Was flying back from NYC to Seattle yesterday. Grabbed Harlan Coben’s new book in the airport. Read on the plane and late last night. Quick read. Coben does something in this one I don’t really like though. Many thriller writers do it, but Harlan usually is more economical with this device. He starts four or five different narratives with different characters, in the beginning of book, and eventually ties them all together. Part of the fun of reading is trying to figure out how the narratives are connected before the writer tells you. Usually each narrative is individually compelling enough to stay involved in and the transitions are logical enough to not mess the flow too much.

This one had jarring transitions and seeming totally random separate narratives that had no apparent link until 3/4 of the way through the book. The problem with that is you are reading one narrative you like and are engaged in, then he throws you into another that you could care less about and all you can think about is “when am I going to get back to the story”. In the end, the final chapter of course it all ties together, but with gum and sticky tape.

I wouldn’t put this up as one of his best, but it was an enjoyable waste of 7 hours. I rate 2 of 5 stars.