Just One Look

A highly readable, if perhaps second-rate thriller. Functional characters and solid prose with only a couple of clunky bits. I liked the false leads and twists. The final one is particularly good and saves what I had been tricked into thinking was a rather mundane explanation after 300-odd pages. Nicely pulled off.

The novel deals with themes of identity and one's past, and one's memory of it. Well handled, I think. The themes are integral to the plot which is no mean feat but also appear in incidental happenings. At the beginning Grace (artist and mosh-pit rocker) bemoans her descent into soccer-mom conformity, yet has nothing but contempt for the non-conformist Fuzz-Pellet. Just who does she think she is?

This would have got 3 stars but show more loses one for the Disney World product placement. show less

A decent story that saved some awkward prose and word choices. Like sereneness instead of serenity. Someone having cigarettes in tow. Colors that were saturated, sun-faded and lacking vibrancy all at the same time. It wasn’t all awful, sometimes Coben tosses in a line that’s apt and gets a laugh like saying a person had “enough piercings to double as a wind instrument”. But there were enough dingers for me to notice. I didn’t put it down though because the convoluted threads would come together in surprising ways that would be satisfying in the end. I can’t be sure if he does it with all his books, but while the prologue gambit is cheesy (throwing the reader into some far-flung situation that has no outward bearing on the show more first part of the story), I kept thinking about that scene and how it would tie to the rest of Grace’s far-fetched situation. Characterizations are not subtle for anyone and their actions not quite believable, but that’s how a thriller should roll. I just wish the writing was better. show less

I'm working my way through all of his books ----this one made me hesitate at the beginning....just a little toooo awful??? But then, as usual, it took right straight off through all of the twists and turns Coben is so capable of producing!!! It just boggles MY mind to wonder how he can keep everything straight in his head as he writes with so many points of view all at the same time....so many angles and questions with so many things happening with so many different characters. And YES, big WOW for the conclusion!!!

Remember photo mats? I do. And how weird would it be to pick up a batch of developed pictures and find a strange photo mixed in with yours? Well, that's just what happens to Grace Lawson. Then, her husband goes missing. But that's just the beginning. It gets worse. There's a sinister hitman, an evil gangster, a daring housewife, and many secrets. The plot of this story is so far-fetched it barely holds together. I love Harlan Coben's work. His writing moves the plot along in a timely manner, and he creates well-developed characters, but this book was a reach for me. The ending was also a bit confusing—I had to concentrate hard to get it straight in my head. Ultimately, I thought it was implausible and too much work to connect all the show more dots. show less

Honestly, I've read better Harlan Coben books than this one. There were some very good parts in it that were gripping and had you at the edge of your seat, but there were also a lot of parts in it that seemed like nothing more than space fillers. So, while in general I did enjoy the book and story, I expect more from Harlan Coben, hence the 3 stars.

Another excellent book by the master of Mystery and Suspense, not read one book by Harlan Coben I haven't really enjoyed. Like all his books it's almost impossible to work out who did it, and there are twists galore, even twists on the twists- definitely multiple layers in this book. Some great dialogue within this book as well, including some dialogue that make you laugh out loud! Look out for the great line about pooping your pants and the night lite!

I am a big fan of Harlan Coben. Not only can he write a realty good mystery but he creates some very memorable characters that are very much average everyday people that just have some bad things happen to them. {Just One Look] can truly be described as a "riveting read" and in the tradition of all of Harlan Coben's thrillers...very hard to put down. The plot is complex, dark, contains some real surprises with a twisty ending that as usual with this author...I failed to completely figure out.