Tell No One
by Harlan Coben
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Book Reviews of Tell No One
Book Review: I just don't get it....
Summary: 1 Stars
I've read better fiction in my freshmen creative writing class. At least, the students have been exposed to the elements of a good story.
Every one of Coben's characters in this book are one-dimensional. The good guys are very, very good and the bad guys are truly evil. The hero is a doctor who loves practicing in the inner city, marries his high school sweetheart, and has a lesbian sister. His wife disappears and is found dead three days later with the letter "K" branded on her face.
Fast forward 8 years. The hero receives a startling email that leads him to a webcam where his back-from-the-dead wife silently mouths the words "I'm sorry" and then disappears. Our hero will stop at nothing to find her. I kept wishing he would so the book would end.
The bad guy is a billionaire with more tentacles than an army of octopi. Oh yeah, the bad guy hires hit men who break concrete blocks with their hands and kill their victim by thrusting their bare hands into their innards. *Yawn.*
I'm not sure if Coben thinks his choppy non-sentences are clever or if he uses them to fill in the huge gaps between important thoughts, but they don't work; not even in a tongue-in-cheek way.
What bothers me more than the author's bad writing/plot/characters is that lot of talented writers can't find a publisher, while this hack continues to churn out tripe like TELL NO ONE.
If you like to read and have some time to kill, help me grade my freshman class' essays. They're better than this. Trust me.
Book Review: Highly entertaining summer read
Summary: 4 Stars
I finished this book in one enjoyable day involving a long airplane trip. I chose this book because I enjoyed Harlan Coben's more recent thriller, "Gone for Good". There are many similarities between the two books that made them both enjoyable reads--a loved one missing for a long period, likable characters, particularly the main character and fast paced action.Tell No One involves a very nice guy, David Beck, whose wife was murdered years ago. Beck, a pediatrician who works in a ghetto clinic, has never recovered from this loss--his childhood sweetheart and love of his life. When he gets an email from someone who appears to be his wife on a special anniversary known only to them, his life gets turned upside down. Others are also interested in his wife's murder or reappearance from the FBI who try to set him up for the murder, to nefarious characters who don't want her to reappear. Beck walks a fine line to avoid both types of enemies to find out if his wife is alive. He makes an unlikely alliance with a drug dealer who is the father of one of his patients and that world adds interest. When the plot winds down, we get a big surprise that doesnt seem to ring as true as the rest of the story--this is my only complaint with an otherwise enjoyable book.
Although this is a stand-alone book, it has settings and minor characters that cross over into the later book, Gone for Good. I give the later book a slightly better rating due to its more satisfying ending but I recommend both books.
Book Review: Not worth reading
Summary: 1 Stars
Dr Beck, a physician, witness the kidnapping and subsequent dissapearance of his wife during a romantic date in a secluded place called Lake Chermaine. This is the place where they kissed for the first time and hides secrets that only both of them know. Eight years later, Dr Beck gets an e-mail with an indication that his wife may still be alive and the story begins to unfoldThough this book could be placed into the mystery and thriller genre I can affirm that it is only an attempt to make a tedious plot that was incredibly poorly written to the point that can be read like the technical specification of a piece of machinery
Except Beck, most of the characters were poorly created and developed, that is, what many readers wittily call cardboard made, the thugs looked pitiful, so at one point I wanted to call it quits but made an effort and went all the way to the end. By the way, this book took me almost two months to read, certainly engrossing,...isn't it ?
At the ending, the author takes a chance to finish this flop not elaborating something out of a bright idea but instead deceiving the readers making them think that are being lead to the best throughout cunning twist and turns when in fact what he does is to play asinine games with his already feeble characters
Dissapointing, and as I did one more time like many others, I ended with a sleazy book in my hands deluded by helpful five stars reviews and a four star average, falling again in a trap
So.., watch out !!!
Book Review: A Book You Can't Put Down
Summary: 5 Stars
Doctor Beck and his wife Elizabeth fell in love when they were 12 years old. They spent their teenage years together, and ended up getting married as adults. Every year on their anniversary, the two would go to the tree where they had their first kiss and add a notch under their initials. But on their 13th anniversary, when they came back to the tree, Elizabeth is kidnapped and murdered.
Trying to move on with his life, Beck dates some women here and there, but he can't seem to find the perfect relationship. 8 years after Elizabeth disappears, Beck recieves a mysterious e-mail and a picture of Elizabeth on his computer that makes him go nuts. The message warns Beck to "tell no one". As Beck tries to figure it out, he is accused of the murder of 2 other bodies found in the same location Elizabeth was kidnapped. Trying to prove his innocence, Beck finds out that Elizabeths Best Friend has been murdered too. While David tries to resolve the mystery of his supposedly dead wife, nothing will stop him.
I would deffinatley reccommend this book to anyone. It is one great fast paced mystery that you can't put down. Every chapter leaves you hanging with possibilites, either leading you in the wrong direction, or to the unthinkable. The characters in this book were also great. I really liked David, because he was protrayed as such a caring and loving person.
Harlan Coben's writing style was especially good, because he can really make a scene seem real.
Book Review: This Guy's Good!
Summary: 5 Stars
After reading "Gone for Good," I was certain Coben knew how to tell a riveting, tightly-twisting tale. Now, having gone backwards chronologically to read "Tell No One," I'm convinced...This guy's good!"Tell No One" cranks up the adrenaline levels, but never forgets that it's dealing with real people. We follow Dr. David Beck's attempts to uncover the truth of his wife's murder eight years previous. Out of the blue, Beck is receiving emails that imply Elizabeth is actually alive. The more he tries to figure things out, the more deadly the game becomes, the more shady each character's actions seem. Coben's secret is that he makes us care about these characters. The resulting suspense is more than cheap Hollywood thrills; it's unabashed concern--gulp, even emotion--for this story of love and terror and redemption.
As usual, Coben doesn't let us relax too much. He not only keeps the humor and social insights coming, he twists us around with one plot twist after another. He may use larger than life villians to add a sense of danger, but he uses very real, normal protagonists to drive the story--and these very real, normal people do very real, not so normal things. Almost everyone has a secret to hide, and the reader has the pleasure of watching the story unfold.
Once again, Harlan Coben shows his stuff. In the end, we are left with a deeply satisfying tale that ticks with the precision of a Swiss timepiece, yet continues to beat with the heart of its characters.