 "Roller Coaster Thrill Crime Novel--stayed up till 3am reading" | 2009-10-22 |
| - Reviewed By carolirvin |
| I couldn't put this book down. I just kept rocketing through it. I also did not guess any of it and i'm usually pretty good at doing that. A wife and mother goes to her photo store to pick up prints. Inside her packet is a picture taken decades ago of a bunch of people, one of whom is her husband. Her husband sees it when he comes home, jumps into his car and disappears. As she tries to figure out where he went, more and more bad things start to happen. Great read. |
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| "Can't put this book down!" | 2009-10-07 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1QLUU1K3CIYGJ |
| Harlan Coben is the most reliably compelling author I have read in many years. You can bank on spending most of your waking hours turning the pages, so clear your social calendar before you open this book! I urgently needed a large glass of wine and a cigarette when it was done (and I don't smoke!) |
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| "Deja Vue" | 2009-04-07 |
| - Reviewed By stone_books |
Nominally, the principal characters are Grace and Jack Lawson, a pair of boring suburbanites--both with disturbing pasts, which it turns out, are linked. The story begins when Grace finds an old photo of Jack with three other young people, in a stack of freshly developed photos. When she shows it to Jack, he drives off, without even a goodbye. Then, while being tailed by a part-time private detective (Rocky Conwell), Jack is kidnaped by a psychotic professional assassin (Eric Wu).
The background to the story begins 15 years earlier when Grace was nearly killed by a stampede at a rock concert, at which Johnny X was the lead singer. Wade LaRue was convicted for discharging a gun in the air at the concert. Mafioso chieftain Carl Vespa's son was one the the people killed by the stampede. Gordon McKinsey, a security guard at the concert, was hailed as a hero. Coincidentally, Jack and all of his friends other than Jeri Duncan went into hiding shortly after the concert. Shortly after discovering that she was pregnant, Jeri was killed in a fire. It was while in hiding (in France) that Jack met Grace.
The events of the novel are set in motion by three independent events: LaRue will shortly be released on parole. McKinsey (who has become a police captain) is dying of cancer. Monte Scanlan (a professional assassin) confesses to Scott Duncan (Jeri's brother) that he had set the fire to kill her. In the coarse of the novel, the young people in the photo are identified and located (dead or alive), with the exception of the mysterious Shane Alworth who has not been seen for 15 years. Without revealing any spoilers, the rest of the story is about Grace's metamorphosis into a detective who (with the assistance of her friend Cora Lindley) uncovers Jack's past, and of course, Jack's incarceration and ultimate escape.
This is a pure mystery novel, featuring multiple mysteries. In addition to perhaps a dozen essential characters (few of which are fleshed-out), the novel features about two dozen "accessory characters", some well developed, some not. Virtually all of these "accessory characters" could be deleted with no effect on the story whatsoever. The development of these accessory characters may seem to the reader to be a waste of time--and a waste of the reader's time. Actually, these accessory characters are subtle "red herrings". That is, the reader has no way to know which of these characters will (or will not) emerge as significant characters. The extent that a character is developed is NOT an indication of his/her ultimate importance in the story. Indeed, new significant characters ARE introduced late in the novel. Each of the numerous characters provides additional opportunities for misdirection, and indeed, shadows of suspicion are cast on many of them.
Such a pure mystery novel requires red herrings and other misdirection. Coben has chosen to provide the red herrings and misdirection subtly, which is less annoying to than stories with just one or two major red herrings, or excessively strong misdirection. As a pure mystery novel, "Just one Look" it is very well crafted. It will keep you guessing until the very end. Mystery novels can be unsatisfying if the reader guesses wrong about the bad guy. No chance of that with "Just one Look".
Critique:
The novel begins with a sequence of three completely unrelated chapters, each with a completely new and different cast of characters Practically speaking, the story actually begins with the sixth chapter, by which time many readers may have decided to find something else to read. Such "front loading" of rip-rap is a common feature of mystery novels. Whether or not this is a successful strategy may depend on the reader's tastes. Caveat, the first three paragraph of this review can serve to provide the essential connections if you haven't read the novel yet.
This is not a book to be read casually--i.e., one or two chapters, every few days. It requires your full attention and concentration. Taking notes is probably a good idea. The novel is especially difficult for audiobook readers, who cannot easily "flip back" several chapters to refresh their memories , and who normally do not have access to a summary or an annotated cast of characters. But that is probably true of all mystery novels. Perhaps the real lesson is that mystery fans should stick to printed versions.
It may be a personal bias, but I found myself unable to relate to the main character (Grace), and therefore I had little sympathy for her plight. Jack is only a cut-out generic "victim" of little interest. Eric Wu, the psychotic killer, is just too much of a demonic monster. A number of other potentially fascinating accessory characters are introduced, leaving the reader frustrated wondering why such an interesting character was not developed. Many or most of these appearances are cameos from earlier Coben novels.
The very last twist is excessively contrived. Nominally, the photo was simply a generic photo of Jack and three friends. The twist turns on the assumption (for which no basis is given) that the photo was taken at the concert.
Comment:
Have you noticed that the highest rated reviews are those of professional reviewers (often taken from dust-jacket copy), ONLY because they were the first reviews posted by Amazon? Have you noticed that (with few exceptions) these reviewers have obviously read ONLY the first few chapters of the novels? A one paragraph summary of the first three or four chapters of a novel is NOT a review--and most certainly is not a useful critique. Coben manages to defeat those reviewers with this novel. Hurrah! |
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| "My favorite Harlan Coben novel" | 2009-04-02 |
| - Reviewed By User: AP08PPAVJXJV3 |
| This was my first Harlan Coben novel and my favorite. So, it's a little far fetched - aren't they all? At least I didn't see the ending coming a mile away like with other mystery novels. How refreshing to have a protangonist that isn't a cop/doctor/reporter type. Just a regular person whose world gets turned upside down. Loved it! |
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| "Brilliant mix of action and emotion" | 2009-03-06 |
| - Reviewed By yvewalus |
| I love the male-female way Coben writes. The thriller action bits are male, while the emotional stronghold the books have over the reader can only be seen as female. A winning combination! |
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 "too labrynthian" | 2009-01-21 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2OUEHVJXR4OQJ |
I did not understand the ending to this book. There, I said it.
Now, I do understand how it turned out. I just don't get how we got there. There are so many hidden motives, masked identities and dark secrets that you practically need a flow chart to keep track. Seriously, you will probably enjoy this book more if you take notes, write down names and facts and then draw arrows.
Wu was too much of a robokiller. Liked Charmain a lot.
Harlan can write a tense scene, like when Wu accosts and kidnaps Grace in the schoolyard, not knowing she has a gun strapped to her ankle.
This is my fourth Coben and I will continue to read his work. Next time, though, I'll have pad and pencil ready.
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