Review of The Match

Are you a Harlan Coben fan? Wondering about his latest book? Check out my review of The Match!

The Match by Harlan Coben (Wilde #2)

Published on March 15, 2022 by Grand Central Publishing.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy for review. This post contains affiliate links.

Synopsis: As a young child, Wilde was found living a feral existence in the Ramapo mountains of New Jersey. He became known simply as Wilde, the boy from the woods. Now Wilde has had a hit on the DNA website he has been researching. A 100% match. His father. They meet up, and Wilde soon realizes that his father doesn’t even know he had a son and is as mystified as Wilde is by his existence. Undaunted, Wilde continues his research for his family on DNA websites where he becomes caught up in a community of online doxxers, a secret group committed to exposing anonymous trolls. Then one by one these doxxers start to die, and it soon becomes clear that a serial killer is targeting this secret community – and that his next victim might be Wilde himself …

Review of The Match

Harlan Coben’s books are intricately plotted and often have premises or plot twists that are kind of … out-there? But his books are filled with humor and fun to read. They always give me the feeling that he has a great time writing them.

So, speaking of out-there: after reading the first few pages of this I was like … huh? The main character was found, as a child, wandering in the wilds of New Jersey. Me: ooohkay. I didn’t know New Jersey had wilderness. (And apparently there was a Wilde book #1 that I didn’t read.)

So Wilde is looking for his family and puts his DNA on a database. (Have you done this? I have not.) When he finds what seems like a parental match, he reaches out to the person and they meet. The man admits to being Wilde’s father, but explains that he isn’t quite ready to upend his family with the news of Wilde’s existence and needs some time.

Okay, I have to check my notes to even remember what happens next. (A LOT happens, just saying.) Wilde himself gets a message from someone else saying he thinks he is related to Wilde. Yay, another family member. This is when things get weirder. The guy has since disappeared. A group of online vigilantes who use animals as their screen names are involved. There’s a reality TV angle. People start getting murdered.

I followed it all pretty well. The DNA connections between different characters did get confusing for me, and I hope the actual book comes with a family tree, because sheesh. I still have questions, and if you read this and want to help me figure it all out PLEASE come over to my spoiler post on the Match HERE and let’s put our heads together and make one of those string board wall chart things.

In any case, The Match was a fun, slightly wacky, occasionally confusing (for me) read. I didn’t realize that this is book #2 in a series, the first book being The Boy From the Woods, a book that features both Wilde and Hester Crimstein. If you’ve read that book, you’ll probably enjoy this one even more!

Have you read The Match? If so, please come join The Match Spoiler Discussion here. I need help figuring out the family tree….

If you’re a Harlan Coben fan, have you watched the April 2022 adaptation of Hold Tight on Netflix? If you have OR if you want to see how the book was adapted, come check out my post on Hold Tight by Harlan Coben. (Why is he called Harlana Coben in the credits? You’ll have to read the post and find out!)