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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
My first Coben book. And so it’s maybe why I liked it so much. Dont judge me. But I like over the top out of this world books. That ending made me sad. But really Maya was never a good mom. My anxiety was through the roof when she kept on leaving her daughter. Maybe because the author is male? Thats why he wrote Maya like that.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
I would say 3.5 stars for this book. I have a few thoughts.
1. It seemed like she followed too many leads and they all didn’t mean anything in the end. It was more complicated than it needed to be.
2. I don’t love that she left her daughter with her drunk brother in law. I feel like he turned out to be a good choice. But at the beginning of the story he had completely fallen apart and was described as weak. It seemed like a big risk to leave her daughter with him.
3. I don’t love how they painted maya as a good guy in the end. I think she was a very deeply troubled individual who murdered a man (even if he was guilty). And she also, did some terrible things in the war. Although I can understand her motives for what she did, I don’t agree with them and can’t view her as a hero. Especially when she allowed herself to be killed. She could have come up with a plan to expose Joe’s family without herself getting killed. She had a daughter to think of.
4. The wrap up really explained a lot of things in the story and brought it together really well! It explained why she was rather distant from her daughter in my opinion. It also explained why she was not very concerned with seeing her husband on the tape. She wasn’t worried because she knew he was dead. It also explained a lot of Maya’s behavior and personality. It explained why she seemed so disconnected with everything and why she acted oddly at times.
5. I love how the author wove everything together at the end so it all made sense. The story was somewhat elaborate and confusing at some points. So I liked how we’ll he wrapped it up.
6. I will say, I read this book fast. The beginning 200 pages or so and the last 50 pages or so flew by. The middle of the book lagged a bit.
In conclusion, there were parts about this book I did and didn’t like. It did leave me reeling for sure.
1. It seemed like she followed too many leads and they all didn’t mean anything in the end. It was more complicated than it needed to be.
2. I don’t love that she left her daughter with her drunk brother in law. I feel like he turned out to be a good choice. But at the beginning of the story he had completely fallen apart and was described as weak. It seemed like a big risk to leave her daughter with him.
3. I don’t love how they painted maya as a good guy in the end. I think she was a very deeply troubled individual who murdered a man (even if he was guilty). And she also, did some terrible things in the war. Although I can understand her motives for what she did, I don’t agree with them and can’t view her as a hero. Especially when she allowed herself to be killed. She could have come up with a plan to expose Joe’s family without herself getting killed. She had a daughter to think of.
4. The wrap up really explained a lot of things in the story and brought it together really well! It explained why she was rather distant from her daughter in my opinion. It also explained why she was not very concerned with seeing her husband on the tape. She wasn’t worried because she knew he was dead. It also explained a lot of Maya’s behavior and personality. It explained why she seemed so disconnected with everything and why she acted oddly at times.
5. I love how the author wove everything together at the end so it all made sense. The story was somewhat elaborate and confusing at some points. So I liked how we’ll he wrapped it up.
6. I will say, I read this book fast. The beginning 200 pages or so and the last 50 pages or so flew by. The middle of the book lagged a bit.
In conclusion, there were parts about this book I did and didn’t like. It did leave me reeling for sure.
This one wasn’t a hit for me. Plot was all over the place, too many characters who were unrelevant, and the twist was hardly surprising
Interesting. I kinda liked this, I think, but perhaps it wasn't the best choice for my first [a:Harlan Coben|24689|Harlan Coben|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1361316023p2/24689.jpg](?)
Coben has long been on a mental list of mine - along with [a:Koontz|9355|Dean Koontz|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1487353807p2/9355.jpg], [a:Child|5091|Lee Child|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1377708686p2/5091.jpg], [a:Grisham|721|John Grisham|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1413390525p2/721.jpg], [a:James Patterson|3780|James Patterson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1468347205p2/3780.jpg] and [a:Connelly|12470|Michael Connelly|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1406128068p2/12470.jpg] - of well-loved mystery/thriller authors I have never read. After he made an appearance as a character in King's latest novel, [b:The Outsider|36124936|The Outsider|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1524596540s/36124936.jpg|57566471], I decided it was finally time.
And... um, I can see why people like him. In [b:Fool Me Once|26109394|Fool Me Once|Harlan Coben|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1443190440s/26109394.jpg|45536239] he pulls out a perfect "oh, of course!" reveal. The kind that makes you look back over the novel and see that it makes absolute sense. Any author can pull something ludicrous out of their ass to surprise their readers, but it takes a great author to weave a plot tight enough to keep its secrets hidden while still being believable.
The story follows Maya in the aftermath of her husband's murder. She's a former special ops pilot and suffering from PTSD as she tries to raise her two year-old daughter as a single mother. She gets a nanny cam to keep an eye on her daughter's activities while she's at work, but then one day she sees something very strange: her dead husband, Joe, playing with their daughter on the film. This triggers a series of events that will lead Maya to old secrets, cover-ups, and lies left hidden for years.
The problem is, I found the getting there a little dry and overlong. Maya's third-person perspective was not engaging, often devoid of emotion in circumstances that should have been highly tense and emotional. Plus, the first 75% of the book felt dragged out and longer than it needed to be. Maya spent multiple scenes reiterating the possibilities of what could have happened, considering if Joe could be alive or if someone messed with the cam. I think King can get away with this much waffle but, here at least, Coben can't.
Emotion aside, it was a clever mystery with lots of twists and turns, but I am first and foremost an emotional reader. When I think of thriller authors I enjoy - like [a:French|138825|Tana French|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1277505771p2/138825.jpg] or [a:Lehane|10289|Dennis Lehane|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1227580381p2/10289.jpg], or even [a:King|3389|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1362814142p2/3389.jpg] - I always feel so much more emotionally-engaged while reading their books.
Is there another Coben book I should try?
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Youtube
Coben has long been on a mental list of mine - along with [a:Koontz|9355|Dean Koontz|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1487353807p2/9355.jpg], [a:Child|5091|Lee Child|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1377708686p2/5091.jpg], [a:Grisham|721|John Grisham|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1413390525p2/721.jpg], [a:James Patterson|3780|James Patterson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1468347205p2/3780.jpg] and [a:Connelly|12470|Michael Connelly|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1406128068p2/12470.jpg] - of well-loved mystery/thriller authors I have never read. After he made an appearance as a character in King's latest novel, [b:The Outsider|36124936|The Outsider|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1524596540s/36124936.jpg|57566471], I decided it was finally time.
And... um, I can see why people like him. In [b:Fool Me Once|26109394|Fool Me Once|Harlan Coben|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1443190440s/26109394.jpg|45536239] he pulls out a perfect "oh, of course!" reveal. The kind that makes you look back over the novel and see that it makes absolute sense. Any author can pull something ludicrous out of their ass to surprise their readers, but it takes a great author to weave a plot tight enough to keep its secrets hidden while still being believable.
The story follows Maya in the aftermath of her husband's murder. She's a former special ops pilot and suffering from PTSD as she tries to raise her two year-old daughter as a single mother. She gets a nanny cam to keep an eye on her daughter's activities while she's at work, but then one day she sees something very strange: her dead husband, Joe, playing with their daughter on the film. This triggers a series of events that will lead Maya to old secrets, cover-ups, and lies left hidden for years.
The problem is, I found the getting there a little dry and overlong. Maya's third-person perspective was not engaging, often devoid of emotion in circumstances that should have been highly tense and emotional. Plus, the first 75% of the book felt dragged out and longer than it needed to be. Maya spent multiple scenes reiterating the possibilities of what could have happened, considering if Joe could be alive or if someone messed with the cam. I think King can get away with this much waffle but, here at least, Coben can't.
Emotion aside, it was a clever mystery with lots of twists and turns, but I am first and foremost an emotional reader. When I think of thriller authors I enjoy - like [a:French|138825|Tana French|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1277505771p2/138825.jpg] or [a:Lehane|10289|Dennis Lehane|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1227580381p2/10289.jpg], or even [a:King|3389|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1362814142p2/3389.jpg] - I always feel so much more emotionally-engaged while reading their books.
Is there another Coben book I should try?
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Youtube
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes