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danubooks 's review for:
Nobody's Fool
by Harlan Coben
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Life isn't about the big mistakes...
...its about the little ones.
Twenty two years ago Sami Kierce had just graduated from college and was backpacking through Europe with friends before starting medical school in the fall. He met a beautiful girl named Anna at a disco on the Costa del Sol, someone way out of his league, but they hit it off and quickly became involved. His friends left to continue the itinerary and Sami stayed behind with Anna, spending days on the beach and nights partying until the morning he woke up to find his hands covered in blood and Anna in the bed next to him - dead. He ran from the scene and after calling his father in a panic headed back to the US. But he couldn't run from the guilt and the horror of that scene; he never made it to medical school, instead becoming a cop, and used ever increasing amounts of alcohol to ease the pain. It wouldn't be his last tragic loss, and he would eventually get thrown off the force as well. These days he's sober and married to Molly, a fantastic woman whom he knows is far too good for him, and they have an infant son Henry. He's eking out an existence (barely) as a PI, doing surveillance work for an uptown law firm and teaching a night class at a shady institution for would-be amateur sleuths/true crime podcasters. Then two events happen that upturn his life. First the man convicted of killing Sami's fiancėe years ago, Tad Grayson, has been released from prison, mostly because of Sami's improper actions on another case during his time on the force (and which have by extension tainted every case with which he had contact), and a woman walks into the class he's teaching and he swears its Anna. Now, with the reluctant help of his former partner Marty and the enthusiastic assistance of his oddball students, Sami is both trying to find new evidence that will put Grayson back in prison and to track down the mysterious Maybe Anna. In doing so, he gets caught up in the never-solved kidnapping of a wealthy teenaged girl over twenty years ago and realizes that someone is putting his family in the crosshairs. Is there a connection between the two cases, or is it just the worst kind of coincidence that both things resurfaced at the same time? Who is stalking his family? And can he get the answers he needs to keep his loved ones safe and put the past behind him once and for all?
Harlan Coben has a way with twisty thrillers, and Nobody's Fool is another addictive read in that tradition. With its main character dealing with his fall from grace and haunted by something from his past that he hasn't shared with anyone other than his father, not even with his wife, Sami is a likable guy who owns his (many) mess-ups. He realizes that, financial woes aside, he's extraordinarily lucky to have his wife and son and is doing his best to carve out a way back to life on solid ground. Having two triggering events, the release of Grayson (who swears he's innocent and wants Sami to help him find the real killer of Sami's fiancée) and the reappearance of the girl he loved for a brief time who was murdered right next to him (he has never been able to remember what happened that night), is enough to unmoor anyone. With the quirky group of amateur sleuths (and boy are they quirky) and a plot that has more than a few plot twists, red herrings, and possible villains, this is a story that grabs the reader from the beginning and maintains its hold on their attention till the very end. Coben fans (including those who have watched the streaming series "Fool Me Once", which introduces some of the characters in Nobody's Fool) as well as readers of David Baldacci, Dennis Lehane and Thomas Perry, will likely enjoy this latest offering. My thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for allowing me access to a copy of this tale of mistakes that haunt a person and secrets that refuse to stay buried in return for my honest review.
...its about the little ones.
Twenty two years ago Sami Kierce had just graduated from college and was backpacking through Europe with friends before starting medical school in the fall. He met a beautiful girl named Anna at a disco on the Costa del Sol, someone way out of his league, but they hit it off and quickly became involved. His friends left to continue the itinerary and Sami stayed behind with Anna, spending days on the beach and nights partying until the morning he woke up to find his hands covered in blood and Anna in the bed next to him - dead. He ran from the scene and after calling his father in a panic headed back to the US. But he couldn't run from the guilt and the horror of that scene; he never made it to medical school, instead becoming a cop, and used ever increasing amounts of alcohol to ease the pain. It wouldn't be his last tragic loss, and he would eventually get thrown off the force as well. These days he's sober and married to Molly, a fantastic woman whom he knows is far too good for him, and they have an infant son Henry. He's eking out an existence (barely) as a PI, doing surveillance work for an uptown law firm and teaching a night class at a shady institution for would-be amateur sleuths/true crime podcasters. Then two events happen that upturn his life. First the man convicted of killing Sami's fiancėe years ago, Tad Grayson, has been released from prison, mostly because of Sami's improper actions on another case during his time on the force (and which have by extension tainted every case with which he had contact), and a woman walks into the class he's teaching and he swears its Anna. Now, with the reluctant help of his former partner Marty and the enthusiastic assistance of his oddball students, Sami is both trying to find new evidence that will put Grayson back in prison and to track down the mysterious Maybe Anna. In doing so, he gets caught up in the never-solved kidnapping of a wealthy teenaged girl over twenty years ago and realizes that someone is putting his family in the crosshairs. Is there a connection between the two cases, or is it just the worst kind of coincidence that both things resurfaced at the same time? Who is stalking his family? And can he get the answers he needs to keep his loved ones safe and put the past behind him once and for all?
Harlan Coben has a way with twisty thrillers, and Nobody's Fool is another addictive read in that tradition. With its main character dealing with his fall from grace and haunted by something from his past that he hasn't shared with anyone other than his father, not even with his wife, Sami is a likable guy who owns his (many) mess-ups. He realizes that, financial woes aside, he's extraordinarily lucky to have his wife and son and is doing his best to carve out a way back to life on solid ground. Having two triggering events, the release of Grayson (who swears he's innocent and wants Sami to help him find the real killer of Sami's fiancée) and the reappearance of the girl he loved for a brief time who was murdered right next to him (he has never been able to remember what happened that night), is enough to unmoor anyone. With the quirky group of amateur sleuths (and boy are they quirky) and a plot that has more than a few plot twists, red herrings, and possible villains, this is a story that grabs the reader from the beginning and maintains its hold on their attention till the very end. Coben fans (including those who have watched the streaming series "Fool Me Once", which introduces some of the characters in Nobody's Fool) as well as readers of David Baldacci, Dennis Lehane and Thomas Perry, will likely enjoy this latest offering. My thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for allowing me access to a copy of this tale of mistakes that haunt a person and secrets that refuse to stay buried in return for my honest review.