The Match turned out to be a sequel to the author’s 2020’s book The Boy from the Woods. As I hadn’t read this novel, I now have extra reading to do, to find out the background to the intrigue of Wilde.
The main character – Wilde – is a 40 odd year-old man who was discovered living on his own in the New Jersey woods some three decades ago, a feral child that had to be re-introduced to civilisation. Will the novel provide us with the story of what happened to him? How he got to be there? And how old he really is?
After many years and quests of his own, Wilde submits a DNA sample to a genealogy website, to which he receives a match from a possible cousin, noted only as PB. Wilde is preoccupied and does not respond, until he gets another match – to his biological father in Nevada. Wilde tracks his father down, but the response he is met with is evasive, and once he meets him, the entire family vanishes, leaving him with more questions. He tries to track down PB and finds himself mixed up in the murky world of reality TV, internet hackers, trolls and vigilantes - and ends up looking like a murder suspect himself.
The novel was fast-paced as expected, but sometimes the plots and twists seemed contrived. The book ended with the usual twist and some unanswered questions. Did he find what happened all those years ago? Did he meet his family? Will he have a relationship with them now? You will need to read the book and see for yourself.
Harlen Coben is an American writer of mystery novels and thrillers. He is married, with four children. He has written multiple books and is the creator and executive producer of several Netflix dramas. His works have also been filmed to acclaim. He has written over 30 books, which have been translated into 45 languages, of which there are 75 million in print. He is a number one best seller in several countries. Some of the other books by the same author: The Woods, The Innocent, Stay Close.
As anticipated, the author delivered a fast paced, intricate book that was hard to put down. Was it his best? Maybe not. Worth reading? Yes. - Christine E Hann
The Match is published by Penguin Random House UK – 2022: ISBN: 978-1-52-913549-7
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