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LONG LOST
by Harlan Coben
Orion, April 2009
18.99 GBP
ISBN: 0752885227


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

I've consistently enjoyed Coben's series featuring sports agent, Myron Bolitar, and this book was no exception. The stories are always well crafted, with a host of supporting characters who add depth and occasional humour, albeit often of the dark variety.

Out of the blue, Myron receives a telephone call from old flame, Therese Collins, whom he hasn't heard from since a brief but intense affair that ended several years ago, without explanation on her part. Therese appeals to Myron for help as she's alone in Paris, summoned there by a phone call from her ex-husband who Myron hadn't even known existed, the same ex-husband who has just been murdered, leaving her as the prime suspect.

Needing to make himself scarce in the aftermath of an altercation that left a bullying local law enforcement officer needing hospital treatment, and still smarting from the breakdown of his own relationship, Myron flies to Paris and promptly finds himself the object of attention from the local police. Matters soon become even more complicated when the results of tests on blood found at the murder scene are known, and throw into question all that Therese has ever believed about the tragedy that has haunted her life for many years – the death of her young daughter in a road accident.

It was interesting seeing Myron taken out of his natural habitat, but whilst Coben writes fast-paced action and good dialogue, unfortunately he doesn't have much of an ear for speech patterns, and in consequence, all his characters, whether French, English or American end up sounding the same, which I found surprisingly jarring in an otherwise enjoyable book.

The plot is convoluted, but never wholly impenetrable, and Windsor Horne Lockwood III, as ever, steals the show with his own inimitable blend of sarcasm, wit and violence. The explanation, when it finally unravels, is suitably chilling.

§ Linda Wilson is a writer, and retired solicitor, with an interest in archaeology and cave art, who now divides her time between England and France.

Reviewed by Linda Wilson, December 2010

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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