Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Nikom ni reči by Harlan Coben

11 reviews

beate251's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Eight years ago, Dr Beck 's wife was murdered by a serial killer, he himself left for dead. Since then, his life has been suspended in animation - he works and he grieves, that's all. One day he gets an email that seems to be coming from Elizabeth, with info only she could know - could she still be alive? But how?

What follows is a roller-coaster thriller in which we get introduced to quite a few seemingly unrelated people who find together in the end, but not before the plot has twisted like a pretzel several times. Nothing is as it seems and no one is as innocent as they first look in this fast-paced, far-fetched and very entertaining page-turner. Read it in one sitting.

One of the review excerpts from the blurb says: "This book will keep you up until 2 a.m." After I'd finished reading and written this review, I looked at my watch and it was exactly 2am! Can someone de-bug my house please?

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hannahsbookshelf's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

This plot kept me guessing. Lots of reveals throughout this fast paced novel, but Coben managed to still pull out a couple of big twists right at the end. Lots of different components come together to tell the story of Elizabeth & Beck.

A thriller with a crime edge even though the protagonist is not a detective, Beck has to try to figure out what happened 8 years ago to work out what is happening now so needs to think like a detective. Is his beloved wife, his childhood sweetheart, still alive?, and if so why was her death faked all those years ago?  

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cinzia_2509's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5


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ripxw's review against another edition

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book suffers from “did the author write a convincing racist or is the author racist” and I cannot tell, wasn’t hooked enough to subject myself to more anti-black and Asian caricatures/statements

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astoriareader's review against another edition

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mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

SYNOPSIS
  • David Beck married his childhood sweetheart, Elizabeth. While at the lake together, Elizabeth was attacked and murdered. It’s been 8 years, and David still hasn’t gotten over it or felt closure. 
  • Suddenly, David starts receiving cryptic messages that are things only Elizabeth would know. What is going on? What happened on the lake? Is Elizabeth dead?

MY THOUGHTS
  • I read this one in about 24 hours. A definite page-turner. Lots of suspense. Fast-paced. Hard to put down.
  • I enjoyed Coban’s writing style, and I found it easy to read. 
  • Satisfying ending. Coban ties everything up well, and it’s a very well plotted book. 
  • Most characters are developed well.
  • Here’s my only gripe: albeit the book was published in 2001 (aka 23 years ago), I thought the Black & Asian characters were written without any depth & in a negative way. I am curious if Coban would write these characters in the same way if he wrote this book in 2024.

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️fast-paced thriller. finished in a day. easy to read with satisfying ending.

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okayucookie's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

1.5


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w0nderland4's review against another edition

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After a random chapter, that for me, made zero sense, I put the book down and couldn't bring myself to pick it back up. I'm sure it had some relevance to the story further along the line, but for me it felt out of place.

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mariacorfias4's review against another edition

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dark hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0


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bethanyearle's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0


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malorieconway's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5


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