Tell no one
Ratings86
Average rating3.7
i have to stop going into books blind. predictable ending. boring characters. casual racism???
2 stars for mindless suspense. This book gave me anxiety, I didn't need right now. The author creates a very likable MC, who can memorize his patient's cell number, the phone number of the acquaintance in the apartment below his. He is politically correct, a doctor who works for Medicaid. Lost his wife and never had a serious relationship for 8 years. Perfect hero. When something unlikable is happening to him, however bad the writing is it gives me palpitations and I hated it.
Writing is subpar. I used to enjoy thrillers like this. But after reading books like the Millenium Series and Gone Girl, you can't help but compare every other thriller to these. Plot twists are very appealing. They are the most attractive part of any thriller. But at times it can be one too many. I never knew. Now I know. It's just tiring. Bigger fewer twists are better than numerous tiny twists. Once you start questioning the plausibility it is impossible to stop.
Quality of Writing in thrillers, adds so much to the book, than we assume. It becomes obvious only after we have read stories with different standards. I was in awe at every sentence written in “We need to talk about Kevin”. I kept wondering, so articulate, this lady is. A thriller that triggered emotions.
This book has short matter-of-fact sentences. That barely work to convey information and nothing else.
If you need an analogy, I'll compare the above novels with a sewing machine, and this book with a spade.
If you are beginner, trying to start reading, you may try it. If not, better let it stay on the shelf.
This was the first Harlan Coben book I've read, though I have seen his various TV mini-series. It was very different than his TV work (and much less British). That said, I enjoyed it in its own right.
Things I liked:
The pace. It was a quick read, typical for a thriller, but the pace felt appropriate for the story.
The conclusion. It didn't rely too much on “the twist”, which drives me crazy in thrillers, and instead the whole story felt like a crumpled paper being ironed out.
The range of characters. Every character that entered the story was different than the others.
Things I didn't like:
The violence. It may be a matter of preference but there it is. I felt like I didn't need to read about it in so much detail, even for the sake of realism.
The lack of information at the start. The beginning felt like a lot of semi-related observations made by Dr. Beck, but as a reader you don't have much to go on until about half way.
Some of it felt a bit cliched. It wasn't too noticeable but it came to mind several times. The lesbians who don't have a perfect relationship. The compassionate wife with a heart of gold. Comments like, “I guess we all have our secrets.” It is what it is.
Overall I found it compelling, but possibly forgettable.
*3.5 stars
Things I liked:
• Coben's writing style - always good, twisty and compelling
• Fast pace - I love short quick chapters in thrillers
• Character dynamics between David and Tyrese throughout.
Things I didn't like so much:
• It felt quite dated with people using pagers and going to internet cafes, I get that it was written in 2001 but it just doesn't read well now.
• Oddly 2 characters have the same name - one of the supporting characters is called Tyrese and at one point the main character is watching the news and the news caster is called Tyrese. This is just odd!
There have been books that I've read twice or three times over and have always enjoyed them as much if not more than the first time around. That is not the case with my second reading of this book. I am not sure if I confused this book with an actual Coben great, and maybe that is why I gave it a full 5 stars when I originally posted the book on GR, but I am going to need to take away a few stars. The author goes through great pains to over explain details that are just not necessary to the plot. He also piles on lame metaphors on top of lame metaphors. The clichés (a word even the protagonist uses at least a half dozen times) and stereotypes were just too over the top. And did the protagonist actually say, “...but my eyes got snagged on a picture of, well, me...Amazing how sinister I looked in the darkened photo, like a Mideast terrorist.” He did! Every gimmick used in any substandard movie thriller is used here (like the dark sunglasses wearing thug). In fact, it seems that that's what the author was going for - movie script. With the right director and producer, this could translate into a decent movie, it just makes for a disappointing read.
I loved this book. It was very hard to put down and the characters I thought were very well written. There was non-stop action throughout and it was hard to predict what would happen next. I will surely be reading more books by this author.
This one went by fast! Nuts and crazy! Kept me guessing, wondering what the real story was going to be and surprised me in the end.