Coben does not spend much time
philosophising, or on long descriptive passages. He just gets on with the story
and produces real page turners which are hard to put down. (Review by Keith
Millar)
I Will Find You is very much standard Harlan Coben fare. A roller-coaster of fast-moving action with no end of twists and turns.
After more than 35 books, including his Martin Bolitar series, and numerous best-sellers, he has proved himself as an absolute master of the psychological thriller. Several of his books have been adapted into popular Netflix shows as well.
The plot for this book is pretty well-worn. The search for a missing child. But in the hands of Coben, it is very different and exiting.
David Burroughs is accused of bludgeoning his three-year-old son Mathew to death with a baseball bat. He is found guilty at his trial and is sentenced to life in in prison.
But he knows that he didn’t do it.
So, when five years into his sentence he is shown a recently-taken photograph of his son at an amusement park, he is compelled to take action. There is little doubt that it is Mathew as the child in the photo has the same large and distinct port wine birthmark on his cheek that Mathew had.
Burroughs knows he has to find his child, find out the truth of what happened on that awful night and find out whose bloodied body had been passed off as Mathew five years ago.
But first he has to break out of a maximum-security prison. Then, with police hot on his trail and with precious little information to go on, try to solve the mystery.
The story is written mostly in the first person, from the perspective of the main character David Burroughs. This enables the reader insight into his mind and thoughts and experience the guilt and anguish he feels.
As usual, Coben creates a wonderful set of characters for the story. From two quirky police officers who are the main investigators, to those who are sympathetic and helpful to David and to those who are just plain evil.
I have read many Harlen Coben books, and he is certainly my favourite author in this genre. And while I thoroughly enjoyed the story I would not class it as one of his best. I felt at times as if it was a little too fantastic and a little unreal.
However, as I said, I enjoyed the read and if you are a Harlan Coben fan or maybe just a fan of a good psychological thriller, then I am sure you would enjoy it as well.
I Will Find You is published by Century, part of the Penguin Random House Group. The ISBN is 978-1-529-13551-0. The suggested retail price is R380. – Keith Millar
Posts
