Julie's Review: Promise Me

Summary: Last seen in bestseller Coben's Darkest Fear (2000), Myron Bolitar, former basketball star (Boston Celtics) turned sports and entertainment agent and occasional knight in shining armor, is back in fighting form in his action-packed eighth thriller. For the past six years Myron has been leading a quiet life, much of it at his parents' old house in Livingston, N.J. A new girlfriend, Ali Wilder, a 9/11 widow, is helping to bring him out of his shell. Concerned that Ali's teenage daughter, Erin, and Erin's friend, Aimee Biel, might fall in with the wrong crowd, Myron gives them his contact information in case either of them feels she needs help. Aimee later calls him in the middle of the night for a lift to a friend's house, on condition that her request remain a secret. When Aimee turns up missing in circumstances mirroring those surrounding another vanished girl, Bolitar himself becomes a suspect in her disappearance and must use his wits and martial arts skills to uncover the truth. Coben fans will find much to enjoy in this well-crafted suspense novel, which has a startling final twist. ~amazon.com/Publisher's Weekly

Review: This is my first Harlan Coben novel, both my dad and step-dad enjoy his books. So I didn't know that Myron Bolitar had been in any other novels and sometimes this is a hinderance in understanding the character but not in this case. You get the idea that Myron is a pretty stand up guy and that he's played "hero" a few times before during his life. You also know that he's a former athlete that never really made it "big" but that his life went in a different direction. In Promise Me (Myron Bolitar Mysteries) he tries to protect two teenage girls by making them promise him that if they are in trouble they'll call him. One of the two girls is the daughter of his life long friend Claire Biel and the other one is ErinWilder, the daughter of Ali whom Myron has just started dating.

Aimee does call Myron late one evening and that is where the plot takes off. Did Aimee run away? Was she kidnapped? Who was involved? Of course Myron is the first suspect but because Aimee was 18 there is no case to be pursued by police. There are many twists and turns in the book to make it more than what it might seem. I'm always a fan of a book that takes you in a direction that is so different than you would even have thought. I did figure out one of the twists, but I do think that the plot was set up to take you in that direction. What I really enjoyed was that the pieces of the puzzle didn't come together until the very last pages. So if you are one of those readers who goes to the end and reads the last few pages, don't because you'll ruin it for yourself.

I have another Harlan Coben book on my shelf to read, The Woods,but I like a little bit of a break before I read an author again. Given how good this book was I'll definitely anticipate reading the next one.

Final Take: 3.75/5