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wdecora's review against another edition
3.0
I cut this book slack since I knew that it was Coben's first novel. It has all the beginnings of his later great storytelling, but what it really needed was an editor. It could've been 100 pages shorter and still told the tale.
littletaiko's review against another edition
3.0
Anyone who has never read Harlan Coben before needs to stay far, far away from this book. Please follow the disclaimer he has at the front of the book to please start with one of his other books. The reason being that Play Dead is the first book he ever wrote and has been recently re-released. There are parts of the book where you can see the write to come but oh boy, parts of this are really bad. It reads like something a young male would write for his first book. As a big fan of his, I found it amusing to read and to admire how far he's come.
shannan208's review
3.0
A decent story, but it tries a bit too hard to be suspenseful in my opinion.
_lilbey_'s review against another edition
3.0
I kept in mind the whole time that this was his first book, and I think that helped. Most plot points were totally predictable, and the ones that were confusing had a lot of explication near the end, which I think indicated that perhaps they didn't track as well as an author would hope. I did enjoy it tho, as I enjoy most of Coben's books.
mnyberg's review
3.0
An average sports themed mystery. Coben's first novel. He definitely improves over time.
eleri_j's review
2.0
Any book that begins with a disclaimer from the author telling you not to read it because it's horrific is probably going to be a bad choice.
It was definitely bad - although not as bad as I initially thought. I may have even given an extra star if it wasn't for the disclaimer - I just don't think anybody should ever slag off their own work like that.
There were a lot of problems with it but I kept reading and actually found myself enjoying it quite a bit towards the end despite its flaws. For me the writing was a bit more of a problem than the very limp and fantastical plot. So many cringey cliches and moments where I thought "did he really just write that?"
You could tell the author was really trying to shock the reader and create as many twists and surprises as possible - but despite the ridiculous plot and the far fetched twists that made no sense, it was all still very predictable and not shocking.
I haven't read any other Coben but this hasn't put me off just because I've been told that this is the dud and everything from here just gets better and better. I'm willing to give chances but I may be leaving it a little while.
It was definitely bad - although not as bad as I initially thought. I may have even given an extra star if it wasn't for the disclaimer - I just don't think anybody should ever slag off their own work like that.
There were a lot of problems with it but I kept reading and actually found myself enjoying it quite a bit towards the end despite its flaws. For me the writing was a bit more of a problem than the very limp and fantastical plot. So many cringey cliches and moments where I thought "did he really just write that?"
You could tell the author was really trying to shock the reader and create as many twists and surprises as possible - but despite the ridiculous plot and the far fetched twists that made no sense, it was all still very predictable and not shocking.
I haven't read any other Coben but this hasn't put me off just because I've been told that this is the dud and everything from here just gets better and better. I'm willing to give chances but I may be leaving it a little while.
gunjan2024's review
4.0
This is my second one by Harlen Coben after Long lost and to be honest and against so many reviews here, I found this one more astounding than Long Lost albeit of it having the first book by him.
The mystery was so gripping and felt like layers that you can't abstain yourself pulling from.
I didn't find any issue with story having most beautiful characters on Earth. After all this was the first one by him and he deserves a little bit of Mercy for mentioning cliches in his novel. I put that thing away and focused on storyline which was brilliant. Writing your first book and writing it like this, is not everyone's cup of tea. I highly appreciate this beyond any cliche or equivocation.
Moreover, I am too excited to read other books by him, I have Gone for Good in my shelf already and will come for that after having a little interaction with Agatha Christie.
If I talk of Story,
The story surrounds Ayars and Baskins and few of their aquitances. It all starts with the honeymoon of David Baskin and Laura Ayars, where Laura Ayars finds that her beloved husband has been died of tragedy. Her world fell apart. But, that wasn't all, so many mysteries we're yet to be unveiled which could make her world burn in ashes and it did. Only, truth and her love for her husband and the eagerness to know the truth saved her but not few people who had already died.
The mystery was so gripping and felt like layers that you can't abstain yourself pulling from.
I didn't find any issue with story having most beautiful characters on Earth. After all this was the first one by him and he deserves a little bit of Mercy for mentioning cliches in his novel. I put that thing away and focused on storyline which was brilliant. Writing your first book and writing it like this, is not everyone's cup of tea. I highly appreciate this beyond any cliche or equivocation.
Moreover, I am too excited to read other books by him, I have Gone for Good in my shelf already and will come for that after having a little interaction with Agatha Christie.
If I talk of Story,
The story surrounds Ayars and Baskins and few of their aquitances. It all starts with the honeymoon of David Baskin and Laura Ayars, where Laura Ayars finds that her beloved husband has been died of tragedy. Her world fell apart. But, that wasn't all, so many mysteries we're yet to be unveiled which could make her world burn in ashes and it did. Only, truth and her love for her husband and the eagerness to know the truth saved her but not few people who had already died.
andrealoverke's review
5.0
Coben is so good at creating characters, making them develop through the story and building tension. It has everything I love in a story. I don't want to know from the first chapters who did it. I hate it when I guess it right. But that never happened with Coben before. His story always unfolds in the most unexpected way. Although this was his first book, I still enjoyed it. But it's not his best.==== Basket player David Baskin and his girlfriend Laura Ayers are on their honeymoon when he drowns in the sea. A couple of months later a new basket player joins Baskin's team. Laura is blown away by his game because he plays just like her deceased husband. She feels something is not right and starts digging in his past and her own. She discovers some dark family secrets that include murder and lies.===
neesh_reads's review
I know I'm late reading this lol. But! This book was amazing. Harlan has quickly become one of my favorite authors and I am not surprised his earlier writes were just as good as his stuff now. So many twists and turns