Julie's Review: Caught

Summary: 17-year-old Haley McWaid is a good girl, the pride of her suburban New Jersey family, captain of the lacrosse team, headed off to college next year with all the hopes and dreams her doting parents can pin on her. Which is why, when her mother wakes one morning to find that Haley never came home the night before, and three months quickly pass without word from the girl, the community assumes the worst. Wendy Tynes is a reporter on a mission, to identify and bring down sexual predators via elaborate—and nationally televised—sting operations. Working with local police on her news program Caught in the Act, Wendy and her team have publicly shamed dozens of men by the time she encounters her latest target. Dan Mercer is a social worker known as a friend to troubled teens, but his story soon becomes more complicated than Wendy could have imagined. In a novel that challenges as much as it thrills, filled with the astonishing tension and unseen suburban machinations that have become Coben’s trademark, Caught tells the story of a missing girl, the community stunned by her loss, the predator who may have taken her, and the reporter who suddenly realizes she can’t trust her own instincts about this story—or the motives of the people around her. ~amazon.com

Review: So when my dad bought this book back in March and read it, he told me I'd love it. As usual, he's right again. As with all thriller/mystery novels, I can't say much or I'll give it away. What I can say is that Caught is fantastic! It is an edge of your seat ride that doesn't stop. The first line of the book is eerie and hooked me in immediately. Here it is:

"I knew opening that red door would destroy my life."

It begs so many questions: Who is the narrator? Why did they know it would destroy their life? What was behind the door?" These are questions that are all resolved during the course of the book.

While the summary would have you believe that the book is about finding Haley McWaid and her kidnapper, it really isn't. The book is about many different things, with Haley's disappearance being a catalyst.

The book is about our society's obsession with the sensational media and how that can destroy people's lives. It's about parents relationships with their children and how sometimes we will go to any lengths to help them find their place and how that can turn out wrong. It's about trying to right a wrong when you have a guilty conscience.

There are so many twists and turns in the book that as soon as I thought i had figured out something, something else was revealed to make me change my mind. I love authors who do this well and Mr. Coben definitely does.

The ending is so tragic and yet full of hope and redemption. It was nothing short of perfection.

If you have never read Harlan Coben, run out and get yourself a copy of  Caught and then get yourself The Woods.

When all is said and done Harlan Coben is a master in this genre.

Final Take: 5/5