Book review: I Will Find You by Harlan Coben

Friday, March 10, 2023 Permalink

I Will Find You by Harlan Coben starts by introducing readers to David, a man in prison for murdering his son Matthew. He tells us he didn’t do it but didn’t fight the conviction because he blames himself anyway. David’s a likeable lead and though the book unfolds in first person, it occasionally dips into a second person narrative, as if he’s talking to us… so we know HE also knows most people in prison claim to be innocent.

He’s accepted his fate however until his former sister-in-law arrives with a photograph of a boy she believes to be Matthew – supposedly murdered by David five years earlier.

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three-half-stars

Book review: The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell

Sunday, July 3, 2022 Permalink

I hadn’t realised new release The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell was a sequel to the popular The Family Upstairs, published in 2019.

I’ve not read all of Jewell’s books but had read that one and one of our narrators was offering a bit of a recap and I thought, “That sounds familiar…” before going onto Goodreads to discover this was – in fact – a follow-up. I think – in all honesty – it works better having read the original. I didn’t remember the details but (reading my old review and some others on Goodreads) helped remind me of the backstory.

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three-half-stars

Book review: The Match by Harlan Coben

Tuesday, March 22, 2022 Permalink

The Match by Harlan Coben is billed as Wilde #2. I was a smidge confused by this as I could not recall a ‘Wilde’ #1. I then realised I’d missed The Boy From the Woods so came into this without any backstory. And it didn’t matter at all.

Initially I thought it was going to be reminiscent of Linwood Barclay’s Find You First, which featured someone picking off family members with related DNA (discovered through an ancestry match type place). Happily however the DNA matches aren’t really the tipping point here, rather what brings Wilde into the mix.

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four-stars

Book review: The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell

Tuesday, July 20, 2021 Permalink

Many of the books I read unfold in dual timelines. Quite often decades apart. The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell offers three separate narratives, though only a year apart. It means secrets and lies haven’t had time to fester, but it means wounds are still fresh and grief is still palpable. Of course it may also mean the story is not yet over.

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four-half-stars

Book review: The Whispers by Heidi Perks

Sunday, July 18, 2021 Permalink

The Whispers by Heidi Perks is an intriguing read. It’s one of those books featuring a narrator who may – or may not – be reliable. On one hand they appear entirely normal and only worried about a missing friend, but on the other their behaviour seems excessive. Bordering on obsessive and increasingly worrying.

But then it seems that others are keeping secrets so we’re not entirely sure who to trust.

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three-half-stars

Book review: Win by Harlan Coben

Friday, March 26, 2021 Permalink

I’ve mentioned before I was a latecomer to Harlan Coben’s work. I’m not sure why that was, but I’ve certainly enjoyed his most recent books, many of which have been standalone novels. It means I’m not really familiar with his popular protagonist Myron Bolitar, though I loved my brief interlude with his nephew Mickey in Found, published in 2014.

I’m assuming our lead in Coben’s latest novel, Win, was introduced in the Myron Bolitar series and as this is labelled Windsor Horne Lockwood III #1, I’m figuring it’s a spinoff.

And that excites me because I really loved this book. I adored Win. I adored Coben’s conversational style of writing. It felt like he was writing in second person, as if Win was telling ‘us’ his story. It was engaging and funny and Win, as a narrator, is unabashedly arrogant and elitist. If the plot had been a little less coincidental / contrived this might have been a five star read for me, but instead Mr Coben will have to settle for 4.5 stars.

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four-half-stars

Book review: When You See Me by Lisa Gardner

Thursday, February 13, 2020 Permalink

I have to admit to being slightly confused by Lisa Gardner’s series’. I actually think perhaps there were more series and some merged when I wasn’t looking? I’m not sure. But although this is the 11th in the DD Warren series, I note it’s also labelled 20th in the Gardner Universe. Which entirely makes sense given the crossovers. (And makes me feel less like I’m losing my mind.)

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four-stars

Book review: The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

Saturday, August 10, 2019 Permalink

I had planned to only read a little of this book one evening. I should know myself better as it’s rare that I can put a book down once I start, but The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell offered a really strong sense of menace. Or doom. Or maybe just suspense…. so I had to keep reading.

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four-stars