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Coben seems to delight in making bad things happen to good people (Tell
No One; Gone for Good; etc.), and he does it again in this, his best book.
A paralegal, devoted husband and soon-to-be father, Matt Hunter has a
not-so-secret past: when he was 20, in an attempt to break up a fistfight,
he killed a man and served four years in prison for it. He's been out five
years, living in his New Jersey hometown, and life is pretty good. But
when his beloved wife, Olivia, goes away on a business trip, he receives
15 seconds of digital video on his camera phone showing her in a hotel
room with another man. Meanwhile, Loren Muse, Essex County homicide
investigator, is working on an unusual case: an autopsy of a nun reveals
breast implants, which hint at a previous, not so holy life. After the FBI
is called in, evidence links Matt to the nun killing. Like all of Coben's
stand-alone thrillers, this is a long, extremely complex tale with plenty
of gunfire, betrayals, late-night chases and good people forced to go on
the lam. All the characters have extensive, interesting histories, which
makes their actions believable under the extreme circumstances that engulf
them. Some readers have felt that Coben has been treading water with his
last two outings, but this one should re-establish his
credentials. |
