The book opens as 11yr old Stella’s father is forcing (albeit without actual physical force) her family to leave remote Evergreen Island, the only home she’s known. Ferrying people between the island and Poole Harbour is her father’s job but the weather is dire and their decision to leave sudden.
Stella is devastated, expecting her mother to refuse her father’s wishes, so surprised when she agrees to their hurried departure. It’s an ominous and quite frantic start to this story.
I really enjoyed meeting Detective Max Wolfe (and his daughter Scout) in the first book of this series, The Murder Bag. I read the first three, but it’s only now I discover this is number six, that I realise I’ve missed some.
I really enjoyed this standalone by Harlan Coben. I hadn’t read much of his work until a half a dozen years ago but he’s become a favourite and with about 30 books published (as well as some television series under his belt) he’s proved he’s consistent and a reliable choice when it comes to entertaining reading fodder.
My reading of Lisa Gardner’s DD Warren series has been shockingly inconsistent. In fact I was surprised it’d been three years since I read Find Her, in which we first meet Flora, former kidnap victim turned vigilante… who’s since become DD’s confidential informant.
Flora’s back in this outing with someone else from DD’s past.
I’ve read almost (if not) all of the Alex Delaware / Milo Sturgis series by Jonathan Kellerman and it was one of the first series I remember reading about a psychologist helping the police with investigations.
I commented a few books ago that I felt that the series had perhaps become a little lacklustre and run its course but Kellerman proved me wrong with his more recent releases, Night Moves and Breakdown.
I was a latecomer to this series, joining for the second installment, Fifty Fifty and adored it. I used to be a James Patterson fan (way back when) and while not altogether convinced that quantity equals quality, I love that he’s partnering with other authors and giving some the attention that deserve (like Australia’s Candice Fox, for example) but might not have otherwise got. Internationally at least, in Fox’s case.
And this series’ Harriet Blue feels as if it has Fox’s fingerprints (I was tempted to say paw prints, but am pretty sure I went down that analogous route in my previous review) all over the fabulous creation.
I’m a fairly new lover of Harlan Coben’s books, not really reading the American author’s work until a few years ago. Although I didn’t LOVE love his 2016 novel, Fool Me Once, his long and much-lauded career is an indication that he consistently produces quality work and his latest novel is no different.
In fact, although I wanted the mystery at hand to be resolved, I kinda didn’t want the book to finish and I suspect that’s a combination of the great characters on offer and an addictive plot.
I have to confess I purposely avoided Never Never, the first book in this series DESPITE being a huge fan of Candice Fox’s work. Or maybe I should say BECAUSE I’m a huge fan of Fox’s writing. I’d had some bad experiences with previous James Patterson collaborations so didn’t want anything to tarnish my (not-weird) reverence of the talented Aussie storyteller.
So, I came into this second book of the series, Fifty Fifty with a few gaps in my backstory knowledge. It meant I might have had a few questions but did not take anything away from my enjoyment of this book, which I think (thankfully) has Fox’s fingerprints all over it. (And yes, I was tempted to say paw prints, cos…. well Fox… #sorrynotsorry)
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