Tell No One
by Harlan Coben
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Book Reviews of Tell No One
Book Review: Coben does it again
Summary: 5 Stars
To me, the mark of a great suspense novel is when you have two contradictory feelings while reading it: you want to read it as fast as possible to find out what happens, but also you want to go slowly, not wanting it to end. Based on this criteria, Harlan Coben consistently puts out great books, and Tell No One is no exception.
Tell No One begins with a brief prologue following David Beck and his new wife, Elizabeth. David and Elizabeth have known each other since childhood and, to the narrator David, they were soulmates upon first meeting. Revisiting an isolated campsite where they first kissed as kids, David is severely beaten and Elizabeth is apparently killed by a notorious serial killer. The word "apparently" is used for two reasons: one, there are doubts that the killer (now on death row) was actually responsible; and two, David is presented with evidence that she may still be alive.
This evidence is presented eight years later when the bulk of the novel takes place. The digging up of a couple bodies near the campsite triggers a new investigation of the old crime, with the police and FBI now looking at David as an apparent suspect. Meanwhile, David receives an e-mail that refers to things only Elizabeth would know. This is followed by other proof that she might be alive (or it might be a hoax). Somehow, a billionaire named Griffin Scope fits into all this; Griffin's involvement brings in the nasty assassin, Eric Wu, who leaves a trail of dead bodies of his own.
Most of the story has David desperately seeking the truth with both killers and cops out to stop him. Coben keeps things moving along quickly with a high level of suspense. As a small bonus, Hester Crimstein, a character from his top-notch Myron Bolitar series, has a minor but critical role in this book. There might be slight problems in the story, but they are only slight and only noticeable in retrospect. This is a great page-turner by an author who's one of the best in his field.
Book Review: Riveting!
Summary: 4 Stars
How riveting is Tell No One by Harlan Coben? It was riveting enough that I carried this book with me everywhere I went for two days straight. I find Coben to be a step above the other prolific mystery writers, such as James Patterson and Robert Parker.
Pediatrician David Beck is a young widower, having lost his wife eight years before in a heinous crime. Elizabeth Beck was kidnapped and found dead along the side of a road five days later. David was clubbed with a baseball bat and left for dead. Beck has never gotten over the loss of his wife, immersing himself in his work. One night, he receives an email telling him to click on a hyperlink at "kiss time." Only Elizabeth knew that was 6:15 PM. David starts double-checking on the things that happened eight years ago. Two bodies are also found near the original crime scene (a long-abandoned overnight camp owned by the Beck family) and the police begin to think that Beck may actually have been his wife's killer. As Beck begins investigating what really happened that night, it becomes obvious that he is dealing with a rich, powerful and dangerous person. It is a race to clear his name and to find out the true story before Beck himself is killed. This one had me going until the surprise ending.
What makes me appreciate Tell No One is the fine writing. From page one, Coben pours it on. Beck observes "There are misfortunes we almost expect in life--what happened to my parents, for example--and then there are other dark moments, moments of sudden violence, that alter everything. There was my life before the tragedy. There is my life now. The two have painfully little in common." Also, Coben has one of the best supporting characters in any mystery, drug dealer Tyrese Barton. Dr. Beck treats Tyrese's blind, hemophiliac toddler son. It will take Tyrese's unorthodox talents to help the endangered doctor.
I don't pick up every book that Coben publishes, but when I do read one, I'm never disappointed.
Book Review: Truly Sensational
Summary: 5 Stars
Eight years ago, Dr. David Beck was severely beaten and rendered unconscious and his wife, Elizabeth Beck, was kidnapped. A few day later, she was found dead and presumed to have been murdered by KillRoy. Exactly eight years later, two bodies are found at the same place Elizabeth was taken, and the authorities begin questioning the unsolved pieces of Elizabeth's murder. As they are putting the final puzzle pieces together and connecting these three murders, the evidence seems to be pointing towards Beck being the killer.
At the same time, Beck is receiving e-mails from an anonymous person who uses codes that only Beck and his wife knew. He, too, starts questioning his wifes murder. He puts the situation into his own hands to find out the truth to what really happened. Little does he know he is being closely watched, not only by the authorities but also by someone else, someone who also has people working for him and who does anything to keep many dark secrets -the truths- from being revealed.
Dr. Beck is a gentle, good willed, and respectable man with unconditional love for Elizabeth who would do anything to have her back. And the strange e-mails someone is giving him is beginning to make him believe that she is still alive. His love for her is so strong and overpowering that he breaks the law just for one chance of possibly seeing her, if she is still alive. But even his wrong doings are comprehendable. The events that he goes through cause you to understand how he feels and why he does what he does. They are not unrealistic, they are only part of being human.
Coben is fantastic at getting the reader instantly hooked to his book. By the end of the first chapter, there is already a mystery with many unanswered questions that push you to keep reading to find out more. And the more you read, the more questions there are that put you in complete suspense and grip you to the book. Overall, it's a well thought out book with high climax's and a good plot.
Book Review: Good foray beyond the Myron Bolitar world
Summary: 4 Stars
Author Harlan Coben in his first venture outside his Myron Bolitar series really has not deviated much from that proven script by producing a page-turning suspenseful story with some interesting and largely sympathetic characters.The story revolves around the abrupt disappearance of the childhood sweetheart and then wife of Dr. David Beck, Elizabeth, some eight years prior during a nocturnal outing at a private lake. Elizabeth's body was supposedly found days later, the victim of a serial killer. But after all of that time, strange things begin happening. Two bodies are found at the same lake and Dr. Beck receives some mysterious E-mails. Dr. Beck, not having quite the resourcefulness of the redoubtable Myron, fumbles his way through these developments and even draws suspicion to himself as a suspect.
Dr. Beck gets a lot of support from an old college friend and now a lesbian super-model and a crusty, tough female lawyer as the mystery unfolds. He gains some exceedingly timely assistance from the network of a street drug-dealer whose son is a patient at the clinic where Dr. Beck works as a pediatrician. There is a certain amount of inexplicable computer expertise exhibited by not only the bad guys tracking Dr. Beck's every move but also by the mysterious E-Mail sender.
Plausibility may be stretched at times in this story and several fairly important developments are largely left unexplained. For example, a fugitive who has hidden in the area of the private lake for thirty years is convenient for the story but the reader learns little about him. The role of the father of the murdered wife is key, but good explanations for his behavior given the story outcome are somewhat lacking.
Despite any shortcomings the book will keep the reader's interest. There is a compelling main story line, not to be revealed here. It will be interesting to see how Coben does in his other non-Bolitar books.
Book Review: Well Made Genre Novel
Summary: 4 Stars
Many writers of thrillers and crime fiction are more interested in deconstructing complex events than they are in creating real characters. This certainly applies to Harlan Coben in TELL NO ONE, where this reader found an involving mystery that did not really carry a cast of characters who, to me, were largely stick-figures or clichés.
Dr. David Beck, the protagonist of this mystery, is my case in point. Here, Coben writes Beck as a very decent man who yearns for his wife, eight years after her purported death. But Beck's voice never acquires much depth or credibility, even though he narrates many chapters. Thus, his adventures-and they are many-capture a flat semi-character, not a person reacting to events. Upshot: After roughly 200 pages, Dr. Beck ceased to involve me. Thereafter, only plot existed to sustain my interest.
Further, many characters are outright clichés. These include Griffin Scope, the evil corporate big shot; Shauna, the brash and beautiful lesbian; and Hester Crimstein, the criminal defense lawyer. (Every cop is right out of central casting.) Meanwhile, Coben writes others counter to type. These include Larry Gandle, the avuncular murderer; Eric Wu, the murderous Asian computer nerd; and Tyrese, the paternal drug dealer. But these characters are still stereotypes, even though Coben adorns them with antipodal qualities.
Why go on about characters in a mystery? Certainly, Coben fans and readers who love this genre will find TELL NO ONE to be an accomplished and involving novel. Reason: It includes snappy dialogue, some lovely prose at the beginning of many chapters, and an intense and totally involving chase, with the wimpy Dr. Beck escaping from the police in a burnt-out section of New York. Still, those who like to read about characters pushing through emotional challenge will find this mystery thin.