Reviews - Tell No One | The StoryGraph

1.7k reviews for:

The description of this book made it sound like it was going to be a great read. A thriller, a grieving young husband, a tragically murdered wife, mysterious emails...It all seemed like a great recipe for a good story. But somehow it never came together for me and at the end, this book left me feeling kind of disappointed.
The characters were flat. I didn't feel any connection to Beck, who honestly seemed like he tried his hardest to make every stupid decision possible. I think his job working with "the poor" was supposed to make us like him more, because he sacrificed a career as a great surgeon to be a pediatrician. However, Beck is so rude, judgmental, and prejudiced to his patients that it just makes him seem like a bigger jerk. He seems to have no compassion and understanding for the lives of his patients and the choices they make. Through Beck, Coben displays a gross racist and bigoted attitude. There is even an entire paragraph about how "these people" abuse medicaid in all kinds of ways. The rant doesn't advance the story, help the plot, do anything for the characters, it's just there for no reason other than Coben apparently feels like poor people look for any way they can to abuse the system and he wanted to make sure to express that. The main female characters (Elizabeth, Kim, and Linda) are sweet, weak, feminine, adorable, and pliable; with the exception of Shauna and she's super model who can't have a regular relationship without feeling trapped. And every POC in the book is a gross stereotype. The ghetto gangsters, the evil asian martial artist, the drug addicted Latisha, etc etc. I suppose Coben gets a point for including a lesbian couple, but even they seem like stereotypes with little to no depth, and this doesn't make up for everything else.
And Elizabeth. Oh sweet, perfect, saintly Elizabeth. She has no flaws in personality or appearance -- and she is not interesting in any way.
The story itself feels driven by unlikely events that just conveniently makes things come together. Tyrese, the everpresent bugs revealing everything at all times, the boogeyman.....etc, etc.
And the final huge revelation makes no sense whatsover. Who the hell kills an intruder and then asks NO questions whatsover when they return home a few hours later after a panicked run and everything is completely cleaned up?? Am I to believe that neither Beck nor Elizabeth bring up the fact that there was a dead body in the house (Elizabeth: "I came home and Brandon was dead in our house. WHAT HAPPENED?!") and it's no longer there (Beck: "Where did the body and all the blood go??"). They just both went about their business pretending nothing happened??
The writing wasn't great, the characters were terrible, and it was just not a great story. All in all, underwhelming.

thehippster's review against another edition

3.0

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I honestly think I would have enjoyed this book more had I not consumed it in the audiobook version. I got very lost in the changing POVs and I didn’t love the narrator’s voice. However, I did enjoy the storyline and I think Coben is an excellent author. I’m excited to read more by him!

rachelsaa's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

jenswin's review against another edition

4.0

Twisty mystery right up to the end! There were a few graphic torture/murder scenes by a particularly creepy character that were unsettling, but the plot was clever.