Tell No One
by Harlan Coben
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Book Reviews of Tell No One
Book Review: GOOD BOOK!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't usually pick up a novel and finish it, but everything was different with Harlan Coben's book "Tell No One". Doctor David Beck is a pediatrician at Washington Heights Clinic. He is married to a very beautiful woman named Elizabeth Parker. They go to Lake Chamine every year for their anniversary (of their first kiss)but this time something tragic happens. Elizabeth gets murdered and Dr. Beck gets struck a couple times with a base ball bat leading to some life threatening injuries.
The police end up getting Kill Roy (a cereal killer) arrested for the murder of Elizabeth Parker. But later on there is evidence to connect Beck to Elizabeth's murder 8 years ago. The police start an investigation to find out who the real killer is.
While the police investigate the 8 year old murder, Beck is receiving anonymous emails which say stuff that only Elizabeth and Beck would know. Beck starts to believe that Elizabeth might have sent these emails and she may still be alive.
Beck gets a warning that the police are going to arrest him for killing his wife, whom he loves more then anything. Beck ends up toying with the law just to see if Elizabeth is really alive. The story becomes a thrilling chase to find a wanted man named Dr. David Beck.
So who actually killed Elizabeth? Is Elizabeth really alive? Who knows, read this suspenseful book and find out!
Book Review: A Twisting, Turning, Convoluted Mess!
Summary: 1 Stars
In my only other review of a Coben book('Gone For Good') I was concerned that he was relying too much on formulaic plots(guy loses girl, goes through hell, uncovers 'deep, dark, secret', and big plot twist at the end reveals all.)
Unfortunately, every one of those characteristics is present in 'TNO', and the result is a terrible novel! It's not even good enough to be classed as a 'fun junk food' read. The plot is full of idiotic developments that are meant to be 'surprises', and ridiculously convoluted action/chase scenes. Yet another aspiring screenplay masquerading as a book.
I won't even attempt to explain the plot. I suppose the only good thing I can say about the story is it didn't turn out to be another hokey 'serial killer' drama, after all...though that would have been an improvement!
There are far too many cases of characters 'keeping secrets' and double-crossing each other...but the 'big secret' revealed at the end is the worst of all, destroying the slim chance that the reader might actually salvage something from this train-wreck.Plenty of other readers have already commented on the ridiculous supporting cast, which seems to be a Coben trademark, alongside his New York settings and poor plotting, so I'll skip them, and hope 'Hester' doesn't mind!
Read if you're a Coben fan, skip if you actually like stories that make sense and lead somewhere!
Book Review: Reads fast, lucky for its sake
Summary: 1 Stars
A very fast paced novel, and thankfully because as you think about the crimes that were supposedly committed and subsequently investigated by police and then closed - you laugh outloud at the unreality of it. These Keystone Kops couldn't find a matzoh in Brooklyn. It was reduced to comic book "take it on face value" logic, more for Hollywood then for serious writers who should have the time and space to develop realistic plots and situations. One example is the bad guy's invincible omniscience handed to him by literally bugging every house, phone line and computer in Christendom, for years on end no less. Maybe if the victim cleaned his house once in 8 years he could find these bugs in every pore of his living space. I was laughing too hard or I would have helped him. The story gets too ponderous to believe, by the time you realize the plot is as leaky as an Enron tax return, you're sucked in and you owe it to yourself to finish. Don't expect to be enchanted and mystified with the ending, it's not Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz in climax but more like Archie and Edith Bunker.
So if you can check your intellect at the door, sit down with the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and Spiderman, you'll have a fast pace read, that even is so bold as to pit a black drug dealer against a billionaire businessmen's own personal Odd Job. Maybe Hollywood will make it more believable?
Book Review: complex but flawed
Summary: 3 Stars
The beginning of the first chapter seemed a little trite and cliched, but I stuck with it. By the end of the third chapter, this book gave me a chill that not even Stephen King could achieve. Unfortunately, that was the high point. My problems with the novel: 1) Coben occasionally undercuts the seriousness of the situation with sarcasm, and some of his metaphors get in the way (there's a boxing analogy during one key confrontation that goes on too long); 2) Some of the characters (the FBI agents, Eric Wu) are a little too broadly drawn, and seem almost cartoonish; 3)Some of the characters have epiphanies at just the right moment to save their skins (Beck taking his dog for a walk, Elizabeth at the airport); 4)there is a bit too much coincidence, and everything fits together too neatly, like a small jigsaw puzzle; and finally 5) the very last revelation at the end seemed to negate some of what came before, i.e., if it were true, why did Beck do some of the things he did? I know part of the reason I didn't like this novel is me-- I like my fiction very dark (Thompson, Vachss, Sjowall and Wahloo), but the problem also lies with much mystery fiction today-- it's the equivalent of a three card monte dealer, relying more on fooling the reader than it does in being grounded in real-life psychology. As clever as this novel is, I only give it a passing grade.Book Review: Great Book!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't usually pick up a novel and finish it, but everything was different with Harlan Coben's book "Tell No One". Doctor David Beck is a pediatrician at Washington Heights Clinic. He is married to a very beautiful woman named Elizabeth Parker. They go to Lake Chamine every year for their anniversary (of their first kiss) when something tragic happens. Elizabeth gets murdered and Dr. Beck get struck a couple times with a base ball bat leading to some pretty serious injuries.
The police end up getting Kill Roy (a cereal killer) arrested for the muder of Elizabeth Parker. But later on there is evidence to connect Beck to Elizabeth's murder 8 years ago. The police start an investigation to find out who the real killer is.
While the police are investigating the 8 year old murder, Beck is receiving anonymous emails which say stuff that only Elizabeth and Beck would know. Beck starts to beleive that Elizabeth sent these emails and she may still be alive.
Beck gets a warning that the police want to arrest him for killing his wife, whom he loves very much, before the time that he and Elizabeth are to meet. Beck ends up toying with the law just to see if Elizabeth is realy alive.
So who actuallykilled Elizabeth? Is Elizabeth really alive? Who knows, read this suspenseful book and find out!