Tell No One
by Harlan Coben
|
List Price: Our Price: $0.99 You Save: $7.00 (88%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Tell No One
Book Review: A Non-Stop Roller-Coaster of Suspense
Summary: 4 Stars
"Tell No One" is a dazzling high-wire act of a suspense novel, over-stuffed with plot complications but nevertheless maintaining its equilibrium and delivering a solid reading experience. This accomplishment is thanks to author Harlan Coben, a plotter who daringly - perhaps dangerously - toes the lines of excess. By all rights "Tell No One" should be too much - and at one point it is, but Coben maintains his firm grip on the action and somehow manages to make it all work together. Deranged hit man? Check. Corrupt politico? Of course. Serial killer? Got it. Wrongfully accused doctor on the lam to clear his name? Present and accounted for. Cold case that may hold the key to solving it all? Check and check - two for the price of one there. And, finally, dead person who may not be so dead after all? Well, anyone who's perused the dust-jacket can tell you that that's the whole point of the novel. Throw all these elements into a blender and you should end up with a disgusting, gooey sludge, but Coben makes it all come out tasting all right, with perhaps only a mildly unpleasant aftertaste from all the competing flavors and a dizzying suspension of disbelief. The fact that it works at all, nevermind that it works well, is a credit to his prowess as a mystery writer.
Tell everyone: whether you're looking for a read for the beach, plane, or a rainy day or just in need of a break, "Tell No One" is superb escapist reading.
Grade: B
Book Review: Tell No One - When it comes to this book, I intend to follow that advice
Summary: 3 Stars
Eight years after the murder of his wife, paediatrician David Beck starts receiving anonymous emails, supposedly from his dead wife, which lead him to believe that she is alive but in grave danger.
"Tell No One" is the sort of book that, now that I have finished reading it, I will probably forget about in the space of a couple of days. It's not a terrible book, but I also didn't think it was all that great, either. Harlan Coben's writing style is easy to read, making this a speedy read that kept me reasonably entertained on my daily bus journey to and from work. However, I didn't have any trouble in putting it down and leaving it, when necessary. Its main flaw is that all of the good characters are sickeningly good (most are charity workers with politically correct attitudes and no flaws at all), and all of the bad characters are so bad that they totally deserve whatever they get. There are no real shades of grey in these characters, which makes them kind of boring. As a mystery, it is an interesting enough story, but there was nothing in it that made it stand out in my mind as being a "great" mystery and the "plot twists", although not glaringly obvious, didn't really come as much of a surprise to me when they did appear. Overall, this book does not inspire me to read anything else by Harlan Coben, and I intend to follow the advice given in the book's title, when it comes to recommending this book. That is, I intend to tell no one about it.
Book Review: Barely held on to the end...
Summary: 3 Stars
This book started promisingly, then fizzled. It was the writing itself...not great. Lots of stereotypes, cliches, repeatedly uninteresting phrasing. I thought if I heard the response "WHAT?" in dialogue one more time I would go mad. I wanted to say "DUH." I've asked it a thousand times in these reviews...don't they edit writers these days? This book is like some amateur college writing attempt...the writer had a "good idea" but wasn't experienced enough to carry it through as a truly smart, literary accomplishment.If you would like to read a fantastic book with a similar subject matter (love of a man's life, presumed dead, surfaces years later) try "Waking The Dead" by Scott Spencer. Now that's a literary masterpiece.
One other thing: I listened to this on a Recorded Books, Inc., (unabridged) presentation. The reader, an excellent character actor named Ed Sala, was very good...but too folksy! This is meant to be a New York City book, with savvy New York characters, and Ed Sala is obviously a southerner. Everybody sounded like they were from some backwater town in Kentucky or Tennessee. Hello! Was anybody home at Recorded Books, Inc., when they assigned it to Sala? It really took away from the novel, I feel. Though it wasn't, as I said, a very well-written book, it might have been authentic-sounding if someone who was a true New Yorker had read it. I hope the people at Recorded Books are listening...so to speak.
Book Review: Barely held on to the end...
Summary: 3 Stars
This book started promisingly, then fizzled. It was the writing itself...not great. Lots of stereotypes, cliches, repeatedly uninteresting phrasing. I thought if I heard the response "WHAT?" in dialogue one more time I would go mad. I wanted to say "DUH." I've asked it a thousand times in these reviews...don't they edit writers these days? This book is like some amateur college writing attempt...the writer had a "good idea" but wasn't experienced enough to carry it through as a truly smart, literary accomplishment.If you would like to read a truly fantastic book with a similar subject matter (love a man's life, presumed dead, surfaces years later) try "Waking The Dead" by Scott Spencer. Now that's a literary coup.
One other thing: I listened to this book on Recorded Books, Inc., (unabridged) tapes. The reader, an excellent character actor named Ed Sala, was very good. However, this is meant to be a New York City book, with savvy New York characters, and Ed Sala is obviously a southerner. I couldn't help seeing it taking place in some backwater town in a state like Kentucky or Tennessee. Hello! Was anybody home at Recorded Books, Inc., when they assigned it to Sala? It really took away from the novel, I feel. Though it wasn't, as I said, a very well-written book, it might have been presented more authentically if someone who was a true New Yorker had read it. I hope someone at Recorded is listening...so to speak.
Book Review: My heart jumped into my throat
Summary: 3 Stars
A few weeks ago, my wife told me she wanted to buy a book for casual reading by the swimming pool. I had read a short review of Harlan Coben's latest novel ("Gone for Good") and on the basis of that review urged her to buy it. Because she was already in the middle of another book I decided to read Coben's in the meantime. I finished it in two sunny afternoons, and I was delighted by the plotting. Needless to say, I rushed out to buy "Tell No One."The bloom is off the rose! It turns out that "Gone for Good" is a sort of variation on the theme of "Tell No One." Both involve a sad protagonist who has lost a loved-one to death (or not?), both involve family conflict, both have plot twists and surprises and chapter endings that practically beg you to read on to the next chapter.
Regrettably, Coben's writing style annoyed me. I became painfully aware of the number of times that the protagonist's heart performed one acrobatic trick or another to illustrate his surprise or fear or tension. Then I became aware of other trite references to physiological changes (dry mouth, churning stomach, etc.) My awareness of these stylistic "tics" detracted from my sheer enjoyment of the story. Coben would do better just to spin the yarn and let the reader decide how the characters would react.
Still and all, if you want a quick and entertaining story for light reading, "Tell No One" is worth your time.