Tell No One

Rating:
Summary: This Book is a Loser
Review: I read the other negative reviews by ... posters, and I wholeheartedly agree with all of them. Harlan Coben's writing is surprisingly immature and amateur-ish, the characters are hollow, and the plot is very weak. I could not find one character in the book whom I cared about. It's not that they're all bad or depraved; it's that the author did not seem to have the time nor the talent to turn his characters into real, multi-dimensional people. This book is flat, all the way through. I strongly disliked this book, and for some reason, I was left also strongly disliking the author.

Rating:
Summary: A Page Turner
Review: A couple of years ago, my brother turned me on to Harlan Coben. I wasn't all that impressed with the book that he got for me and asked to read. It was ordered through Amazon. They sent me this e-mail about this book, "Tell Know One." It featured a note from Harlan on how he got the idea for the book. I was immediately intrigued and couldn't wait til it came out. And the book did not let me down. From the minute I opened the book til I closed it I was glued. The plot has a lot of twists and turns. And the characters are very well thought out. I admire Mr. Coben from taking a departure from his normal character, Myron Bolitar, to give us this very well crafted and adventourous book. I'm telling everybody I know to get it! It will not let you down. I promise!

Rating:
Summary: I know its a cliche, but unputtdownable!!!
Review: I have read one Harlan Coben book before which i really enjoyed (One false move, if you're interested), but to be honest i forgot all about him until someone bought me this book. And, honestly, i read it in a day! Its one of those books and i'm a bit disappointed that i have finished it! Although parts of it i found a little predictable (i'm sure you will know the bits i mean once you read it, i wont spoil it), the big twists were less obvious and more shocking. He has again made his main characters likeable but flawed and realistic. The plot was gripping and the ending satisfying. (you can decide if thats a good thing or not!). The mood was just right and the suspense keeps you gripped until the end. I dont think he's at his best yet but he is getting there so i can only anticipate the next one. I enjoyed it alot and am definitely not going to forget about him this time around! I only hope hollywood don't destroy it too much. I can see it ending up as a straight to video flop if its not done right!

Rating:
Summary: Ordinary People
Review: After several people told me this was great fun, I plunked down my [money] and looked forward to a fast paced, thrill ride. Unfortunately, it reads more like a how -to -write- a -mystery -and -hope- the -movie -people -buy -it -book. I finished it but only to see just how dull it could be...I wasn't disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining but with no surprises
Review: This was a quick, entertaining read without a lot of substance. Given the reviews I read prior to purchasing the book, I was surprised to find that the plot was so predictable. The characters were interesting, but there is nothing new here. I broke my policy about buying only paperbacks when I bought this book, and boy do I regret it.

Rating:
Summary: Stop what you are doing, get this book
Review: I have been reading Mystery/Suspense books for over 30 years and this is now on my top ten list! I can't wait for another Coben book and this was my first one!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent mystery novel
Review: This is the first of Harlan Coben's books that I've read, and having done so I'm ready to go back and read the others now! The story is laid out so vividly I felt as if I were watching a movie while reading the book. Excellent mystery/suspense novel.

Rating:
Summary: Thumbs Up from a fellow suspense novelist!
Review: If there is one drawback to being a suspense novelist, it's that you are so familiar with the "behind the scenes" mechanics of the genre that you can accurately predict where other suspense novelists (or screenplay writers) are headed long before you reach the end of a book (or movie). The trouble is, you have planted so many clues and red herrings and set up so many twists in your own work that you can usually see them coming from three hundred pages away in somebody else's. This was not the case for me with TELL NO ONE. Harlan Coben has deftly created a true page-turner. For literally the first time in years, I was thoroughly entertained and stumped by a suspense novel, was reluctant to put it down, and found myself pondering the plot whenever I did have to put it down. I had no idea whether the protagonist's wife was truly alive. Though the answer is revealed long before the end of the book, the tension is heightened, rather than diminished, when we find out the truth. The twists are fast and furious as the plot heats up and the pace quickens. Coben manages to create a foreboding atmosphere with the subtlest of details--the mere mention of plastic tarp crinkling in one scene gave me goosebumps. The romantic elements of Beck's relationship with his lost wife were effectively emotional without crossing the line into gratuitous and sappy. Another plus: most of the secondary characters are vividly three dimensional. In particular, I was touched by Coben's poignant characterization of Tyrone, and was pleased that he stuck with gritty reality rather than going for the expected, too good to be true cliche. The story was so streamlined and cinematic that I could practically see the movie's credits rolling when I reached the end. Thanks, Harlan Coben, for a terrific read!

Rating:
Summary: What is it that I'm supposed to "Tell No One?"
Review: I've read all the Myron Bolitar novels and appreciate the cartoony yet enjoyable tone of those, but Coben overreaches w/ this one. TNO starts out okay, but plot hole after plot hole begins to appear, characters are running all over the place for no apparent reason and Coben is not an accomplished enough writer to pull off the first person to third person switching back and forth POV. As a representative example of a glaring plothole: (semi-SPOILER if you haven't read the book) How could the police charge the narrator w/ the murder of that photographer after an autopsy revealed all of the unique and intense damage that Eric Wu had done to her w/ his hands? That's just one of many, many fumbles committed by Coben as he tries to develop his ambitious plot. Characterization is thin, plotting is interesting for awhile, but then fizzles. Writing is competent, pedestrian. Tacked on "revelation" at the end is especially annoying. I envision Coben hunched over his keyboard, typing this novel and a neon sign in his brain flashing: "Movie Deal Movie Deal Movie Deal . . ."

Rating:
Summary: Quick Read
Review: On the beach in Bermuda... took only two days. Fast paced, exciting and engaging.