The Match

Wilde is a boy who apparently grew up in the woods but is now a well-adjusted person in his 30s. He lives in the forest above his godson's house in an EcoCapsule and only emerges occasionally. His godson's mother, Laila, was the wife of his best and only friend, David, in their early years. David, however, died some years ago in an accident which is referred to a few times, without being explained. There is a spark between Wilde and Laila.

Wilde's early background remains a mystery and he has no recall to speak of either. When, as a result of some DNA investigations, he believes he has identified his father and approaches him, the man is friendly and not at all dismissive. He says he needs to process the new revelation as he was unaware he had fathered a child, which must have been the result of a fling many years earlier. He needs to break the news to his family first and the two men agree to meet again the following morning. Wilde, believing he has achieved his aim already, chooses not to follow through.

The story expands quickly, though, as the DNA investigations continue to raise questions and hint at other possible relationships. Soon reality television is in the picture as there is a suggestion that Wilde is related to Peter Bennett, a reality television star. Peter is missing, with some believing he has committed suicide or been murdered. A former policeman, Henry McAndrew, has been hired to tarnish Peter's reputation by trolling him. Later, Wilde comes under suspicion for his murder and more murders follow.

Early on, the storyline captures issues of DNA testing, reality television, podcasts, trolling and cancelling people. It’s all very modern-day fare. There is perhaps a touch of politics at one point too, with the curious suggestion that killing is sometimes acceptable.

But just when you think you know the path the book will take, Coben introduces some interesting distractions. There’s the appearance of the Boomerang Club, a group of six anonymous people out to right wrongs, mainly involving trolling. Then midway through the book, some chapters delivered in the first person by one of the characters rather threw me off-course.

Wilde has a mentor or sponsor, a celebrity lawyer who also continues to practise law. Hester was David's mother, so had close to a maternal role with Wilde too. Her current partner, Oren, is the policeman who first found Wilde and supported him thereafter. Wilde is also able to prevail upon Rola, who works for an influential investigations company and is seemingly able to access crucial information quite readily. So, as a matter of considerable convenience, he has no shortage of assistance — or assistants.

Later, just as I thought things might finally be coming together, the scenarios widen, as does the pool of candidates who might be doing the murdering. I got it wrong and didn't pick the twist which emerged, providing confirmation that we have a typically engaging Coben story here, and not just in the occasional 'articulate' or 'explain' responses when phone calls are answered, in the style of Win in the Myron Bolitar series.

There are no dead spots in The Match and no filler material. The plot moves along at a good pace and kept me wondering about how the various threads would play out. But I really did need to stretch my imagination to accept many elements of the tale.

This is the second of two books but there will almost certainly be a sequel as too many matters were left open. I started with this one but didn't feel disadvantaged, except that I was unaware of how Wilde had transitioned from a lost boy to an independent and successful person, with seemingly considerable resources. Not much light is shed on this here.