Thriller

My first Harlan Coben book. Will definitely not be my last. The story itself was really good, but not the best I've read. I absolutely love his writing style though. ( )

I should have paid attention to the impulse to quit reading this book and move on to another one. In the closing chapters the marginal writing gives way to outright awful writing, and the nice and neat resolution to the "complicated" bag of story lines is made even worse by sappy touchy-feeling moralizing. I read another Coben book years ago 'cause I had no other options at the time. I remember now that I had this same kind of reaction...and "almost but not quite" kind of sensation that I wasted my time on a book that could have been good didn't quite come together. ( )

Page-turner but didn't really grab me. ( )

A pageturner - as I expected. My second book by Harlan Coben - and not the last, that's for sure.

Harlan Coben mixes various plots in this thriller. A couple decides to spy on their son after the suicide of one of his friends. A killer is on the loose, beating women to death, a teacher's life becomes miserable after he makes an unfair remark towards a girl in class, leading to mobbing from her classmates.
The author did a good job portraying the kids and teens. They were believable, their problems were understandable. The ethical question if it is ok to spy on your children in order to keep them out of trouble was especially interesting - and the author offers no easy solution, just food for thoughts.
I did not like the plot concerning the killer that much. I found that part of the book a little exaggerated - that's the reason why I give four instead of five stars. ( )