Blog Entry Three

Tell No One - Harlan Coben

The last third of the book was no different than what I had read thus far--thrilling. Beck, the protagonist, is continuing to trace the evidence to what he believes is proof that his wife, Elizabeth, is alive. Because of her, he maintains his practices of "rolling with two known drug dealers in a car with tinted windows" (345), carrying a concealed weapon, and risking his life in sketchy situations. We also are treated to the details of the whereabouts and actions of Elizabeth. Still unbeknown to Beck, she is alive, and she seeks out Shauna (Beck's sister's wife and close confidant) to relay a clue to Beck. Beck sorts out the clue, and finds Elizabeth at the exact same spot they last saw each other before they disappeared. After their reunion, they both realize what needs to be done. Beck seeks out Elizabeth's father, Hoyt, who was hiding a lot more than previously thought by the reader, and together Beck and Hoyt sort through the secrets of the last eight years. Beck and Hoyt travel to the place of the leader of the "villains", where Beck's name is cleared once and for all.

After the climax of the story, I found myself pondering the purpose of finishing the novel. Even though the climax had just taken place, there were still many loose ends that needed to be tied up before the story finished. While tying up these loose ends, Coben continued to throw 'left hooks' with the storyline. New revelations about what the reader had previously thought to be truths were numerous, but at that point, it really didn't matter to me. In fact, Coben seemed a little too concerned with making it too thrilling for the reader to follow along with. The plot became so convoluted that not only was I having trouble keeping up with the truths and lies in the story, but I became genuinely uninterested. Another disappointing aspect of the story involved Beck's wife, Elizabeth. Throughout much of the story, the reader, just like Beck, was kept in the dark about whether or not Elizabeth was still alive. Having read several thrillers similar to this already, I had a predisposition that she would be alive and that Beck would get to see her. However, when a few of the setting "jumps" from chapter to chapter followed Elizabeth's character around, this completely ruined the surprise. Despite all this, I truly am glad I was introduced to Coben as a suspense novel author. And, although still a book worthy of reading, there are several aspects of Tell No One that I would rather have had Coben write differently.

Blog Entry Two

Tell No One - Harlan Coben

Now that the characters, setting, and other basic parts of the story have been established, the plot is really beginning to pick up steam. The protagonist, Dr. Beck, is now a fully wanted man by authorities, and even more chilling, by other shady villains. In an effort to keep his desires to see his wife alive again, he flees from his assumed surrender in order to try to meet Elizabeth at a specific location later that day. Beck even assaulted a police officer--which only paints him as more guilty--but it really demonstrated the lengths he is willing to go to to see his wife alive. Coben also goes into the legal proceedings of all the events at hand. There are several of "behind closed doors"meetings between Beck's hard-hitting attorney and the police force and other attorneys, who seem predisposed to believe Beck guilty. Indeed, all of the evidence is pointing at him--a warm gun in his trash can, his blood at the crime scene--but Beck never once loses hope. More and more of his acquaintances are murdered by shady villains with an unclear agenda. As the story progresses, more and more evidence begins to turn up and it continues to point to Beck, even though the reader knows (or would like to think) that he is not guilty.

Since the beginning of the story, the overall tone of the story has become much darker. More murders are taking place, and are being described in more chilling detail. Even past murders are being brought up, with horrific descriptions of tortures and beatings as well. However, even among all this, I really like how the author uses dry humor. Coben instills his brutal honesty into Beck, even at the most dire of times. In regards to child abuse, for example: "The Bad Man isn't lurking in playgrounds, kiddies. He lives in your house." (170) Beck doesn't play games with himself; he knows how he thinks and he has a pretty good grip on what other people's thoughts and opinions are too. I also like how Beck has come to develop thus far. He began in the story as what seemed to be a typical grieving widow. Yes, he was crushed by his wife's tragic death, but he had began to live his life again. Now, we see Beck in a different light. He used to be "married to his work", but but it is obvious that he still hasn't gotten over Elizabeth's death. He has developed (or maybe regressed) to an individual who acts without thinking, with his eyes only on one prize. As the story progresses, I will be interested to see whether this almost immature thinking on Beck's part will lead to him getting what he wants, or maybe his downfall--because I know so little about this author, I wouldn't be surprised if the novel had a "sad' ending.

So far, the fast-paced plot is the main aspect of the story that is making me want to turn the pages. This story has all of the thrill of a classic Dan Brown book, and I'm anxious to see how it turns out.

Blog Entry One

Tell No One - Harlan Coben

Almost halfway into this book, it is already proving to be a very worthy suspense/thriller novel, comparable to the well known literary genius of the acclaimed author Dan Brown. The story is narrated by Dr. David Beck, a pediatrician who lost his wife, Elizabeth, to a ghastly murder eight years ago. Beck and Elizabeth had been madly in love since they were 12, and they had a romantic tradition of returning to the same, recluded spot they shared their first kiss each year since they had been married. Eight years ago, they were relaxing at this destination when disaster struck: David was beaten over the head, and Elizabeth was kidnapped. A few days later, she was found on the side of the road, dead--believed the work of a dastardly serial killer, KillRoy. In the present, David is alone on the anniversary of Elizabeth's disappearance when he receives a mysterious e-mail. This e-mail leads to an eerie sign that Elizabeth might still be alive, and includes the phrase "tell no one." in its closing. The story bounces around each chapter between several "groups" of characters and settings, with every page more chilling than the one before. Beck is being followed by more than one group of "villains", and as the story progresses, David finds out more about Elizabeth's death than he ever thought was there. As Beck gets closer to finding out the truth, the predators that are on his tail keep inching closer to him, and I can't wait to read the second half of the book.


Thus far, one of the main aspects of the author's writing style that I like is that the chapters bounce around from setting to setting. It keeps me on the edge of my seat, and definitely makes the story more suspenseful, because I just need to read the next chapter in order to find out what happens next. It is challenging, but I enjoy that. This style of chapter organization is also similar to the Dan Brown novels that I have read. One primary theme of the story so far is one that the main character, Beck, thinks about a lot. He has gone through the grieving process first hand, and knows better than many what it is like to have something so close to you ripped away, without you being able to do anything about it. Indeed, Beck gives the reader thought-provoking insight into this topic. Also, the point of view of the story is intriguing. Beck narrates the novel, yet when the story cuts out to the assumed villainous characters' actions, we also know their thoughts and feelings. However, sometimes with a suspense novel, I would rather not know what every single character was thinking (as in 3rd person omniscient). I think a more limited 1st person narration is perfect for Tell No One, because it allows us to know what Beck is thinking, but more importantly, it limits our knowledge of the workings of the villains' minds. More suspense would be able to be created if when the story cut out to parts besides Beck's, only the facts were given, no opinions or thoughts.

That said, I really am enjoying this book. It's definitely a page-turner, and as a matter of fact I think I'm going to go read some more.

- Troy

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