I purchased this book for my own personal collection.
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: March 14, 2023
Summary:
An innocent father serving life for the murder of his own son receives evidence that his child may still be alive, and must break out of prison to find out the truth in #1 New York Times bestselling author Harlan Coben’s latest breathtaking thriller.
David and Cheryl Burroughs were living the dream life when tragedy struck. Now, five years after that terrible night, Cheryl is remarried. And David is serving a life sentence in a maximum-security prison for the brutal murder of their son.
Then Cheryl’s sister, Rachel, arrives unexpectedly during visiting hours and drops a bombshell. She’s come with a photograph that a friend took on vacation at a theme park with a boy in the background who has a familiar, distinctive birthmark … and even though David and Rachel realize it can’t be, they both just know. It’s David’s son, Matthew, and he’s still alive.
David plans a harrowing escape from prison, determined to do what seems impossible–save his son, clear his own name, and discover the real story of what happened that devastating night.
My thoughts:
This is somehow only the third book I’ve read by Harlan Coben, though I do have a few others sitting on my shelf or in my audiobook queue just waiting for me to get to them. I’ve liked the other books I’ve read by him and keep meaning to read more by him…but we all know how that goes – too many books, not enough time! And the only reason I got to this one as soon as I did was because it was a pick for one of my book clubs!
This is a quick, engaging read. It pulls you in right away, and while this book does require a fair bit of suspension of disbelief, it was still quite an entertaining, action-packed thriller. I’m glad I had my book club to discuss it with because there are definitely things I saw in a different light after having a discussion with the group. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it just opened my way of thinking and I really appreciated that.
This is definitely the type of book where the less you know going into it the better, so I’m not going to say too much. It’s the type of book that can be consumed in a matter of hours because it’s so crazy you just have to keep reading to find out what is going to happen next. My suggestion is to just go with it and not overthink things. It worked for me…and I ended up enjoying it because of that.
After reading this one, it did leave me wanting to read more of his books. This is a stand-alone and that is mostly what I have read. I did read one book, The Boy from the Woods, that has a sequel and I think that is what I’m going to read next. After that, I’m not sure…but I hope to read at least a few more of his books by year end!
