HOLD TIGHT
Harlan Coben
Dutton
Thriller
ISBN: 9780525950608

• Read an Excerpt

Harlan Coben has had a remarkable run since 2001, when TELL NO ONE increased his already considerable army of readers one hundredfold. He has sustained, even increased, his presence on a multitude of must-read lists since then. Even casual readers, folks who don’t necessarily pay close attention to what has just been published, keep an eye out for a new Coben title.

However, neither those who have been with Coben since DEAL BREAKERS nor those who have jumped on the train in this century are going to be prepared for HOLD TIGHT, his latest and best title. The primary focus of his most recent books has been the “family thriller,” and accurately so. HOLD TIGHT does not abandon that theme but rather expands it, taking it to the next level or two. The result is a work that is compelling and memorable, one that you won’t forget anytime soon.

What Coben does, and quite expertly, is get a few plot plates spinning on different sticks and then slowly and improbably, but credibly, brings them all together. The major plot deals with Mike and Tia Baye. Mike is a transplant surgeon, one of the best there is at what he does. Tia is an up-and-coming defense attorney in a major law firm. They are the parents of 16-year-old Adam and tween Jill. Adam is becoming a concern. Following the suicide of his best friend, Adam, a former high school hockey star, has hung up his skates, is withdrawing and becoming more secretive about his activities.

His parents, after some soul-searching, begin spying on him, 21st century-style. They install software on his computer that records and reports everything he sees and sends. They check his whereabouts via a GPS sender located in his cell phone. Adam appears to be involved with people who are way out of the Bayes’ league, who have an interest in him and aren’t about to relinquish it easily, and who have an unexpected hold on Mike that could cause him to lose everything.

At the same time, Mike has a problem with a patient, a young boy in dire need of a kidney transplant. The normal source for a donor isn’t open to her, for reasons, Mike soon discovers, that cannot be revealed. And at the same time, a mysterious and psychotic killer --- a man we know only as Nash --- is roaming the area, murdering women seemingly at random who are somehow interconnected with each other. And Nash? He is motivated by…love. And protection. There are connections between the Bayes, Nash and a young girl, connections that aren’t fully revealed until the very end of HOLD TIGHT and that will resonate long after your reading is done.

Harlan Coben is a marvel. HOLD TIGHT reveals the depth of his talent, which is as good as his past work has been. This is one of those rare books that deserves to be read at least twice: once to let yourself be carried along, and once to see just how the author pulled it off. Draw the blinds, turn off the cell and barricade the doors. You do not want to be interrupted while you read this one.

    --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

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