Shelter

I happy to report that I am not as strange as I had originally thought. Looking over the reviewers of this book, it was not uncommon to pick up the book to read a couple of pages then set it down two hours later, finished and feeling satisfied. Maybe starting the book at 11:30 at night wasn't a great idea, though.

A well written book speaks for itself and this one definitely does. The protagonist is tall and nomodic Mickey who is currently living with an estranged uncle, mother in rehab and father dead as of a few months before. Mickey has spent the past 15 years traveling the world with his parents doing humanitarian work. What kind of humanitarian work? That, dear reader, is the crux of the book.

This Young Adult novel is appropriate show more for my children. I feel confident loaning it out to the ever-present neighborhood girl who wants a good read but I will have to answer to her mother if it isn't appropriate content. That said, slight spoiler alert, the book is about white slavery and people trafficking, although details are not provided.

Mickey is a funny and enjoyable protagonist and I thoroughly enjoyed being in his head. His sidekicks, Ema and Spoon are incredibly enjoyable, although I just remembered that Ema's story is never revealed which is now rankling me. Ah, well. I still liked her and she becomes Mickey's friend, something he hasn't had due to his Nomadic life. Spoon is hilarious.

Bottom line: Excellent story, action packed, has a social conscience (the humanitarian work), provides some historical value, excellent character development, loved the protagonist, enjoyed the high school drama and Ema, Spoon and Mickey's overall dialogue. Clean read albeit violent at times. Highly recommend show less

Let me start by saying I'm a fan of Harlan Coben. At least the few of his I've read. But I confess that I've never read any of his Myron Bolitar books. I think maybe that was to my advantage, because I went into this with no preconceived notions about the background characters. And I also confess that I did not know that this was going to be a YA book. That said, I was pleasantly surprised because I like both thrillers of the type Coben writes and YA literature, so it was a nice blending of the two. The first few chapters for me were a little uneven. They felt a bit condescendingly written, as if in writing for teenagers he was trying to dumb down his speech patterns, not just his vocabulary. But that evened out for me quickly and I show more think the author found the perfect rhythm, the perfect voice for his teenage protagonists. I was interested in the characters. I cared about Mickey, Ema, and Spoon. I wanted to learn more about them. And just when something would get a tad bit unbelievable for me (Ema being all tatted up at the age of 14, Mickey driving at 15, etc) it was explained seamlessly. Not saying you don't have suspend your disbelief from time to time - like when Mickey goes into the go-go club - but it all basically worked. I was willing to follow along on the adventure and felt that enough was properly explained. Harlan Coben did not disappoint with his trademark twists and turns in plot. And I think he has brilliantly set up this to be a series for recurring characters. I for one would certainly pick up the next Mickey Bolitar book to see if any more has been explained. I would definitely recommend this book to the teenagers in my life. Good plot, believable characters, great suspense, no gratuitous violence or language. Good stuff. show less

I was excited to get this book because I love Harlan Coben's writing and characters. I was surprised to find it's a YA novel - I had no idea Coben was writing for YA, although I think this is his first.. I like his new character, Mickey Bolitar, who is nephew to Myron - Coben's usual main character. I find that Mickey has the same dry sense of humor as Myron, and I think of him as a younger version of him. Mickey, of course is already getting himself into sleuthing.

Mickey has had to go to live with Myron, because his father was apparently killed in a car accident and his mother is in rehab because her grief over losing her husband sent her to drugs. So now Mickey is one of the new kids in school, with the other kids expecting him to show more prove himself. He meets two other outcasts: Ema, who is the "fat girl" with a wry sense of humor; and Spoon, who is the school nerd and very wierd. They are all considered losers. Mickey has just gotten involved with a new girl, when she suddenly disappears. He and the other losers team up to follow mysterious leads to find her. In the meantime, Mickey is also involved in some other mysterious stuff including a strange house, his father's accident, and a strange tattoo. The action ensues, and just keeps rolling.

Coben makes all of these things fit together nicely. But I felt that Mickey's thinking and speech were a little too grown up for a 15 year old. However, I got past it and found the book really good. Coben left the ending open just enough to make way for further books in the series. show less

Mickey Bolitar is not a happy camper. Hid dad is dead, his mother is in rehab, and he's been uprooted from his town, his friends, and his high school to live with an uncle he barely knows. Mickey's dad and his brother Myron had a falling out when Mickey was a baby, and hadn't spoken since. Oh yeah, and Ashley, his new girlfriend, seems to have vanished off the face of the earth. He resents Myron, and has as little contact with him as possible.

On the way to school one morning, he stops to look at the run-down house belonging to the "Bat Lady," a legendary character who dresses like a hippie witch and is said to steal little children. To his amazement, she opens the door, calls him by name, and tells him his father is still alive. Then show more she closes and locks the door and refuses to answer his shouts and loud knocking.

He hates the new school, and he gets pushed around by the jocks, but he does make a few friends who are misfits too. He enlists them in trying to find Ashley and to find out what's up with the Bat Lady and her enigmatic comment. They soon find out they've gotten themselves involved in some pretty deep trouble that takes them into underground rooms, strip clubs, and other places they shouldn't be. Mickey finds out his parents weren't who he thought they were, and everything he thought he knew about his life may be wrong.

This is the first in Coben's young adult Mickey Bolitar series, and I think he's off to a good start. There is plenty of room for growth in the relationship between Mickey and his uncle, who at this juncture are still going through an adjustment process. Myron Bolitar is the protagonist in Coben's adult series, and this is a clever way to tie the two series together. I look forward to the further adventures of Mickey and his friends. show less

I am a long-time Harlan Coben fan and even though I've loved all of his previous work, I was still a bit skeptical of his new stuff being written for the "young adult" genre. I guess I was afraid that it would be "Harlan Coben Light" or something and I'd feel cheated. That said, I was totally hooked from about the second paragraph and as the story progressed, I left all worries about Harlan Coben Light behind - this is definitely full-on Harlan Coben. The writing and characters feel fresh, yet comfortable, as though Coben is stretching his wings again and is now free to create anew in a familiar universe. Myron Bolitar makes sparse appearances and the action and character development focus on his nephew, Mickey Bolitar and his new-found show more eclectic and lovable friends as they unfold a mystery surrounding the death of Mickey's father. This novel feels like the beginning of a long and wonderful series, giving you just enough so that adult fans of Myron can get into it and feeling new and fresh enough that you're not bored reading it. I cranked through it in 3 hours, so it's not going to hold you over like some other books, but it's a great afternoon of pleasure reading with an author who makes you smile. Highly recommended and I cannot wait for the next one! show less

This was a book of surprises for me. Mickey Bolitar’s school year is off to a bad start. His dad is dead, his mom is in rehab, and his girlfriend is missing. The cherry on the top is that he is also at a new school without any friends. Note: Those aren’t spoilers; that’s just page 1.

Surprise #1: Despite a rather rough patch of luck, Mickey isn’t your typical angsty teenager.

Harlan Coben jumps the reader right into the action and mystery of the book. And while Mickey has every right to be bitter and angry, he turns out to be a really great guy--exactly the sort you want to root for when the going gets tough. And rest assured, the going gets very tough.


Surprise #2: In the midst of the almost non-stop suspense, there is a lot to show more laugh about.

Mickey has a full plate of problems to contend with in addition to homework, and it quickly becomes clear that he isn’t going to have much success if he tries to tackle all these issues on his own. Enter Spoon and Ema and maybe even Rachel. It would be easy to write them off as cliches--the nerd, the goth, and the popular girl--but each of them has a unique personality that jumps off the page and combined they make for a pretty spectacular teen crime fighting team. Spoon in particular kept me laughing with his compulsion for sharing random trivia and coming through in a pinch.


Surprise #3: This book was so addictive, I found myself reading it while walking down the street.

Reading and walking is sort of like driving and texting--probably not the best idea (and something I usually only reserve for books filled with magic). I just really couldn’t help myself with this book, though. Without giving anything away (because I don’t want to ruin the surprises for you), I can only say that Mickey and his friends have their work cut out for them searching for Ashley, tracing the meaning of a butterfly, delving into history that many thought was dead and buried, and figuring out who exactly is dead... and who might be still alive.


Harlan Coben writes in a style that reminds me a lot of Rick Riordan. Mickey Bolitar will help you get through the Percy Jackson-less months with the same thrill-ride style, offbeat sense of humor, and cover-to-cover suspense. While Shelter comes to a satisfying conclusion, there are many questions left unanswered and hopefully many more Mickey Bolitar adventures to come.

http://tatalonline.blogspot.com/2011/10/shelter-by-harlan-coben.html show less

I am a HUGE fan of Harlan Coben's books (I've read all of them!) and when I heard he was coming out with a new YA series, I just had to check it out. It definitely did not disappoint.

I loved the character of Mickey Bolitar. He certainly seemed wise beyond his years. His girlfriend, Ashley, is missing from the beginning, although there is a small flashback to when Mickey and Ashley met. On top of that, the woman nicknamed the "Bat Lady" cryptically tells him his father isn't dead, which heightens the mystery and suspense. I think I liked Mickey so much because he didn't care what anyone else thought of him. He was confident enough to be his own person and not let people push him around; this included befriending Ema and Spoon, two of show more the least popular kids in his new school. I loved how Spoon was always spouting random quirky facts. I also really loved his friend Ema. It took her while to warm up to him, since she was so used to being made fun of and didn't exactly trust anyone. She turned out to be an extremely witty character, and a very loyal friend to Mickey. There is definitely something wrong with Ema's home life, but the book never went into detail about it and she never allowed Mickey to see her home. I'm really hoping the next book will give us an insight into her life.

Being a fan of Coben's other books, I was very pleased to be reunited with my old friend Myron (Mickey's uncle, with whom he doesn't get along very well). It wasn't the Myron I'm used to seeing though; since Mickey's dad died and his mom ended up in rehab, Myron ends up standing in as his guardian and stand-in parental figure, so his responsiblities are different in this book. For other fans of the Myron Bolitar series, Esperanza is mentioned once, but only in passing. I was extremely disappointed that Win wasn't in this one at all; he is my absolute favorite character and was hoping to see him make an appearance in some aspect. It would be great if he shows up later on in the series *hint, hint*. Honestly though, this book is all about Mickey and it makes sense for the other characters not to be in this book, because they're not a part of his world (at least not yet).

I loved trying to figure out all of the mysteries throughout this book and I didn't put it down once once I started reading. There was suspense galore and it definitely made it easy to want to keep reading. This book will keep you guessing until the end and make you excited to see what else is in store for these characters. I think everyone will able to connect with and cheer on Mickey in his journey to find Ashley and to discover the truth about his father. show less