Caught

This is your basic Harlan Coben novel: something has happened in the distant past which comes back to bite multiple backsides in the present. We are in the suburbs, here, not uncommonly, in New Jersey (HC’s home). There are suspense elements, thriller elements, mystery elements and an extended ending which joins the loose ends and is nice and satisfying. In other words—part Jonathan Kellerman and (with the twists and turns at the end) part Jeffery Deaver. The plotting is masterful, even if the characterization is a little light. The book holds your interest and satisfies HC’s key purpose in writing—to tempt you to read a few pages late in the evening for a taste and then suddenly find yourself still awake at 5:00 in the morning, wondering what happened. In this case the featured character is an investigative TV reporter named Wendy Tynes. Wendy is a youngish widow with a son in high school, a motorcycle-riding father and a successful series on sexual offenders. Her life becomes entwined with a social worker and alleged sexual deviant named Dan Mercer. Dan went to Princeton (which, sorry HC, does not have a medical school) and has been experiencing some nasty reversals in his life, as have a group of his former classmates. Why? What happened in the past? And who is tormenting the Tigers now? This is classic HC, which is to say, highly engaging, highly entertaining, and just a tad implausible. The good news is that HC has built up an ensemble cast over the years. Legal shark Hester Crimstein plays a significant role here; Win Lockwood plays a smaller but still a pivotal role and we even pass the offices of our oldest HC friend, Myron Bolitar. This is not The Long Goodbye, The Big Sleep, or Ellroy’s L.A. Quartet, but it is a great deal of fun. The difference is depth of theme, texture and overall weightiness, but HC is not trying to haunt your dreams and alter the shape of your aesthetic life. He is trying to entertain you and hold your attention. That he does masterfully.

If you are looking for a fast paced thriller/mystery, Harlan Coben's latest, Caught, will certainly do the trick. I was amazed that I finished the 400 page novel in about a day. The drawback was that I found myself reviewing the characters, plot twists, and revelations for much of the next day. Coben has packed quite a bit of information in this novel, and it may take some time to absorb it all. However, in Coben's favor, you will not simply put this book down and forget it. You can't, you have to mentally review the secrets, cover-ups, and characters; there is a lot going on in this novel. Dan Mercer is a social worker, focusing on troubled youth. As he finishes coaching a basketball team, he receives a call from one of his charges, Chynna, asking that he meet her at her home. As Dan walks toward the front door, warning bells are going off in his head. He pushes them aside, and enters the house. Within moments, he is confronted by television cameras and reporter Wendy Tynes, who's mission is to identify and catch sexual predators, using nationally televised sting operations. Dan has been targeted and caught, but he doesn't stay around to answer any of her questions; he runs away. While Dan is on the run, hiding wherever he can, the police make a connection between him and a missing girl, seventeen year-old Haley McWaid. Haley has been missing for several weeks, but the connection makes it appear as though Dan may have had a part in her disappearance. As Wendy is central to the operation that caused Dan to be labeled a predator, she discovers some interesting and alarming facts. Facts that change whom she believes and trusts. Caught moves at breakneck pace, propelled by the characters and the plot twists. Coben does not include much suspense as he does thrills. Driving the thrills is Coben's use of blogging and social media. When posted on the internet, how much is done to determine if those posts are, in fact, correct? The result is usually knee-jerk reactions, which we have seen happen many times in the media, culminating in ruinous character assassinations and job losses. Coben makes a statement about these outlets and results that are all too familiar. For readers familiar with his work, Coben includes an excellent character in Caught that will bring a smile to all fans. Coben's Caught will provide some worthwhile diversion from a long flight, a night of television, or while enjoying a vacation. It won't provide a lot of suspense, but it does pack the thrills. Once the last page has been turned, you will find yourself reviewing the novel, Coben has provided the reader with a lot of characters, with many secrets, and it will require some time to process the ending. Disclosure: Obtained from: Library Payment: Borrowed

I have been a Harlan Coben fan since his first book, "Deal Breaker". While disappointed in his last two books, I've continued to purchase his books without question. This time around, I bought both the Kindle and the Hardback version. This is called full disclosure before writing a review. Outstanding, can't put it down, everything is on hold until you finish kind of book that only Coben can write. He is back to his old form with this one. I can't tell you much about the story since it is like a monster roller coaster - every page has a twist that sends you soaring or falling. Haley McWaid, the eldest and "best" child of a family of three children, captain of the lacrosse team and a Senior in High School is missing. Her mother wakes up one morning and finds Haley never came home the night before. Wendy Tynes is a reporter who has a nationally televised reality show which sets up sexual predators and films them being arrested. Don Mercer is a social worker who lives to help children...or does he? He is the latest possible? pedophile who encounters Wendy Tynes and her cameras. Don's story is complicated and secret. Wendy decides to find out about the man she had arrested. The rest you will have to discover for yourself. This is storytelling at its best. The ending is worth the price in the WOW factor. It is pure Coben with intertwining plots, stories and characters. As the story unwinds, it is hard to tell who are the good guys and who are the bad guys - it keeps changing with every page. There are a few characters from stories past and I was thrilled to see Win make a cameo appearance. This is a stand alone, however, and you don't have to have read any of his past books at all - although if you haven't, you have missed some great reading. This is a 5+ star read and I, for one, am glad to see Coben has returned to the kind of story he writes best.

What a good author love his books looking forward to reading them all. Always a unexpected plot keeps you guessing

Very good read

Sehr spannend und flüssig geschrieben. Nichts ist schwarz-weiss, keiner nur boese, keiner ein Superheld (obwohl ich Superhelden auch mag). Ich wechsle gerne Autoren .. Jeffrey Archer, James Patterson, John Grisham, Jeff Abbott, usw. im Wechsel. Jetzt mache ich gleich mit Harlan Coben weiter und hoffe, dass er langfristig haelt, was er verspricht.

Não prende tanto a atenção. Mas vale para passar um tempo legal. Leitura rápida e sem muitas surpresas. Não vai ficar na memória, mas não foi um tempo desperdiçado também.

Typical Harlan Coben page turner. Got me hooked early on and kept me engaged