Twenty years ago, four teenagers at summer camp walked into the woods at night. Two were found murdered, and the others were never seen again. For Paul Copeland, the county prosecutor of Essex, New Jersey, grief at the loss of his sister has only recently begun to subside. Cope, as he is known, is now dealing with raising his 6-year old daughter alone after his wife died of cancer. Balancing family life and a rapidly ascending career as a prosecutor distract him from past traumas, but only for so long. When a homicide victim is found with evidence linking him to Cope, the well-buried secrets of the prosecutor's family are threatened. Is this body one of the campers who disappeared with his sister? Could his sister be alive? Cope has to confront so much he left behind so many years ago. Harlan Coben's The Woods has a unique mix of powerful characters, lightning pace and twists and turns. It is a novel about family, lost secrets and mistakes that can haunt a life forever.