Long Lost by Harlan Coben
Our favorite suspense writer, Coben, brought Myron Bolitar’s character back in his current novel, “Long Lost.”
We started reading Coben after I saw him interviewed on The Today Show talking about his book “No Second Chance.” We read it and we loved it. As I’ve said before, it’s fun to mix in suspense and thrillers once in a while – and they are usually fast reads.
Good thrillers usually have characters that we want to follow on the wild ride through the novel, and Coben has a complex and intriguing character in Myron Bolitar. A little background on the character – Bolitar made it to the Celtics, a first-draft choice with an unprecedented college record, but blew-out his knee (with the help from the opposition) during his first game. Bolitar doesn’t fit into any generalized characterizations – he is a white basketball player with the first name of Myron. You don’t picture a man named Myron to be built, tall and handsome and quite intelligent. He went to Harvard law after his pro-ball career was ruined and eventually opened up an agency representing sports and entertainment people.
Most of the novels involving Bolitar have him doing private-eye investigations and leaving the sport agency representations to Esperanza, his employee. A character named Big Cyndi also helps out at the agency. Esperanza and Big Cyndi were tag-team wrestling partners for Flow (Fabulous Ladies of Wrestling). My favorite character, and clearly the most complex, is Bolitar’s friend Windsor Horne Lockwood III, affectionately called “Win.” This cast has been together through nine novels.
Coben’s novels are snug and fast – like your body in the harness of a raging roller coaster, twisting and turning. Coben delivers a believable whirlwind of adventure – this could really happen, and those are the scariest of all thrillers . (Although nothing is scarier than Capote’s, “In Cold Blood,” because that did happen – I digress, sorry).
Of all the Boliter novels, “Long Lost” has been criticized for not being as believable as its predecessors. I’m not sure I would go that far, except to say that the time table would be more believable if the events were starting to happen today, and not planned years ago. Terrorism scares people and it makes for fast-paced reading.
Terrorism also makes for good discussions at book club; the rights of individuals versus the safety of a nation. Terrorism has no boundaries and comes in all shapes and sizes hiding behind some veil of perceived injustice.
In this novel, Bolitar gets a call from his ex-girlfriend, Terese Collins, pleading with him to come to Paris. Bolitar’s life was unsettled, as it had once been years before, when he spent a few weeks with Terese, so he goes to Paris. Bolitar doesn’t even get through airport security before the police detain him, and the plot quickens its pace.
Even fast paced thrillers can provide interesting topics for discussion. In this novel the topic of terrorism is evident, and so are the topics of tragic consequences, forgiveness, redemption and love.
I do not think this is Coben’s best, but it was a good read and should generate an interesting conversation.