Reviews - Six Years | The StoryGraph

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This is my first ‰ЫПreal‰Ыќ review. Please tell me where I go wrong and how I can improve. Thank you!

Six Years, Mystery/Thriller, Harlan Coben

Six Years kicks off with the main character, Jake Fisher, at a wedding. The problem? The wedding is between the love of his life, Natalie Avery, and her old boyfriend, Todd Sanderson. At the wedding, Natalie convinces Jake to promise her that he will leave her and Todd alone. Fast forward Six Years. Jake stumbles across Todd Sanderson‰ЫЄs obituary and the repressed emotions towards Natalie are surfaced. Jake decides to attend the funeral from a distance, unsure whether or not he is ready to reconnect with Natalie or, for that matter, if she is even open to it. At the service, Jake strains to find Natalie in the crowd. Jake finally stumbles on the wife, but she‰ЫЄs not Natalie. Confused and torn, Jake begins his search for Natalie except the only clues he has to go on are from their summer vacation fling six years ago. To make matters worse, nobody in the town they vacationed at remembers Natalie and the retreat she stayed at supposedly never existed. Jake encounters gunmen also looking for Natalie, which causes him to race to find her before they do her any harm, while Jake‰ЫЄs best friend questions whether Natalie, or the gunmen, even exist outside of Jake‰ЫЄs mind.

I understand there are many people disappointed with this book. It‰ЫЄs the first Harlan Coben book I‰ЫЄve read since middle school. So, maybe I don‰ЫЄt know better, or maybe I am just simple minded; I found myself hooked on this book from page one. I found the majority of the characters credible, but I did have a hard time with Natalie.

Spoiler

My first problem is that if she was involved with Fresh Start, she probably wasn‰ЫЄt keying into the events that happened around Jake‰ЫЄs life. That said, she could be like Jake‰ЫЄs best friend and keep watch, but, even then, she wouldn‰ЫЄt have been able to send him an email from an email address that doesn‰ЫЄt exist ‰ЫТ especially if she‰ЫЄs as computer minded as Jake. Yeah, yeah, there are ways to do it. Putting that aside, the likelihood that she was not only in the same place as Jake (at the cabin), but that she was also an expert marksman is pretty weak.

In the end, I really enjoyed this work. Coben kept me guessing and my guesses were often wrong. I would recommend this book to anybody who enjoys a lighter mystery.

hthrstarr's review against another edition

4.0

I liked it. It was a good suspenseful mystery

gabitheaustrian's review against another edition

2.0

adventurous emotional 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: Complicated

julianav's review against another edition

4.0

I love Coben's stand alone books. The premise of this book is what interested me in reading his books in the first place, despite the fact that my first book was "Stay Close". So I was pleasantly surprised to see that I did have it in my library (South African Rand doesn't get you very far with book buying) and Harlan Coben's books being what they are, I finished it the same day.

It has the same intensity and pacing as all his other books, but what stood out for me is the everyday protagonist. This isn't a detective or a former spy provoked into action by extenuating circumstances, but a regular guy without any special training trying to understand what happened to a woman he loved and lost 6 years ago.
Jake tries to figure out what happened 6 years ago and bumbles his way through it majority of the time. When the bad guys appear, he doesn't have any special moves to get out unless you count sheer dumb luck and knowing how to use his size (he's 6'5) to grab a chance of not being tortured.
Jake does figure out things, but slowly and mostly using his advantage as someone that looks at a decades old story with fresh eyes.
Whilst this is a thriller, there's character development for the hero and that's he is finally able to understand shades of grey. He doesn't quite adjust to this new world view, but it would spoil the book if he became a completely different person.

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

4.0

Finished reading: December 6th 2023

“Part of the human condition is that we all think that we are uniquely complex while everyone else is somewhat simpler to read. That is not true, of course. We all have our own dreams and hopes and wants and lust and heartaches. We all have our own brand of crazy.”

It had been a while since I last read a physical copy, so I decided to pick up Six Years on a whim last month. I ended up putting it temporarily on hold because I had a couple pressing ARC deadlines, but that didn't mean I wasn't enjoying it... In fact, once I did pick it up again, I literally couldn't stop reading and finished it in one sitting. There is something strangely addictive about Harlan Coben's writing, and I know I can turn to his books whenever I need an entertaining and thrilling ride. Six Years is without doubt no exception to that rule, and I was hooked almost straight away. The mystery around Natalie had me on the edge of my seat, and I never guessed the full scope and full truth about it all. Sure, things can be said about the plot being completely over the top and rather farfetched, but I personally didn't mind because the entertainment factor was high. The main character Jake Fisher is more stubborn than a mule, but there is also something about him that makes you want to root for him and discover the truth about it all. There is no doubt that Six Years was another successful Harlan Coben story for me, and I'm already looking forward to the next one.

Content Warnings