The Woods, by Harlan Coben

I have found that when choosing audio books, lighter fare is sometimes better.  When listening in snippets, and stopping in the middle of chapters, it's easier to pick the story back up next time I get in the car.  The drawback is that if a book is a page-turner, the kind you want to keep reading at night instead of going to sleep, that means when you get where you're going, you want to stay in the car and keep listening.  Harlan Coben writes that kind of book.

Paul Copeland was traumatized when 2 kids at his summer camp were found murdered in the woods nearby, and his sister and another camper were missing.  Their bloody clothes were found, but not their bodies.  He entered a career in law enforcement, in part to deal with the loss of his sister and the guilt he felt.  He was supposed to be on "guard duty" that night, but left his post for a liaison with his girlfriend.  He has become a county prosecutor with a promising political future.

Now the missing boy camper has turned up, 20 years later, murdered, shot in the head and dumped in an alley.  And Paul's camp girlfriend, who has changed her identity and is a college instructor, reads an anonymous student essay that recounts the events at camp 20 years ago, including details that only she and Paul would know.  While trying to figure out what's going on, he's also in the midst of prosecuting some college kids accused of rape, a la the Duke lacrosse case.  The kids' wealthy family start digging in to Paul's past, hoping to blackmail him into settling out of court.

If it all sounds contrived and manipulative, it is.  But that's the fun of suspense fiction, right?  Although the descriptive language, character development and dialogue, and even a bit of social commentary are well done, no one should pick this up expecting great literature.  But for an entertaining read, it's worth a look.  Or listen.  Just be sure you're not late for work because you were sitting in the car listening to find out what happened.