Monday, March 07, 2011

Live Wire -- Harlan Coben

Myron Bolitar is back and Win is with him. That sentence alone is probably enough to guarantee Harlan Coben another muli-million seller. He's sold 47 million books now and is a bestseller in just about every country in the world. But what the heck. I'll take pity on him and mention his new book here, anyway.

Myron's had lots of trouble heaped on him in the past, but he gets a real load of it here. And speaking of the past, that's where it all comes from. One of Myron's clients is married to half of a famous rock duo, one of whom was, long ago, implicated in the death of a young woman. As a result, nobody's seen in years. Myron's client, Suzze T, a former tennis player needs help because she's pregnant, and someone posted "Not his" on her Facebook page. Her husband's seen the post.

Then Myron takes a glance across a crowded room and sees Kitty, his sister-in-law, who he thought was in Peru. He's been estranged from her and his brother for years because of his actions before their marriage. And after that it gets really complicated. Most of the time I knew what was going on, and Myron ties it all up in the end very neatly and satisfactorily. Win performs as Win usually does. People get hurt. People die (and maybe not the ones you'd expect). It's all fast and furious, with some of Coben's trademark humor and asides, though not as much as in Coben's earlier, funnier books.

Coben also introduces a new character, Myron's nephew, Mickey. In an afterword we learn that Mickey is the primary character in Coben's new YA series that begins later this year. I'm betting Mickey's going to have a tough life, filled with angst. And that the books will sell millions. You go, Harlan!

1 comment:

mohit said...

Must be an enjoyable read Live Wire (Myron Bolitar) by Harlan Coben. loved the way you wrote it. I find your review very genuine and orignal, this book is going in by "to read" list.