Scan barcode
traceyanneg's review against another edition
3.0
I probably have read too many of the Myron Bolitar series in a short time period because this one didn't really rock my world. It was good, but not in the kind of way where I couldn't put it down.
warri0rprincess's review against another edition
1.0
horrible, one of his first books. Full of language, sex and just poor writing. Not worth my time.
jacki_f's review against another edition
2.0
This is Harlan Coben's first book, which has been out of print for several years but was recently re-released. The author has written an introduction in which he essentially admits that it isn't up to the standard of his other books - and he's quite right. Play Dead is a convoluted, poorly written mess. The early chapters of this book were so bad that I almost gave up, but it does improve (slightly) and I was sufficiently curious about how the plot would resolve itself to stick it out until the end.
The story kicks off with Laura and David celebrating their honeymoon in Australia. She is a former supermodel who is now a highly successful businesswoman and he is an NBA superstar. David goes for a swim and doesn't return. A few days later a body is found and identified as David by his best friend. Laura is devastated, but as time passes she starts to suspect that his death wasn't a simple accident. From the outset it's clear that several friends and family members are keeping secrets and that at least some of them know more about David's disappearance than they are letting on.
It's pretty obvious to the reader from the word go that David's death is a cover up, but the why isn't revealed until quite late in the piece. Perhaps a better writer - an older Harlan Coben - could have held it all together, but the end result is far too drawn out, riddled with implausibilities and loose ends and just way too silly. I would advise you to avoid this one and to quote from Harlan's introduction: "Return it. Grab another (of his books). It's okay."
The story kicks off with Laura and David celebrating their honeymoon in Australia. She is a former supermodel who is now a highly successful businesswoman and he is an NBA superstar. David goes for a swim and doesn't return. A few days later a body is found and identified as David by his best friend. Laura is devastated, but as time passes she starts to suspect that his death wasn't a simple accident. From the outset it's clear that several friends and family members are keeping secrets and that at least some of them know more about David's disappearance than they are letting on.
It's pretty obvious to the reader from the word go that David's death is a cover up, but the why isn't revealed until quite late in the piece. Perhaps a better writer - an older Harlan Coben - could have held it all together, but the end result is far too drawn out, riddled with implausibilities and loose ends and just way too silly. I would advise you to avoid this one and to quote from Harlan's introduction: "Return it. Grab another (of his books). It's okay."
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 against another edition
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 against another edition
3.0
An average sports themed mystery. Coben's first novel. He definitely improves over time.
eleri_j's review against another edition
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 against another edition
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.