genre.
Rating: 3.5 stars
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