Rating: 
Summary: Wow! Do NOT Miss This Book!
Review: All of Harlan Coben's books have been excellent but he has far-surpassed himself in his latest, Gone For Good. Be prepared that when you sit down to start this book you won't want to get up until you finish it. It's one of those books that you don't want to stop reading and, at the same time, never want to end. Gone For Good is a rollercoaster of suspense and a tale of haunting love. Coben's skills in plot and character development, narration, and creating credible, edge-of-the seat suspense keep getting better and better. After reading Tell No One, I wondered if Coben had reached the top of his abilities. While there are some similarities in these two books, Gone For Good is by far Coben's best work to date. Now, I'm wondering again if he's reached his zenith. But, when his next book comes out, I'll be one of the first on line to find out. Without going into detail, Gone For Good is about Will Klein's discovery after eleven years that his older brother, who was accused of murdering the girl Will had loved and disappeared afterwards, may not be "gone for good." To quote the jacket cover, "In Gone For Good, Harlan Coben has written one of those rare thrillers that will not only make the pulse pound, but stir the heart as well." Now, rush out and get a copy of Gone For Good and have an immensely enjoyable reading experience!
Rating:
Summary: one of the most suspenseful novels of the year
Review: Will and Ken were brothers who were also the best of friends. Will's first true love was the girl next door, Julie Miller, and they went together for years until one day she unexpectedly broke up with him. Almost a year later, the police theorize that after having sex with Julie, Ken killed her and ran away. For eleven years, Will and his family have every reason to believe that Ken is dead. On his mother's deathbed, she informs Will that Ken is still alive. After her death, he finds a recently taken picture of Ken. He confides in his live in-lover Shelia who seems very happy to him but then she leaves a cryptic note and slips away quickly into the night. Will is determined to find out all he can about his brother and Shelia but the more he uncovers, the more he realizes he didn't know those two people at all. Harlan Coben has written one of the most suspenseful novels of the year. GONE FOR GOOD has more layers than an onion and as each one is ripped away, the readers learns the truth is not black and white and that good and evil wear many similar guises. After the reader finishes this exciting novel, the audience will ponder all the philosophical questions Mr. Coben cleverly interwove into the story line. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Gone for Good
Review: GONE FOR GOOD
Review by Joe P., Providence, Rhode Island, USA Remember the roller coasters of the 50s and 60s of the last century? How you saw the scary thing coming, and were ready for it? At least, until it got to the scary thing? That's the ride you get with Coben's Mystery/Thriller Gone for Good. The delightful thing is that Coben has scary, scary characters and situations; but they do not reach the way-over-the-top, somewhat gratuitous bleeding of, say, the Prey novels.
You care about even his villains! Coben is such a master at characterization that even his blackest villain's heart does not go into a stereotype Snidely-Whiplash-character; even his villains have a human dimension. Even more, he makes that human dimension so plausible, we believe it: No matter if we would not believe this character's humanity in real life. That is the fun of writing and reading fiction. As Coben says in his Acknowledgments, "To repeat: this is a work of fiction. That means I make stuff up." That is why writers of fiction love their craft, and that is the main attribute that readers of novels have in common: They want a story. They want it to be like reality, but they don't want it to turn out so predictable to be journalism. They want a new twist, or what could be.
Readers also demand that plots stick to self-interiorized fictional rules. Coben's plots and subplots are numerous, and he handles them like Harold Robbins or Charles Dickens. Each short chapter leads up to a mini-black moment that forces you to turn the page, until you finish this novel, this rollercoaster ride. Every plausible answer to the mystery is presented throughout the book; until the hero puts together the correct one, and it keeps you guessing to, yes, the very last page! You may even shed a sudden tear at Coben's artful portrayal of the human condition.
This should be the "beach read" for 2002. Wonderful fun! A great read! Edgy, yet not too disturbing to kill the entertainment value! I recommend this novel as I would a Jack Higgins' or any top mystery or Burnett's High Sierra. This novel may well garner enough praise to become a cornerstone of the genre in the 21st century.
Rating:
Summary: Better writing and more suspenseful than "Tell No One"
Review: If you enjoyed Harlan Coben's last book, "Tell No One," you will find his new book to be better, or at least an equal. In Gone For Good, Coben again relies on a large cast of characters and tricky plot twists to keep you guessing the outcome right up until the end. Unlike "Tell No One," Coben has taken away some of the technological goodies and has written a much more mystery-solving style of thriller and it noticeably helps keep the suspense up without forcing you to slighty suspend your belief. His characters are also more intriguing and well-rounded this time. You get to know more about them and they play a much more integral role in the book. I don't want to ruin the suprises so I'll end my review here. Highly Recommended
Rating:
Summary: First Perfect Mystery of 2002!!
Review: Will hasn't seen his brother Ken for 12 years. After being accused of raping and killing a neighborhood girl, he simply vanished, leaving his family to pick up the shattered pieces left in his wake. Clues left at the crime scene leave the family to wonder if Ken himself was also a victim that night. But now with the death of his Mother, Will is left with only her final words, "Your brother is still alive." And when Sheila, the love of his life disappears, Will is more determined than ever to find answers Because not only was the murdered girl a neighbor, she was also Will's first love. The deeper Will looks, the more he discovers facts that he would rather not know. How well does one really know those he loves? Is everything connected, or just random circumstance? As the mystery deepens, Will must face the truth, and the danger, that surrounds these questions and more. This is easily the first perfect mystery of the year. Coben doesn't miss a beat, and there's not a single miss-step in the entire novel. Combining unbridled suspense, and heart-wrenching emotion, Coben has written his best book yet. The reader will be torn between reading as quickly as possible in order to unravel the hidden mystery, and reading as slowly as possible in order to savor each beautifully rendered word. Each character comes alive under Coben's more than capable hand, leaving the reader emotionally spent , yet craving more, chapter after chapter. Do what you must to get your hands on this book, you won't regret it. Just make sure you start it at a time you can finish it, because it's almost impossible to put down. My only complaint, and it's a sad one, is that Mr. Coben has now set an almost impossibly high standard for others to achieve in mystery writing, one that other authors after this will undoubtedly have a hard time living up to. But don't let this stop you from reading this intelligent and moving thriller. It's an experience not to be missed!
Rating:
Summary: Coben is superior!
Review: One more time, Harlan Coben has written a superb mystery where every page adds another totally unexpected twist. This book didn't have as many extreme plot turns as his last, "Tell No One," but it is really close. As you have read, the plot revolves around poor Will, who has to be the unluckiest man in love ever. His first love is murdered, his worshipped brother is the suspected killer and has been on the lam for 11 years, his current lover is missing. Can things get much worse? Of course they can because Coben makes up good stuff!! I refuse to say any more about the story because to do so would ruin it for you. Suffice to say, the different story lines become interwoven, and downright creepy. I have followed Coben's writing since his very first novel and, in my humble opinion, he keeps getting better and better. If you only read one or two novels a year, this is a don't miss for sure. If you read hundreds of novels a year, this is one you won't forget. "Gone for Good" is a great read, filled with suspense and the knowledge that Coben won't let you figure it out; he always has one more surprise up his sleeve. And the surprises just keep on coming. Buy it, Read it, Relish it. This book is one of the year's best!
Rating: 
Summary: Almost great
Review: This is the third Harlan Coben novel I've read and it is the best so far. Coben's plots have more twists and turns then a roller coaster. There is a surprise literally every few pages. And that is the problem. Some of the surprises, many of them in fact, are simply jarring. They are clearly dramatic devices intended to move the story forward and the reader is sometimes forced to deliberately invoke their own sense of credulity. Fortunately Coben's enough of a storyteller to involve the reader to the point of doing just that. Coben is a powerful writer. His characters, while lacking depth and believability, are engrossing. The good folks are far and few between, the bad guys and dolls are plentiful and you simply can't be sure of where everyone stands. The ending of "Gone for Good" is disappointing. Coben has to wrap up too many loose ends and it smacks of a 1930s movie with the detective assembling everyone in the drawing room and lecturing each suspect until revealing the perpetrator. Of course, it doesn't help that the "surprise" at the end is simply too surprising. All that said, Coben is an immensely gifted writer who clearly has not reached his prime. He's entertaining, pulls you from page to page and is very clearly on the verge of breaking through. I'll be reading his five other novels to see if he's made it there yet. Jerry
Rating:
Summary: Great read!
Review: This was such a fun book to read. My book club at work picked this for our monthly selection and all of us enjoyed it immensely. I must agree with some of the other reviewers that there were not that many likeable characters and it was hard to really care about anyone. However, it was fast-paced, had a lot of twists and turns and kept us all guessing to the end. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Hooray for Harlan Coben
Review: I read this book mostly because I met the author years ago in an AOL writer's chat room and we became internet buddies, exchanging emails, that sort of thing, although I haven't heard from him in several years. I started one of the Myron Bolitar stories years ago but never really became engrossed. We have never actually met in person, but now when I go to the bookstore I see a whole section of his books and see that he has become a successful author (congrats!) Since he's a "buddy" I just have to give this book five well deserved stars.
I enjoyed the book from start to finish. Some of the plot twists seemed a little absurd but I guess that people read thrillers for plot twists and people read Thomas Mann novels for something else. I just read *The Magic Mountain* and it didn't have much in terms of plot twists. Too bad we couldn't get Mann (R.I.P.) and Coben together to write a novel . . . I bet we'd end up with something along the lines of *The Name of the Rose.*
I have two minor complaints about the novel. The first is my fault: every time the character referred to as "the Ghost" was in a scene I visualized this crazy large white head - something like the appearance of Jim Carrey in *The Mask,* but white instead of green; or else an appearance like the guy in the Jack in the Box commercials. That was awfully distracting, but then again the character was first described as having "skin like cataracts, milky and marshlike . . . head shaped like a lightbulb . . . nightmare version of a Dresden doll." Yikes!
The other complaint is about the character "Squares," who is the second most important character and probably the most interesting character. Why, though, did he have to be a famous yoga guru? The character was strong enough as a street-wise dude who has a somewhat evil past and now drives around in a van trying to help street kids change their lives. The yoga guru component added nothing to the story and wasn't even believable because he hardly ever even went to that job. What gives?
Unlike *The Magic Mountain* this book moved along quickly because it kept me wondering what was going to happen next. The characters, except "the Ghost," were well drawn, likeable, and genuine; and the main character's witty quips made the book interesting. I laughed out loud a couple of times. The main character, Will, and the female characters were particularly well done. Hooray for Harlan Coben! I hope you get a big movie deal out of one of these books.
Rating: 
Summary: actually 3 and a half
Review: after reading a bunch of great reviews on this book, i was dying to read it.
when i did i felt two ways: confused at points and a little disappointed. while i liked the book's plot(s), i just couldn't become emotionally attached to the characters -- character development just did not seem to be a priority in this book. since i didn't care for any of the characters (as i did not really feel that i "knew" them) so many of them blurred together at certain points of the book. this led me to become confused sometimes. one bad guy seemed just to blur into the next. this did frustrate me at one scene to the point of not wanting to continue reading. but i kept going and was surprised at an ending that i did not expect. not to ruin it for anyone, but the ending for me was a bit of a stretch.
the main thing i did like about this story was really the mental arguments the main character had with himself. often, i found him asking the silly or mundane questions regular people ask/say when watching a suspense or horror flick.
overall, it was an entertaining read, but no.thing extraordinary
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