No Second Chance | Harlan Coben

No Second Chance | Harlan Coben | No Disappointments

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No Second Chance

	No Second Chance Harlan Coben, 2003 - 338 pages average customer review:based on 170 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Harlan Coben returns with a thriller of explosive tension and breathless psychological suspense. No Second Chance is a breakneck ride where nothing is what it seems-and where hope and fear collide in the most surprising ways.

Both a white-knuckle thriller and a story about the loyalty of old friends and the love of a father, No Second Chance is another masterpiece.

Abridged, 4 cassettes, 6 hours

Great stuff

Coben is the master of the "hook and twist," says his friend Dan Brown. Well, he got me again with this one. This one is not quite as good as "Tell No One," but what is? This is a darn good thriller with twists and turns till the very end. Plus there is a nice happy ending. Great stuff.

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No Disappointments

This is the second of Coben's novels that I've read. So far he's batting 100. His writing style is quite descriptive but nonetheless, very easy to read and his plot twists continue to the very end. I'm looking forward to reading more of his work.

book

I was very impressed with the quality of the book that I purchased. When you order a used book online you never know what kind of shape that it will be in when you recieve it. This book was in excellent shape and it was very affordable. I will definitely be ordering books again.

Brilliant, fast, gripping!

At home. Breakfast time. Another ordinary day. But everything changes in the space of a minute. Plastic surgeon Marc is shot at and is left for dead. His wife Monica is shot at too and IS dead. Their baby, 6-month old Tara, is missing. Vanished.
Marc wakes up in the hospital and learns the terrible truth. What happened? Why? Where is his precious, lovely baby? The police investigate. His lawyer and best friend Lenny tries to help. But nothing comes up, only theories, and Marc is also under investigation as prime suspect. Time drags by. It dilates and expands frustratingly. A request for ransom ignites hope. And things start to change. But nothing could prepare Marc for what is in store for him.

Another brilliant mystery by Harlan Coben. As the title suggests, no second chance for Marc but indeed many more chances for Coben, who is able to grab the reader's attention with a fast-paced, edge-of-the-seat narrative, nothing is what it seems but in the end everything is clear, every little details falls into the right place and there are no questions left unanswered. Great entertainment!

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Another fine tuned clock from Coben

I've just finished "No Second Change" after reading "Tell No One" and seeing the movie based on the latter.

Coben is an absolute master at page-turning excitement. I cannot count the number of times the good guys close in on the bad guys in some isolated place and think they have the upper hand when they feel the cold press of a gun against their ear from someone who has snuck up on them. And the plot surprises are placed at regular intervals so that about every three chapters there's an OMG moment. You never see it coming. You can't. These books are designed in such a way to be unoutguessable. Coben's prose is plain, but kind of hip. He's that smart guy you knew in college who commented on passing scenery in a hilarious way.

The book's core is about parental loss and the agony that entails. Such passionate desperation is the driving force behind Dr. Seidman, who is ready to risk all to find out what happened to his missing infant. His passion is such that it draws others into his quest. This seemed like a flaw in the book. This guy is too good. He has no personal flaws of any significance. We root for him unreservedly. I would have like the guy to be a little mean, a little selfish, someone who drinks too much, or gambles in Vegas. That would have made a serious book.

When you get to the ending, everything is explained. Everything. No ambiguity, no vestigial uncertainty. And You realize that the whole book is a bag with a carefully placed drawstring that pulls closed and seals perfectly.

I don't really object to that. I read Harlan Coben for fun and will continue to. But I prefer Michael Connelly and Laura Lippman. I come away from those books (expecially their freestanders) feeling actually dizzy with wonder over how they pulled that off with such soulfullness.

I think Coben's going to improve as he gains confidence and creates characters that we care about because they are disturbing on some level.

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