Home (Myron Bolitar #11) by Harlan Coben

Home (Myron Bolitar #11). Harlan Coben. Penguin Publishing Group. September 2016. 400 pp. ISBN#: 9780525955108.  

Two young boys, Patrick and Rhys, are kidnapped.  A ransom is demanded and met, but nothing is ever heard after that time.  The boys remain kidnapped.

  

Windsor Horne Lockwood III or Win as he is known herein is in London, having received a tip that Rhys, his cousin Brook’s son, has been spotted.  After spotting Rhys, Win is led to a seedy area of London where he is attacked but quickly and more than adequately takes out his three attackers but in the process loses the young teen he believes is Patrick, not Rhys.  He quickly alerts his buddy, Myron Bolitar, who comes to London to join the search.

Win and Myron enter the world of a crime lord who uses children and teens to further his business of prostitution, hacking, drugs and other devious jobs.  He’s also very savvy with communications, having cameras, voice hacking, and more to protect and further his business interests.  Feeling sad about their failure, they return to the United States and decide to revisit every step of this crime to see where it leads them.  This, then is the essence of the story that is even more thrilling than the blood, guts and gore scenes of their initial London discoveries.

The parents of Patrick and Rhys are obviously and understandably upset beyond words.  Patrick is found and is in terrible shape.  His mother is forever grateful but Rhys’s mother is furious that they lost her son and perhaps any chance at finding him.   After all, ten years is a long time and if he hasn’t been found in that time how will he be found now when almost every stone has been overturned to find him.

Readers will be shocked beyond words when the resolution of this case is finally realized.  It’s not the usual find the bad guys and rescue the missing!  Still, it’s worth the read to experience all the twists and turns involving Win, Myron,  Mickey (Myron’s nephew), the parents and others.  This reviewer hasn’t read any of the previous Myron Bolitar novels in the series but liked the tone of this novel more than the other Harlan Coben novels that I’ve read. This a crime novel/mystery that will satisfy all readers. Nicely crafted fiction replete with puzzles, violence, determination, betrayal, loyalty and sharp detective skills!

The Stranger by Harlan Coben

The Stranger.  Harlan Coben. Penguin Group (USA). March 2015. 400 pp.  ISBN#: 9780525953500.

It all starts so simply – a strange person stands next to Adam, a happily married man, at least he thought so despite some ups and downs normal in any marital bond.  He tries to ignore the hints given by the person to verify that his wife Corinne is hiding something.  He follows the hint and discovers his wife has had contact with an online site for some purchases with a shocking connection.  He immediately distrusts her and that makes all the difference, a very wrong conclusion. Her response – wait – we need some time apart until I can tell you about this secret.

Another whispered secret to other persons cause the same misjudgment.  Meanwhile, Adam has a disagreement with a fellow parent over lacrosse selections and there seems to be more adversity out of the situation than is warranted over just a sports game. 

The Stranger is about a series of planned events that all have a haunting quality about them and all lead to terror and fear pervading the involved characters’ lives.  As in many plots of Coben, however, the outcome is far from what the reader expects.  What seemed so simple to unravel is more complex and far-spreading than each character realizes.

Money, debt, and promises, with heavy costs, proceed to ruin the lives of many. The end of these separate yet united connections is quite shocking. 

While the plot sometimes slows a bit too much, the pages where danger increases are riddled with tension and mystery.

Harlan Coben is a talented writer who has written a rather simple story with some adventurous, intriguing moments and a haunting conclusion.  Good read for those who are fans and even those who love a good mystery!

Six Years by Harlan Coben

Six Years.  Harlan Coben. Dutton Adult. March 2013. 368 pp. hbk. ISBN #: 9780525953485.

Jake Fisher is watching the love of his life, Natalie, marry another man, Todd. Jake’s heart is broken but he had to see this wedding take place.  Before the bride and groom leave for their happy life together, Natalie makes Jake promise she will leave them alone and never try to see or speak to them again.  He agrees. Six years later he sees an obituary for Todd who has left behind a wife and two children. Jake believes the promise is now null and void with the death and decides to attend the funeral.  The terror begins with this journey.

How shocking to find that Todd’s wife at the funeral isn’t Natalie. The nightmare continues as Jake decides to track her down.  Everywhere he goes, including their old hunting grounds in Vermont, all he hears is denial.  No there wasn’t an art retreat center, no the place where he ate the scones Natalie loved doesn’t remember him or her; the people he remembers don’t remember him; the police try to scare him away from the area; and on and on it goes. Denial and threats galore!

Then Jake decides to track through the college records where he teaches and was once a student.  Little by little a web of connected teachers, students, family members, horrific crimes, deaths, and more intensify the plot which leads to a criminal web and a “Fresh Start” relocation program.  Only the last item is one in which no one knows where those with new lives have disappeared to.  But they aren’t all gone and the violence begins and continues over and over until a final culminating scene where the story is finally pieced together. In the end, disappearance, death and living are key elements for the safety and security that holds no guarantees.

Harlan Coben holds the reader in a non-stop, perilous journey through mystery with a constantly haunting quality that never lets up!  Six Years is superb crime fiction sure to satisfy fans both old and new – a bestseller for sure!