A special thank you to Dutton and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fans, you are going to love HOME. Coben hits a "Home Run"! What an adventure.

Talented Harlan Coben returns following Fool Me Once (2016) with his much loved Myron Bolitar series with HOME.

From Coben’s first Myron Bolitar thriller, Deal Breaker, in 1995, introducing a hero that would captivate millions.  Over the years fans have watched Myron walk a tight rope between sports agent, friend, problem solver and private eye, his big heart quick to defend his client's interests so fiercely that he can't help but jump in to save them, no matter the cost.

Myron, an ex-NBA player turned sports agent and often a PI returns with a cast of favorite characters from previous books, to an intense gripping mystery suspense, with some special Coben signature style.

Way back when Myron Bolitar had founded a sports agent company clever dubbed MB SportsReps. The M stood for Myron, the B for Bolitar, and Esprenza came on as his assistant. Later MB Reps. Big Cyndi took over a receptionist and agency bouncer.

Two Boys Go Missing. Ten years ago.

It has been five years since Live Wire, and now he is back with two boys which vanished some ten years ago. One of the boys, Rhys, the son of Chick and Brooke Baldwin, is a relative of Windsor “Win” Horne Lockwood, III, who happens to be Myron Bolitar’s best friend.

Win had received a tip leading him to London in pursuit of the boys. Myron was his back up guy-his sidekick. When Win had disappeared a year before, he had put the Manhattan place in Myron’s name. Myron had chosen to stay in his childhood home in New Jersey to try his best to raise his teenage nephew Mickey. Mickey’s dad was back so Myron had given them the house and come back to the city.

There was also Terese, the anchorwoman on one of the news channels. They plan to get married and he needs his best man.

Patrick Moore the missing boy. An uber-affluent community of Alpine, Patrick had been on what they insist on calling, a "play date" with Myron’s second cousin Rhys. He had come to rescue both boys.

Someone had taken this boy from the opulence of his stone mansion to this filthy underpass. He needed to grab both boys, not just one.

Had they been brainwashed? Their kidnappers? Who held the keys to their freedom? Can he bring both boys home? The ones which had been gone a decade. What horrors had they been through? What kind of abuse? How long had they been on the streets? The thugs would want money and blood.

Years ago, the two boys were left years ago in the care of Vada Linna, an eighteen year old au pair from Finland. When Patrick’s mother Nancy came to pick up her son, no one answered the door. She had been tied to a chair and gagged. She was unharmed but the two boys -Patrick and Rhys, were nowhere to be found. Two armed men which wore ski masks and turtlenecks.

Both fathers, a physician and a hedge fund manager, and a ransom request via email came to Chick Baldwin’s account. Warning them not to contact the authorities, if they wanted their children alive. Ransom amount, two million. One per child. The FBI was involved. Nothing until now. Ten years later.

Something went wrong. Something big. They have to know in order to find the truth. A mysterious email to Win.

What happened to Rhys Baldwin? Myron and Win delve deeper. They are about to shatter all, for the truth about these two young boys. One boy comes home. Where is the other?

What really happened ten years ago? A cover-up? Guilt. Torture. A twisted scheme? The consequences of that day so long ago.

Riveting! Long- time fans and new readers will appreciate the emotional bonds of friendship “bromance” of these two, in this intense and complex mystery suspense. Fans will love catching up with Myron, Win, Esperanza, Big Cindi, and the gang.  

“The ugliest truth is better than the prettiest of lies.”

Explosive and powerful, a crime thriller about the strong bonds of friendship, family, and the meaning of home- with twists and turns you do not see coming! Mixed with wit, Coben is in a class all his own, both in the adult and young adult market. His characters jump off the page and draw you into their world. . . the good and the bad.

On a side note: Makes you think about the mysterious death of six-year-old, JonBenet Ramsey, which ironically will be featured on a special this evening. Sometimes you have to go back as the novel outlined- to discover the real reason behind a murder, when children are involved.

When things are not always as they appear.

By: Harlan Coben

ISBN    9780525955092

Publisher: Penguin/Dutton

Publication Date: 3/22/2016

Format: Hardcover 

My Rating: 5 Stars

A special thank you to Penguin and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Harlan Coben delivers his best yet—FOOL ME ONCE, a skillfully plotted crime suspense mystery thriller; a web of deceit, with a kick ass heroine who will not be fooled again.

All the rage these days –novels centered around the intriguing widows and the dirty secrets of their husbands. Coben’s latest adds a unique twist with a veteran, a whistle-blower, conspiracy, and a nanny cam.

Maya and Joe were married, with a two-year-old daughter, Lily. Joe was recently murdered in Central Park. Now a widow, Maya has to deal with Joe’s wealthy family. Judith- mother, Neil-brother, and sister-Caroline. No one who married a Burkett was anything but a tolerated outsider.

Maya’s career as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot came to an end after whistleblower Corey Rudzinski exposed the civilian deaths caused by her actions in Iraq. Army captain, Maya Stern was involved in an international scandal.

Her sister Claire, was also murdered, four months earlier. Maya could not silence the voices of combat. Her ultimate goal --to protect her daughter. After what happened near the Syrian-Iraqi border. Maya had been encouraged to take an honorable discharge. Seeing no other real option, she did.

Shortly thereafter, Joe was gunned down in cold blood in front of her in Central Park, and she was able to offer a description of the masked killers.

Due to her past and the recent events, Maya’s friend gives her a digital photo frame (which doubles as a nanny cam). She needs to keep an eye on Isabella, the nanny and Lily. Isabella was hired by Joe’s family, with connections.

Maya forgets about the frame (camera), until she sees the footage. It is shocking. She thinks it is her husband (his clothes). When she confronts the nanny. She denies it and uses pepper spray, to distract her, while taking off with the memory card. There was no audio. How can this be? Why had she allowed someone in her house, around her daughter? What gives?

Judith had been forced to bury a child, (Andrew – ten years ago); two of her three sons now gone, one supposedly by a tragic accident and one by murder.

Old habits die hard. Once a soldier, always a soldier. Something is not right.

The war was horrible and no human being should ever have to experience it. Maya would lay down her own life to make sure that it never came close to Lily. Should Maya go to the police? They were of no help when her sister, Claire, was killed in a home invasion while she was deployed in the Middle East, and she doesn’t trust Roger Kierce, the NYPD homicide detective heading the investigation of Joe’s murder.

Now a red Buick Verano is following her.

Corey Rudzinski was the founder of a website where whistleblowers could safely post information in a confidential manner. Illegal activities by the government and big business. He ended her career when he posted footage of her ordering a defensive airstrike that killed five civilians and he has more.

Then they find the same gun was used to shoot both Joe and Claire. What would make someone kill Claire and hold onto the gun for four months, and then give it to someone to kill Joe?

Maya begins her own investigation and uncovers some very suspicious information about the Burkettes. Things they are hiding. How are the pieces connected? The more Maya starts digging, she discovers Claire was on to something, and she has to confront Judith and Neil. She wants answers. Payments. Murder?

A good soldier doesn’t attack unless she’s already calculated and can counter the most likely outcomes. Financial crimes, politics, money, power, conspiracy, murder, a pharmaceutical company. Two dead brothers. Soccer. No dead bodies. Did Claire die trying to expose injustice. Who is to blame? How are the cases related? Where did it all start?

Lies never die—they will always find a way to show themselves again.

Coben cranks up the intensity --a husband and family with dark secrets. However, Maya is sharp and has her own plans of revenge and justice, and the nanny cam may just help her achieve her mission.

The author will "wow" fans and new readers, with the ultimate explosive ending!

Read by Angela:  Buckle your seatbelts for this ride! A very suspenseful page turner that just keeps on twisting.  You’ll be surprised at the end! A great recommendation by Enzo.