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Series · thriller

Wilde

by Harlan Coben

The Wilde series by Harlan Coben has 2 books and is best read in publication order, starting with The Boy from the Woods (2020).

Books
2 books
First published
2020
Status
ongoing
Last checked

Start here: The Boy from the Woods (2020) — then read straight through in publication order.

Cover of The Boy from the Woods, the first book in Wilde

Reading order

The order the books were released — the default way to read the series.

  1. The Boy from the Woods

    Novel

    View book

  2. The Match

    Novel

    View book

About the Wilde series

Wilde is a man who literally grew up feral — found as a young child living alone in the New Jersey woods with no memory of who he is or how he got there — now an off-the-grid survival expert who gets pulled back into the small-town lives of the community that half-adopted, half-feared him as a boy. Harlan Coben launched the series with The Boy from the Woods in 2020, using Wilde's outsider status and total lack of conventional social ties to investigate cases the local community would rather he leave alone, including a missing-teen case that exposes the hidden corruption of a wealthy, image-obsessed suburb.

The Match (2022) sends Wilde chasing his own origins for the first time, using a DNA-testing service to hunt for the family that abandoned him as a child, and the case he stumbles into along the way. The series carries Coben's usual mix of suburban secrets and twisty reveals, with Wilde's own unresolved identity as a running hook across the books. Fans of Coben's Myron Bolitar and standalone thrillers who want a more isolated, survivalist protagonist are the natural audience.

How to read this series

Publication order: The Boy from the Woods (2020), then The Match (2022). Wilde's search for his own origins is a direct through-line from the first book into the second, so read them in order.

Frequently asked questions

How many Wilde books are there?

Two so far: The Boy from the Woods (2020) and The Match (2022). A third has been reported as in development but not yet confirmed with a title or date.

What order should I read the Wilde books in?

Publication order: The Boy from the Woods, then The Match. Wilde's search for his birth family carries directly from the first book into the second.

Who is Wilde?

A man discovered as a young child living alone and feral in the New Jersey woods, with no memory of his origins, who grows up to become an off-the-grid survival expert and reluctant investigator.

Is Wilde connected to Harlan Coben's other series?

It shares Coben's general suburban-New-Jersey thriller world and tone but has no direct crossovers with Myron Bolitar or his other series.

Is there a new Wilde book coming?

A third book has been reported as in development, but no confirmed title or release date was available as of this writing.

Reading order last verified .