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.