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Thursday, August 28, 2008

Harlan Coben’s “Hold Tight”

This is an unusual Coben for me. Unusual, because the first sentence is not the trademark Coben grab-me-by-my-heartstrings-and-make-me-want-to-race-through-the-rest-of-the-book.

I mean, have a look at the following utterly brilliant first sentences:
· “I see my father with that shovel.” - The Woods
· “Another girl was about to break my heart.” - Tell No One
· “You never meant to kill him.” - The Inncocent
· 'When the first bullet hit my chest, I thought of my daughter... ' - No Second Chance

“Hold Tight” doesn’t make use of the technique. The first sentence is more of a paragraph and it does not foreshadow the rest of the book (or if it does, I didn’t get it):

“Marianne nursed her third shot of Cuervo, marveling at her endless capacity to destroy any good in her pathetic life, when the man next to her shouted, “Listen up, sweetcakes: Creationism and evolution are totally compatible.””

Anyway, the premise of the book: “is it ok to cyber-spy on your teenager” is a great one. The tension is huge, the subplots come together neatly, and I am not at all surprised at the mountain of books at one of Harlan’s book signing (http://harlancoben.com/blog/?p=11.

I am trying to get you an interview with the man himself on this blog, and I haven’t lost hope yet.....

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