Sunday, March 25, 2012

Review: Stay Close by Harlan Coben



  • Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  • Hardcover: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Dutton Adult (March 20, 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0525952276
  • ISBN-13: 978-0525952275

Book Description


Megan is a suburban soccer mom who once upon a time walked on the wild side. Now she’s got two kids, a perfect husband, a picket fence, and a growing sense of dissatisfaction. Ray used to be a talented documentary photographer, but at age forty he finds himself in a dead-end job posing as a paparazzo pandering to celebrity-obsessed rich kids. Jack is a detective who can’t let go of a cold case—a local husband and father disappeared seventeen years ago, and Jack spends the anniversary every year visiting a house frozen in time, the missing man’s family still waiting, his slippers left by the recliner as if he might show up any moment to step into them. Three people living lives they never wanted, hiding secrets that even those closest to them would never suspect, will find that the past doesn’t recede. Even as the terrible consequences of long-ago events crash together in the present and threaten to ruin lives, they will come to the startling realization that they may not want to forget the past at all. And as each confronts the dark side of the American Dream—the boredom of a nice suburban life, the excitement of temptation, the desperation and hunger that can lurk behind even the prettiest facades—they will discover the hard truth that the line between one kind of life and another can be as whisper-thin as a heartbeat. With his trademark combination of page-turning thrills and unrivaled insight into the dark shadows that creep into even the happiest communities, Harlan Coben delivers a thriller that cements his status as the master of domestic suspense.

About The Author

 Harlan Coben is an international number one bestselling thriller author. He is the winner of the Edgar, Shamus and Anthony Awards - the first to receive all three. His books are published in forty languages, with over forty-seven million copies in print worldwide. Both his standalone thrillers and series featuring the indomitable Myron Bolitar have been number one bestsellers in over a dozen countries, gracing the lists of the Sunday Times and New York Times. His novel Tell No One was turned into the smash hit French film of the same name, and received the highly coveted Lumiere (French Golden Globe) for best picture as well as four Cesars (French Oscar). Harlan lives in New Jersey with his family. www.harlancoben.com


My Review

This is a stand alone novel by the writer Harlan Coben.  I have heard wonderful things about Mr. Coben for years and decided this newly released stand alone would be a good time to find out if the all the praise was well deserved.  Stay Close is a well written novel that really makes you think about what people want from life and the choices they make.  And do we really know people...or do we just know the person they want us to know...

Something terrible happened seventeen years ago that is going to bring our three main characters, Megan, Ray and Jack back together again in the present.  It is mostly due to Megan not being able to leave her past behind.  The story is filled with twists and turns and interesting characters.  I figured out who the murderer was at about the 75% mark but I think that it was because I am a woman and I figured out the motivation.


Excellent book, very well written and I am looking forward to reading more Harlan Coben.
 

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