When I was looking for book recommendations, someone mentioned Harlan Coben. I had never heard of him before and tried one of his books. I was totally hooked and have been going through his work a little at a time ever since.  So far, he hasn’t become too formulaic, although I know I can always count on some sort of crazy mystery and lots of action.

Tell No One is no exception.  This is the story of David Beck, a seemingly squeaky-clean do-gooder of a doctor in a clinic in one of those areas where people from the lily-white suburbs don’t drive.  He’s still in mourning for the wife he lost eight years ago who was murdered by a serial killer. He goes on about his day, saying the right things to the right people and trying to keep a grip while at night he contemplates joining her.

That changes when he receives a cryptic email with a phrase that was a secret between just the two of them. Later on, he is directed to a webcam that shows someone who looks very much like her out there somewhere in the world.  Is someone trying to drive David insane? What else is going on?

Coben manages to weave a complex, action-driven mystery that goes through many twists and turns over the course of only a few days.  Colorful characters pop in and out of the picture as David probes deeper and deeper, trying to find answers and also now finding himself under suspicion of his wife’s murder.

The characters in Tell No One are really what make the story. The ones he turns to for help are usually ones that blur the line between good and bad, while the truly evil are colorful caricatures of movie villains.  Still, they make for an exciting plot that grabbed me immediately and had me racing through to the end.

Coben’s descriptions are magnificent. I could see the world through David’s eyes as he raced to avoid the police while at the same time trying to figure out exactly what was going on. The City isn’t a pretty place with plenty of unseemliness to go around, and he seems to tread through a lot of it during the course of Tell No One.  That said, he also has some incredible, unwavering support from a few close people.

If you’re like me and have never read a book by Coben, this is a nice place to start.  It may seem a little too much like it was designed to be a movie plot at times, and the story is somewhat a familiar one albeit with some very interesting twists and turns.  The setting and characters work together nicely to form an intense mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed reading.