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Saturday, April 5, 2008

If you're not reading Harlan Coben yet, what's wrong with you?

In 2001, I was a junior in college working at Waldenbooks. I'd gotten the job just one year before, at the ripe old age of 19, and was making a pest of myself requesting ARCs for our store. One day, a yellow mailer arrived bearing a neon orange gift that I will never forget - a finished copy of Harlan Coben's first stand-alone title, Tell No One.

Tell No One is about a man who receives a strange e-mail on his anniversary. The message is something that only his wife would know, but she's been dead for eight years. From that moment on, this book takes off at warp speed and never lets up. It's impossible to put down! To tell anymore would be to give too much away, but it is one of the best thrillers ever. It's also the book that cemented Coben's steady position on the bestseller lists from that time forward. 

Coben made his debut years before the release of Tell No One and already had a strong fan base thanks to his Myron Bolitar series. Deal Breaker, book one, was released in 1995 and was followed by Drop Shot, Fade Away, Back Spin, One False Move, Final Detail, and Darkest Fear. Bolitar is a sports agent turned sleuth with a taste for yoo-hoo and a crazy yuppy ninja master sidekick. They're great! With Tell No One Coben wanted to do something a little different, something more serious and gritty than the Bolitar books. Tell No One catapulted Coben's career, and deservedly so. Since then, Coben has released seven more stand-alones, including Promise Me, which marked the long-awaited return of Bolitar himself. 

Hold Tight, the latest release, is due out April 15 and I'm reading mine now. I gotta tell you, it's guaranteed to make the NYT top 10! Coben is a master at keeping readers in suspense and if you haven't read one yet, you need to run out and buy one tonight. Just make sure you give yourself plenty of time to read 'cause you'll definitely want to finish it in one sitting!

2 comments:

Cheryl said...

I have Coben's latest on my list to get but now I have another of his to check out too. LOL

Have a great rest of the weekend

Anonymous said...

LOL - I was introduced to him with THE WOODS. He is fantastic.