Six Years by Harlan Coben

Jake Sanders has found the love of his life, Natalie, but she is marrying a different man. Jake is watching Natalie marry Todd and his heart is breaking. After the wedding, Natalie makes Jake promise to never come find her. Jake makes the promise and goes about his life until he sees Todd’s obituary six years later. Jake decides to go to Todd’s funeral to see Natalie. Once the family comes out the church, Jake realizes that Natalie is not there. Todd had a different wife and teenage kids. Now Jake has to find out what is going on and what happened to Natalie. In Jake’s quest for answers, he puts his life and the lives of those he loves in danger.

I love Harlan Coben’s writing style and this book did not disappoint. Coben writes his characters as believable people. I find that the reader can really connect to his characters because they come across as normal and not perfect super heroes. The characters have flaws but that makes them more endearing.

I thought the story line was unique and entertaining. It started a little slow for me but once the suspense started, I could not put the book down. About ¾ of the way through the book, I had an idea how the story would be resolved but that did not detract from my enjoyment of the book.

Coben’s writing feels like a roller coaster. You have the buildup of the first big hill and it takes your breath away at the first start of the suspense. Then he throws a little humor at you and you feel like you have a slight break in the ride. But suddenly he throws you a loop and takes your breath away again with suspense. You feel exhausted at the end of the ride but you want to go through it all again. I think that is what makes Coben’s books so good and re-readable.

I would definitely recommend this book to others. The characters are well developed. The story line is unique. The book is hard to put down. These are all qualities I look for in a great book that I can share with my family and friends. I look forward to many more Coben books in the future.

*Book received through NetGalley in return for an honest review; Read February 2013*

NYPD Red by James Patterson

A NYPD Red team member named Zach Jordan is assigned a new partner and it just happens to be his ex-girlfriend, Kylie MacDonald. Kylie is married to a movie producer, It is time for the first Hollywood on the Hudson event. Hundreds of producers and actors are in town. The first morning starts off with the poisoning of a famous producer and it just gets worse from there. Now Zach and Kylie have to find a killer before all the movie industry mover and shakers are killed or leave town.

This book is another quick, easy read by Patterson. When I read Patterson books, I cannot expect deep thought provoking books, so this review is written with that in mind. The book was fast paced and I enjoyed the characters. I liked that there was a romantic conflict between Zach and Kylie but they did not cross the line. I enjoyed the fact that you could have a point of view from the perpetrator. It allowed for character development so you had an idea how he/she developed their ideas.

I was a little disappointed in the simplicity of the final confrontation with the perpetrator. It felt like the author got to that point and decided the book needed to wrap up so they just wrote an quick scene. It did not seem to me that the perpetrator would have been so sloppy in his/her setup after all the planning for the previous crimes.

Overall, this book did not disappoint when you consider it is a quick Patterson read. I loved the Zach and Kylie characters and their development. The story line was interesting and entertaining. I do not regret reading this book. It delivered as an easy and fun read.

*Library Book; Read Feb 4-7, 2013*

Black Fridays by Michael Sears

Jason Stafford has gotten out of prison after being convicted of embezzling money. His only job experience is working on Wall Street but he has restriction on what he can do in the financial district now that he is out of prison. He eventually gets hired to investigate an employee's actions. Meanwhile, he is trying to get his son, with special needs, back into his custody but his ex-wife is being difficult. While Jason is dealing with his personal life, his life is in jeopardy over this investigation.

When I first started this book, I was worried about the complexity of the financial piece of the story. The author did a great job describing things in a way that everyone can understand. There were some aspects that I'm not sure I fully understood, but it didn't detract from the story. I feel that anyone, even someone with no financial background, can enjoy this book.

I loved that there were a couple of story lines within this one book. It allowed the reader to see multiple side of the main character. It made me feel more connected to the different characters.

Overall, I found this book entertaining throughout and I learned information about the financial district that I had not known prior to reading this book. I hope that Michael Sears continues to write. I will definitely look out for more of his book in the future.


*This book was received through LibraryThing Early Reviewers in return for an honest review of the book.*