Hold Tight
by Harlan Coben
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Book Reviews of Hold Tight
Book Review: Another Addicting Masterpiece!
Summary: 5 Stars
Mike and Tia Baye are worried about their son, Adam. Ever since Adam lost a good friend to suicide, he has withdrawn from the family. After much deliberation they decide to install spy software on his computer to keep track of his internet activity. Everything seems normal until an instant message from a mysterious source turns the Baye's world upside down.
Betsy Hill mourns like any mother would over the loss of her son Spencer. As troubled as he was no one thought he would ever take his own life. While reading her son's Myspace memorial page she comes across a photo that changes everything she thought about her son's death. Now she must confront Spencer's best friend, Adam, who is the only person who may really know what happened the night Spencer died.
Soon both families are intertwined in a desperate search for truth that will reveal shocking answers. As the questions are answered more families become involved and connections to a baffling police case come to light. Now Mike and Tia must dig through all the layers of secrecy if they hope to save their son before it's too late.
Harlan Coben holds nothing back in his latest offering. This is high caliber suspense, gut-wrenching drama, and engrossing mystery all rolled into one. Coben brings the thriller genre full force into suburbia and gives us an eye-opening glance into the very real dangers that threaten families in our society. In Hold Tight we are effectively thrown into the middle of every parent's worst nightmare and what a scary and sobering experience it is. As always Coben's writing proves to be second to none as he effectively weaves several storylines together and somehow manages to link them all together without ever revealing where the story is heading. Coben's fans will also enjoy some character cameos from his last novel, The Woods. Hold Tight can certainly be read as a stand alone title, but I highly recommend readers pick up a copy of The Woods to get the full effect of both stories.
Coben has not only created another addicting masterpiece, but he has blessed us with an unforgettable cautionary tale about parenthood. This one will no doubt keep you up all night nervously flipping through the pages. However, in the end you will want to hug your kids tightly and tell them how much you love them. If you haven't read Coben before you will indeed wonder why after this one.
Book Review: Plenty of action, with intersecting plots that don't come together until the end...
Summary: 4 Stars
Another book that came into the library recently that was on my hold list was Harlan Coben latest novel, Hold Tight. This book kept me reading a bit past my bedtime. The action was constant and tight, although the plot was a bit difficult to keep straight at times. There are a lot of different stories that come together at the end, and occasionally it's hard to remember just who is who...
Mike and Tia Baye are struggling with their son, Adam. He's becoming more withdrawn and sullen, and the parents decide to monitor his computer to see what's going on. This monitoring reveals that Adam is keeping some sort of secret, and he decides to run away to attend a party rather than obey his father and go to a hockey game with him. Mike puts everything on the line to find Adam and reunite the family. Meanwhile, there are a number of other stories going on... A psychotic killer is picking seemingly random women off the street and killing them in a very gruesome manner, all to find out some information that he believes they hold. Another father is furious with his small daughter's teacher, as he made a snide comment about the child's physical appearance that has made her the target of ridicule at school. The teacher is someone who has always taken pride in his work, and the comment was something he highly regrets. But he also realizes that his mistake could cost him his career. All these stories (and a few others) swirl along at their own pace, and slowly start to come together as the relationships between the characters start to reveal themselves.
As I mentioned, the action was constant and the characters drew me into their struggles. I think every parent can empathize with understanding a withdrawn child, especially when it appears that there might be a life-threatening situation developing. I would have preferred see the plots start to intersect sooner in a way that started to hint at the relationships involved. As it was, things were kept up in the air until nearly the very end. And even at the end, a major twist happens that causes a few readjustments in the mindset of the reader. Hold Tight is an enjoyable read, so make sure you have some uninterrupted time before you get started...
Book Review: Ahh the Happy Suburbs
Summary: 4 Stars
Think about all the worst things that can happen in an upper class suburban neighborhood and throw in some high tech computer stuff, stir it around, turn it into a mystery and you have "Hold Tight". In this piece of surburbia, there is teen suicide, teen runaway, teen drugs, teenager dying in need of a transplant, teachers abusive to students, students taking revenge, parents trying to protect their teens and a murder or two. Of course, the parents are trying to figure it all out. There are several, as you can tell by the above list, strands to this mystery. At the beginning and in the middle are two gruesome murders. It is not until the end, however, when all the strands come together to form a coherent rope. Frankly, the murders were almost superfluous. The book would have worked just as well without them.
Coben is the master of NJ suburban mysteries. He captures the flavor and personalities in suburbia well. To make this novel work, he has to have every family suffer some tragedy, so it gets a bit depressing after a while. It also took a long time for all the disparate story-lines to begin to come together. Once they did, though, it was hold onto your horses suspenseful.
The characters are all realistic and very good. Like any neighborhood, there are some more likeable than others and some who offer more to the telling than others. The leading parents are especially good as they agonize over issues of their child's privacy versus his safety - a major theme of the book. The issues are steeped in the brave new world of every day consumer technology - the things we can do with phones and computers! These and other issues are touched upon such that this is a rare mystery that could make good reading club fodder.
As noted, this book can be depressing at times - isn't any family in tact and functional? Those who first fell in love with Coben's humor in the Myron Bolivar novels will be disappointed. There is no humor here. However, for those looking for a thought-provoking novel that engages issues of parenting and tecnology wrapped in a mystery, this is the book.
Book Review: Always Got to Hold On Tight to Coben's Books, There's Always Someone Waiting to Start Reading as Soon as You Put Them Down
Summary: 4 Stars
Hold Tight is certainly very different to Coben's previous independent storyline novels which may immediately put off some fans. With Hold Tight Coben gives the reader a lot of simultaneous storylines running parallel. Unfortunately most of the adult female characters are pretty similar so it becomes a bit confusing at the start of a chapter or paragraph when Hold Tight switches storylines to know straight away which characters eyes you are looking through. Saying that though its not that long before you realise who it is and which storyline you are in again. All storylines which incidentally cross paths at one time or another. While not as good as Coben's masterpieces this will still please most fans of his work.
The most prominent storyline and one marketed on the back of the book revolves around overprotective parents Tia and Mike Baye who scared that their son Adam may follow in his friends footsteps and commit suicide decide they have to ignore the moral right of their son to his privacy and install a program on his computer so they can read every one of his e-mails and see which websites he visited. They start to freak out when Adam receives a message if he stays quiet he will be safe. When they learn of a drugs and alcohol party invite they decide to be clever in stopping Adam from going so he won't know they spy on him. Adam however stills bails on their plans and as they try and suttley work out a way to get him back they learn he has greater plans than just getting high and drunk, when they try and stop him he disapears and his friends and everyone can't help the frantic parents locate him.
Meanwhile an angry but wussy father wants retribution for his daughter whose life a teacher has made hell by pointing out her moustache. The mother of the suicide victim finds evidence her son was not alone on the roof the day he died. A couple also is on a violent rampage killing suburban housewives which will test a female homicide detective's ability to control her resentul of her promotion longer serving male officers who want to undermine her the first chance they get.
Book Review: Nice blend of enjoyment--and thought provoking read
Summary: 4 Stars
Harlan Coben is a master at writing novels with twists you didn't see coming and when they arrive, you never feel cheated. His current novel, Hold Tight, is a page turner. My only criticisms are that there are so many sub plots that it is sometimes distracting and occasionally frustrating.
Coben starts fast and makes sure he's got you at the edge of your chair. A woman (Marianne) is sitting in a bar. Her internal dialogue is about her ability to screw up anything good in life. She's drawn into a conversation with a man and a woman sitting on either side of her, and the next thing you know, she's brutally murdered.
The novel switches to Dr. Mike Baye and his family; wife Tia and their two children. The Baye's teenage son, Adam, has become withdrawn, sullen and difficult, following the suicide of a friend. The Bayes are concerned and use a computer monitoring program to see what is going on in his life. While they are uncomfortable about spying, they believe it is their job as parents to keep Adam safe. The Bayes learn that Adam may be in some trouble.
The threads of the book begin fanning out as we meet Hester Crimstein, Tia's no-nonsense boss who demands work be number one in her employees' lives, The Lorimans have a critically ill son, Lucas, and it seems Susan Loriman has been keeping secrets from her husband.
Jill Baye is eleven and friends with Yasmin, who is being raised by a single father. Yasmin's been targeted by an unthinking teacher, and the result is devastating. We visit the local police and get involved in department struggles and whew! it is a lot to work with.
After Adam Baye disappears (he was supposed to see a hockey game with his father), his father Mike searches for him and is assaulted. Mike knows there is more going on than a missing son who is going through a troubling adolescence. It's his job as a parent to find out the truth. But the truth may cost some lives.
Armchair Interviews says: There is a lot of entertainment in Hold Tight, but there is also much to think about.