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Myron Bolitar, agent extraordinaire, emerges from a one-book vacation into another adventure. Coben doesn't force himself to dust Bolitar off annually; last year he wrote his outstanding standalone THE INNOCENT. Coben has, in previous Bolitar books, had his hero reflect on various moral principles which he has been forced to violate in his co-operation with Win Lockwood, his wealthy, violent, amoral and sociopathic (one could suspect also psychopathic) friend who takes a more pragmatic view of things. In this outing, Myron is once more forced to confront his own moral indignation at some of the scrapes he encounters but, amazingly, begins to see things more from Win's point of view. Dr Edna Skylar is a female physician specialising in the field of genetics. Thus, she has the habit of intently examining the faces of people, even casual passers-by. When she and her husband, ob-gyn doctor Stanley Rickenback are walking down a New York street, Edna is startled to see a face she recognises as that of missing girl Katie Rochester. Katie has altered her appearance but Edna is convinced she is correct -- especially when the 18-year-old, whom the pair have followed, tells Edna that she can't tell anyone she saw her. Edna now realises the girl is a runaway and not an abductee. Meanwhile, Myron is throwing a party for some friends at his house. The party is by way of letting the world know he and Ali Wilder, a widowed mother of two and freelance journalist, are a couple. Myron overhears two girls, Erin, Ali's daughter and Aimee, the daughter of a dear friend, Claire, with whom he had gone to school, talking. To his horror, the girls are discussing one of them driving with her boyfriend after 'beer and shots', the two of the teenagers being 'so wasted.' Against his better judgment, Myron extracts a promise from the girls that if ever they are in a situation where they need to be driven somewhere and the person available to drive is drunk or drugged, they will call him, Myron, no matter how late the hour. It is six years since Myron has had cause to don his metaphorical garb of superhero and set about saving friends or clients from peril, six years since he has had cause to call on his friend Win for extra-legal work and seven years since he broke up with long-time girlfriend Jessica Culver. Some weeks after his party, Myron is attending the wedding of his friend and partner Esperanza. He does drink but is to stay with Win rather than returning to his own home -- and Win's limousine provides transport. At 2.17am Myron is woken by a call on his mobile. Aimee is desperately seeking his help. She needs him to drive her somewhere. Reflecting on how he is breaking his own advice to the girls that they should never be driven by someone who has been drinking, he picks her up and drives her to a place remote from her home, a place where, she tells him she is to stay with a friend. Then she disappears. Myron becomes a suspect in the disappearance of Aimee. He is hated by Erik, Aimee's father, who feels Myron was romantically involved with the girl. The local police, including Loren Muse, the investigator from THE INNOCENT, also suspect him. The father of the other missing girl, Katie Rochester, a small-time crook with violent contacts, decides Myron is responsible for the disappearance of his own daughter when a link between the two girls is found to exist. Myron is once more in grave physical danger and he and Win are determined to discover what has happened to both Katie and Aimee. While Loren Muse does not have a large role in this tale, it seems Coben might have more plans for her. Another character from previous books, Myron's former love Jessica, makes a cameo, perhaps final, appearance . The senior Bolitars, El and Al, are revisited but given Ellen's illness, their future seems bleak. As is customary in Coben's books, the plot contains many surprises, not the least being the identity of the abductor. Once more, I felt that the author falls prey to his own wish to surprise the reader to his disadvantage. Cutting down on crazy curves and twists might see the reader less subject to plot sickness. Despite this, Harlan Coben retains the magic displayed over many books of creating and maintaining tension and building very credible characters.
Reviewed by Denise Pickles, April 2006
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