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A review by jhscolloquium
I Will Find You by Harlan Coben
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Best-selling author Harlan Coben relates that the inspiration for his latest stand-alone book, I Will Find You, was a sentence that popped into his head. "I'm serving the fifth year of a prison sentence for murdering my own child. Spoiler alert: I didn't do it." He thought to himself, "What if I opened the book with the man, who is accused of murdering his own child and is in prison for it, finding out his child may still be alive right away?" Deciding that would be a "cool opening," the story developed from there. Remarkably, given the intricate and shocking plot twists for which Coben is known, he insists that when he sits down to write, "I know the beginning, I know the end, I know nothing in between. So it's like travelling from my home state of New Jersey across the country to L.A. -- I may go Route 80, I'll maybe go via the Suez Canal or stop in Tokyo, but I always end up in L.A."
Coben says he enjoys "playing with the idea of a perfect life, and the outside forces that could change any aspect of it." And does just that in I Will Find You. As noted, the first-person narration begins with David Burroughs explaining his circumstances and why he did not protest his innocence more vehemently when he became a suspect in the murder investigation: guilt. He felt that he had failed the son it was his job to protect. "Guilty or not guilty of the actual murder, it is my fault and thus my sentence to serve." Three-year-old Matthew was murdered in his own room and David discovered his lifeless child in his bed wearing his Marvel-Hero-themed pajamas. From that moment on, David explains, he was constrained to a "metaphorical life sentence" irrespective of how the legal proceedings played out.
David loved his son. Like any parent, he was not a perfect father. He and his wife, Cheryl, were struggling to make their marriage work. Cheryl had just completed her residency in general surgery and was working a night shift, so David was alone with Matthew. "Three-year-olds can be tough" and David was preoccupied, tired, and decided to put Matthew to bed without reading him a bedtime story. He didn't hold his liquor well, and after drinking more than he should have, he passed out without ensuring that the doors were locked. If Matthew's killer(s) made any noise entering the house, David didn't hear it, nor was he awakened by any screams coming from Matthew's room. He woke up at 4:00 a.m. and instantly knew something was wrong in the quiet house. When he went to check on Matthew, he discovered his beautiful son had been bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat. A baseball bat on which only David's fingerprints were found that elderly Mrs. Wilson testified she watched David bury in the woods separating their houses. There was no evidence that David had been drugged, no discernible motive, no other suspects, and he had a history of night terrors and sleepwalking. It didn't take the jury long to return a guilty verdict and David accepted his fate, even though he knew he did not kill his own son. Unless . . . Could he have killed Matthew while in a fugue state and have no recollection of committing the crime?
But David makes clear that his story won't be about his innocence being proven and his freedom restored. Because "my son would still be dead."
Rather, his story is about a chance sighting of a young boy in the background of a photograph taken at an amusement park by a vacationing family. The photograph is shared with friends, as routinely happens countless times every day. But the photograph in question depicts a boy, in profile, about the age Matthew would be now who bears a congenital hemangioma -- a port-stain birthmark -- that is significantly similar to the one that Matthew was born with on his cheek.
By the time Rachel, David's sister-in-law, engineers a visit with David, she has had a forensic examination of the photograph conducted. Age-progression software has concluded that the photograph is a match to one taken of Matthew, but Rachel has not revealed the discovery to Cheryl, who has remarried and is pregnant. Rachel is a journalist whose career recently imploded after her ethical choices came under scrutiny. But she still has sources and connections, yet David knows that if she takes the photograph to the police, they will not institute a new investigation. They will write it off as a coincidence because, after all, the perpetrator was caught and convicted. The case of Matthew's murder is closed.
So David decides he has to escape so that he, with Rachel's assistance, can conduct his own investigation and find his son. Because David is convinced Matthew is the boy in the picture.
At this point, readers with any knowledge of how prisons operate must suspend their disbelief and accept that David is housed in a facility where the warden, Philip Mackenzie, is not just the former partner of David's father, a retired police officer, but his father's best friend and David's godfather. (Ostensibly, these family connections constituting a major conflict of interest, were overlooked by officials when the warden sought to have David housed in the prison he ran in order to ensure David's safety.) Moreover, Coben never explains why David, who would have been charged with murder under the criminal statutes of and serving his sentence in a state prison, is instead housed in a federal penitentiary. No federal crime is described, thus the F.B.I. would have no jurisdiction. Nonetheless, the warden not only believes David's contention that the boy in the photograph is likely Matthew -- after all, he never believed David was capable of committing such a heinous crime -- but agrees to risk his own life and career in order to help David escape. And enlists the assistance of his son, a police officer. Together they plan and carry out an elaborate escape that is as harrowing, fast-paced, and entertaining to read as it is implausible.
Coben can be forgiven for taking dramatic license because he needed a mechanism to get David out of prison so the real adventure could begin. With assistance from Rachel, David begins his quest by going home to visit his dying father and his aunt who cares for him. The bedside scene is poignant and wrenching, even before Coben reveals his father's history. David also returns to his old neighborhood where many of the guys he grew up with remain. Some are eking out an honest living while others are still affiliated with gangs and engaged in criminal endeavors. Step by step, David starts gathering clues to why Matthew was targeted while maneuvering in ways that permit him to continue eluding the F.B.I. And the two agents assigned to the case, Max Bernstein and his partner, Sarah Jablonski, are fully developed, intriguing, and frequently hilarious characters who deserve to be the main protagonists in one of Coben's thrillers. Max insists he is a funny guy and that's why they're referred to as "the F.B.I. Desi and Lucy," but Sarah is convinced the nickname stuck solely because she is a redhead. Their banter is crisp, but their sixteen-year partnership is tested when Max begins to question David's guilt and Sarah is adamant about their role in the case. They are assigned only to apprehend a fugitive, not re-open an old murder case.
Coben intersperses chapters featuring Gertrude "Pixie" Payne, the eighty-two-year-old matriarch of the Payne family, heirs to the Payne Kentucky Bourbon dynasty. Pixie is the cousin of popular Coben character Windsor Horne Lockwood III or "Win." The Paynes are wealthy, influential, powerful, and very used to getting exactly what they want. Coben gradually reveals that Pixie may be getting on in years, but she is still a forceful, decisive woman who manages her family and its assets. She has spent her life surrounded by men who have engaged in despicable behavior and has done whatever was necessary to keep the family's secrets buried, scandals avoided. She's currently doing whatever is required to protect her grandson, Hayden, who has arrived for a visit with his son, Theo.
In his signature style, Coben melds a large cast of fascinating characters (even criminal defense attorney Hester Crimstein makes an appearance as Rachel's lawyer) and surprising plot twists into a cohesive, absorbing, and decidedly contemporary tale. The story's gait is set from the first page when David reveals his circumstances and never slows for even a beat. In fact, Coben notes that I Will Find You may well be his fastest-paced book to date. Indeed, I Will Find You moves at breakneck speed, with revelation after revelation demonstrating just how adept Coben is at weaving a clever, complex mystery without ever sacrificing character development. It is never readily apparent how Coben is going to pull the numerous loose threads of the plot together . . . until he again manages to seamlessly do so. Which is why I Will Find You is such a compellingly good story. Considering that Coben does not know what direction the plot is going to take when he sits down to write, his ability to concoct believable details that illustrate the ways in which the characters' lives are intertwined, why they made the choices they did, and the dramatic impact upon their lives of those choices is nothing less than awe-inspiring and unparalleled.
And I Will Find You is an emotionally resonant story. Coben credibly conveys the guilt and grief that David has lived with for more than five years, as well as his self-doubt in light of what appears to be uncontroverted evidence that hebrutally took his own child's life (his fingerprints on the baseball bat, an eye witness who positively identified him, the dearth of any evidence pointing to intruders entering the home while he slept). Cheryl's grief at losing both her son and her marriage, and her commitment to carrying on her important work as a transplant surgeon and starting over with a new husband and child, are heartbreakingly realistic, as is Rachel's relatable need to uncover the truth about her nephew's fate and, perhaps, reclaim her dignity, self-esteem, and professional standing in the process. Max and Sarah squabble about their ethical and moral roles and responsibilities, and readers will want to see justice done once the whole truth is revealed.
I Will Find You proves yet again that Coben is one of America's best storytellers. It is another must-read novel from the acclaimed author that will undoubtedly be touted as one of the best thrillers of 2023.
Thanks to NetGalley for an electronic Advance Reader's Copy of the book, as well as to Grand Central Publishing for a paperback copy of the book via Novel Suspects.
Coben says he enjoys "playing with the idea of a perfect life, and the outside forces that could change any aspect of it." And does just that in I Will Find You. As noted, the first-person narration begins with David Burroughs explaining his circumstances and why he did not protest his innocence more vehemently when he became a suspect in the murder investigation: guilt. He felt that he had failed the son it was his job to protect. "Guilty or not guilty of the actual murder, it is my fault and thus my sentence to serve." Three-year-old Matthew was murdered in his own room and David discovered his lifeless child in his bed wearing his Marvel-Hero-themed pajamas. From that moment on, David explains, he was constrained to a "metaphorical life sentence" irrespective of how the legal proceedings played out.
David loved his son. Like any parent, he was not a perfect father. He and his wife, Cheryl, were struggling to make their marriage work. Cheryl had just completed her residency in general surgery and was working a night shift, so David was alone with Matthew. "Three-year-olds can be tough" and David was preoccupied, tired, and decided to put Matthew to bed without reading him a bedtime story. He didn't hold his liquor well, and after drinking more than he should have, he passed out without ensuring that the doors were locked. If Matthew's killer(s) made any noise entering the house, David didn't hear it, nor was he awakened by any screams coming from Matthew's room. He woke up at 4:00 a.m. and instantly knew something was wrong in the quiet house. When he went to check on Matthew, he discovered his beautiful son had been bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat. A baseball bat on which only David's fingerprints were found that elderly Mrs. Wilson testified she watched David bury in the woods separating their houses. There was no evidence that David had been drugged, no discernible motive, no other suspects, and he had a history of night terrors and sleepwalking. It didn't take the jury long to return a guilty verdict and David accepted his fate, even though he knew he did not kill his own son. Unless . . . Could he have killed Matthew while in a fugue state and have no recollection of committing the crime?
But David makes clear that his story won't be about his innocence being proven and his freedom restored. Because "my son would still be dead."
Rather, his story is about a chance sighting of a young boy in the background of a photograph taken at an amusement park by a vacationing family. The photograph is shared with friends, as routinely happens countless times every day. But the photograph in question depicts a boy, in profile, about the age Matthew would be now who bears a congenital hemangioma -- a port-stain birthmark -- that is significantly similar to the one that Matthew was born with on his cheek.
By the time Rachel, David's sister-in-law, engineers a visit with David, she has had a forensic examination of the photograph conducted. Age-progression software has concluded that the photograph is a match to one taken of Matthew, but Rachel has not revealed the discovery to Cheryl, who has remarried and is pregnant. Rachel is a journalist whose career recently imploded after her ethical choices came under scrutiny. But she still has sources and connections, yet David knows that if she takes the photograph to the police, they will not institute a new investigation. They will write it off as a coincidence because, after all, the perpetrator was caught and convicted. The case of Matthew's murder is closed.
So David decides he has to escape so that he, with Rachel's assistance, can conduct his own investigation and find his son. Because David is convinced Matthew is the boy in the picture.
At this point, readers with any knowledge of how prisons operate must suspend their disbelief and accept that David is housed in a facility where the warden, Philip Mackenzie, is not just the former partner of David's father, a retired police officer, but his father's best friend and David's godfather. (Ostensibly, these family connections constituting a major conflict of interest, were overlooked by officials when the warden sought to have David housed in the prison he ran in order to ensure David's safety.) Moreover, Coben never explains why David, who would have been charged with murder under the criminal statutes of and serving his sentence in a state prison, is instead housed in a federal penitentiary. No federal crime is described, thus the F.B.I. would have no jurisdiction. Nonetheless, the warden not only believes David's contention that the boy in the photograph is likely Matthew -- after all, he never believed David was capable of committing such a heinous crime -- but agrees to risk his own life and career in order to help David escape. And enlists the assistance of his son, a police officer. Together they plan and carry out an elaborate escape that is as harrowing, fast-paced, and entertaining to read as it is implausible.
Coben can be forgiven for taking dramatic license because he needed a mechanism to get David out of prison so the real adventure could begin. With assistance from Rachel, David begins his quest by going home to visit his dying father and his aunt who cares for him. The bedside scene is poignant and wrenching, even before Coben reveals his father's history. David also returns to his old neighborhood where many of the guys he grew up with remain. Some are eking out an honest living while others are still affiliated with gangs and engaged in criminal endeavors. Step by step, David starts gathering clues to why Matthew was targeted while maneuvering in ways that permit him to continue eluding the F.B.I. And the two agents assigned to the case, Max Bernstein and his partner, Sarah Jablonski, are fully developed, intriguing, and frequently hilarious characters who deserve to be the main protagonists in one of Coben's thrillers. Max insists he is a funny guy and that's why they're referred to as "the F.B.I. Desi and Lucy," but Sarah is convinced the nickname stuck solely because she is a redhead. Their banter is crisp, but their sixteen-year partnership is tested when Max begins to question David's guilt and Sarah is adamant about their role in the case. They are assigned only to apprehend a fugitive, not re-open an old murder case.
Coben intersperses chapters featuring Gertrude "Pixie" Payne, the eighty-two-year-old matriarch of the Payne family, heirs to the Payne Kentucky Bourbon dynasty. Pixie is the cousin of popular Coben character Windsor Horne Lockwood III or "Win." The Paynes are wealthy, influential, powerful, and very used to getting exactly what they want. Coben gradually reveals that Pixie may be getting on in years, but she is still a forceful, decisive woman who manages her family and its assets. She has spent her life surrounded by men who have engaged in despicable behavior and has done whatever was necessary to keep the family's secrets buried, scandals avoided. She's currently doing whatever is required to protect her grandson, Hayden, who has arrived for a visit with his son, Theo.
In his signature style, Coben melds a large cast of fascinating characters (even criminal defense attorney Hester Crimstein makes an appearance as Rachel's lawyer) and surprising plot twists into a cohesive, absorbing, and decidedly contemporary tale. The story's gait is set from the first page when David reveals his circumstances and never slows for even a beat. In fact, Coben notes that I Will Find You may well be his fastest-paced book to date. Indeed, I Will Find You moves at breakneck speed, with revelation after revelation demonstrating just how adept Coben is at weaving a clever, complex mystery without ever sacrificing character development. It is never readily apparent how Coben is going to pull the numerous loose threads of the plot together . . . until he again manages to seamlessly do so. Which is why I Will Find You is such a compellingly good story. Considering that Coben does not know what direction the plot is going to take when he sits down to write, his ability to concoct believable details that illustrate the ways in which the characters' lives are intertwined, why they made the choices they did, and the dramatic impact upon their lives of those choices is nothing less than awe-inspiring and unparalleled.
And I Will Find You is an emotionally resonant story. Coben credibly conveys the guilt and grief that David has lived with for more than five years, as well as his self-doubt in light of what appears to be uncontroverted evidence that hebrutally took his own child's life (his fingerprints on the baseball bat, an eye witness who positively identified him, the dearth of any evidence pointing to intruders entering the home while he slept). Cheryl's grief at losing both her son and her marriage, and her commitment to carrying on her important work as a transplant surgeon and starting over with a new husband and child, are heartbreakingly realistic, as is Rachel's relatable need to uncover the truth about her nephew's fate and, perhaps, reclaim her dignity, self-esteem, and professional standing in the process. Max and Sarah squabble about their ethical and moral roles and responsibilities, and readers will want to see justice done once the whole truth is revealed.
I Will Find You proves yet again that Coben is one of America's best storytellers. It is another must-read novel from the acclaimed author that will undoubtedly be touted as one of the best thrillers of 2023.
Thanks to NetGalley for an electronic Advance Reader's Copy of the book, as well as to Grand Central Publishing for a paperback copy of the book via Novel Suspects.