Hold Tight by Harlan Coben Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Hold Tight
Book Review: Coben is Back on Track
Summary: 4 Stars
As a long time fan of this writer, his last two works, Promise Me and The Woods were found to be disappointing. With this work, I was able to see a return to the writing that had been so good. The topic is oe of concern to nimerous parents today and the writer is able to skillfully juggle numerous stories at once with each one is able to hold the readers interest. The charcters are engaging as the writer demontrates numerous double and triple twists throughout the book. This book does have its flaws as the characters are not as well developed as they might have been. Certain elements of the story seem rather far fetched and the ending,though a postive one. appeared a little too pat for me. All in all, the writer has constructed an excellent story that moves along rapidly and will keep the reader questioning the next move in the machinations of the characters. Highly recommended for a rapid and enjoyable read even if it does not meet the high standards of some of his earlier works.Book Review: Coben produces another "tight" thriller!
Summary: 3 Stars
Harlan Coben knows how to write a thriller and always delivers the goods. He does this best by possessing the ability to keep the reader guessing (usually) right to the very end of his novels.
"Hold Tight" is a novel about modern suburbia and the horrors that can hit even the closest knit families. Coben employs several modern technological devices in this novel - cell phone GPS, E-Mail Spy Ware, etc. The horror comes in to play when even these modern luxuries prove unable to protect your loved ones. The bottom line with this book is the age-old proverb - kids just want to rebel against something!
If the novel only dealt with the story-lines involving spy technology and its failure to always insure protection of children it would have been totally original and unique. Unfortunately, Coben has so many different story lines going simultaneously that the only mystery is how they all tie together. SPOILER ALERT - they don't, really, all tie together and some of the ties are a bit of a reach.
Although the ending for me was a bit of a letdown (I was holding out for a master conspiracy that was behind all of the plot lines) it is still a taut thriller written by a master and enjoyable - but not his best by a long shot!
Book Review: Coben's Follow Up To THE WOODS
Summary: 3 Stars
Though HOLD TIGHT is not a sequel to THE WOODS is does feature the same setting (suburban New Jersey) with Cope, Lucy and a few other characters who were major players in THE WOODS appearing on the periphery of this novel. HOLD TIGHT follows the same general formula Coben has found success with in his stand alone thrillers. There are a couple of inexplicable tragedies/ mysteries happening and these stories are told by Coben in breathless page turning fashion often with a cliffhanger at the end of a chapter. The subplots and characters all fit together in a preposterous way by the end but I have to admit Coben leaves no loose ends in his plotting. There is a general theme in this year's novel of parents protecting their children and internet and cell phone use and the privacy issues connected with them play major roles. Coben's books are great to read when you need some diversion but are not in the mood to concentrate or think much. I read the first half of this one while getting highlights put in my hair.Book Review: Complex Suspense Novel With Plenty of Heart
Summary: 4 Stars
I enjoy Harlan Coben's work a lot. I've been reading him for years. The Myron Bolitar novels remind me a lot of Robert B. Parker's Spenser series, and I love Myron's sidekick, Win - one of the deadliest, coldest guys in the room.
When Coben shelved the Bolitar series, temporarily, and started doing the stand-alone thrillers, I wasn't too keen on the idea. However, TELL NO ONE made an instant believer of me and introduced me to another side of the author's bag of tricks. Nobody writes thrillers like Coben does.
Except Coben himself. He's written other novels in a similar vein, all with vicious little twists. Which is a problem only if you've gotten to looking for those twists and have stopped believing in what the author is doing. Most of those plot zingers require the reader to not be looking for them. Admittedly, I have been.
But just when I'd become wary of Coben's writing style and got harder to fool, he changes his writing yet again in HOLD TIGHT. Coben dives deeply into the parental pool in this novel, bringing up and discussing all the myriad questions parents have to deal with on a daily basis when it comes to protecting and guiding children. How much supervision is too much? How much is too little? How does a parent control what information a child receives about sex, drugs, and rock and roll when that information is out there on the street? And next door?
Coben is a caring parent. I understood that by reading between the lines. His previous books show that as well. I met him once at a BoucherCon. He's an entertaining and giving guy, the kind of author readers love to meet.
During the course of the novel, Coben also takes his readers on a tour de force of the software that's available out there to help watch over your child. I have to admit, I thought a lot of it was really invasive and would never do it. However, just how far would you go as a parent to protect your child? That question keeps bouncing back through the frantic course of the novel. Every time I thought I had an answer, Coben threw something else at me till I didn't know what I would do.
Much of the action centers around the Baye family. Mike and Tia are a doctor and lawyer respectively. They're educated and caring people. However, their teenage son has become something of a concern to them: he's moody and withdrawn. Compounding those normal worries that plague parents through a child's adolescence is the fact that Adam's best friend recently committed suicide. Mike and Tia are understandably concerned.
As a result of the breakdown in communication, Tia talks Mike into putting spyware on Adam's computer. That eventually triggers a landslide of no-return regarding their relationships. Adam goes missing, and the parents frantically try to find him. That same night, Mike is beaten and almost killed in an alley while trying to follow the son of a local policeman and one of Adam's school buddies.
But that's just the main plot. Coben introduces a lot of other characters with equally compelling storylines, and none of them seem to really touch on each other. When they do, and Coben pulls them together nicely, it's amazing how much a community actually impinges on each other without knowing it - especially when they have kids.
I was dazzled by the intricacy of the plot in the end, but I literally had to keep a scorecard to remember who was doing what to whom. Coben is an excellent writer when building character, but there were just so many of them in this novel that I felt overwhelmed at times.
HOLD TIGHT is an excellent novel, though. It provides sleek writing that will take you out of your everyday world (though by exposing you to your worst fears if you're a parent), thought-provoking subtext, and a story that will impact you for a long time afterwards. This is one you're going to want to read, think about, and talk to other readers about.
Book Review: Could NOT stop reading this edge of seat thriller!
Summary: 5 Stars
I know that line, "I could not stop reading it" is an old one, but there's a reason it has become a cliche. If I could have stayed awake all night, I probably would have read it in one sitting. This book, like several of his others (Just One Look, Innocent) grabs you by the throat, takes several seemingly unrelated story lines and brings them together. This one explores the nature of what it means to help a friend (in MANY surprising and unanticipated ways!) and the issue of parental supervision (also in surprising, unique ways). Coben does an excellent job of maintaining the breathless pace. Bravo!! The world could use more books like this.