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Promise me / Harlan Coben.

By: Material type: TextTextPublication details: New York, N.Y. : Dutton, c2006.Description: 370 p. ; 24 cmISBN:
  • 0525949496 :
  • 9780525949497
Subject(s): Genre/Form: DDC classification:
  • 813/.54 22
Fiction notes: Click to open in new window
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Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Shelving location Call number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Phillipsburg Free Public Library Adult Fiction Adult Fiction FIC COB Available 36748001749896
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Whether you discovered him with his New York Timesbestselling stand-alone novels or you fell in love with the award-winning books that preceded them—or you’ve never read him at all—anyone who loves a thriller will love international literary superstar Harlan Coben’s latest, Promise Me. It has been six years since entertainment agent Myron Bolitar last played superhero. In six years he hasn’t thrown a punch. He hasn’t held, much less fired, a gun. He hasn’t threatened or been threatened. He hasn’t called his friend Win, still the scariest man he knows, to back him up or get him out of trouble. In the past six years, none of his clients have been murdered—a real positive for his business.But all that is about to change. Because of the simple urge to protect two neighborhood high-school girls from the all-too-dangerous and all-too-common mistake of getting in a car with a drunk driver, Myron has them make him a promise: If they are ever in a bind but are afraid to call their parents, they should call him rather than get in a car with someone who’s been drinking. Several nights later, the call comes at 2:00 am, and true to his word, Myron picks up one of the girls in midtown Manhattan and drives her to a quiet cul-de-sac in New Jersey where she says her friend lives.The next day, the girl’s parents discover that their daughter is missing. And that Myron was the last person to see her. Now, in a desperate attempt to fulfill a well-intentioned promise gone nightmarishly wrong, Myron must become a hero again to save a young girl’s life. BACKCOVER: “Every time you think Harlan Coben couldn’t get any better at uncoiling a whipsnake of a page-turner, he comes along with a new novel that somehow surpasses its predecessor.” —San Francisco Chronicle “Just as Alfred Hitchcock carved out a niche with films about a seemingly innocent person caught in machinations beyond comprehension, Harlan Coben is earning the literary equivalent. . . . Hitchcock would be envious.” —Sun-Sentinel(Florida) “Very few writers can induce in their readers the kind of trancelike state, punctuated by frequent ‘wows,’ that most of us associate with much-loved books from childhood. Coben can.” —Booklist “Coben chisels his characters quickly, convincingly, unforgettably . . . non- stereotypically.” —Forbes “Swift pacing, strong lead characters. . . . Coben can write thrillers that lift readers off their seats.” —Publishers Weekly “The maestro of mystery.” —Life

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

A promise made on a whim comes back to haunt sports and entertainment agent Myron Bolitar. Worrying about two neighborhood girls riding with drunk drivers, Myron vows to help them anytime and anywhere as long as they call. Keeping his word a few nights later, he drops off one of the young girls in a suburban neighborhood, and she promptly vanishes. Her angry parents question his motives, and eventually so do the police. Myron swears to the missing girl's mother that he will find her daughter, even if she doesn't want to be found. The return of reluctant hero Myron (Darkest Fear) after a six-year absence will be applauded by his fans and enjoyed by newcomers. Abandoning the expected thriller elements, Coben has written a compelling drama that examines the power of honesty and determination to do the right thing. This should be shortlisted for major awards. Promise to read it. For all fiction collections.-Jeff Ayers, Seattle P.L. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

After a six-year hiatus, it's good to herald the return of Myron Bolitar, the former Boston Celtics basketball star who became a sports agent and crime solver in Coben's sprightly, exciting series. Even better, it's great fun to hear Coben himself performing this excellent audio version. As a reader, Coben has a quality best summed up by the Yiddish word hamishe (homelike, in its weaker translation). He may not be Laurence Olivier, but he sure knows how to make believers of his listeners. When Bolitar talks about going back to live with his parents in New Jersey, Coben catches the basic boyishness of his aging hero and the impact such a move has on Myron's love life. Of course, the world has gotten a lot more complicated: Bolitar's ladyfriend lost her husband on September 11. When he offers to help her teenage daughter, he quickly finds himself involved in some very dangerous adventures. With fading sports stars behaving badly in real life, it's a great pleasure to see that Bolitar has found ways to survive honorably. Simultaneous release with the Dutton hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 6). (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Booklist Review

Coben, the reigning master of clockwork suspense, and winner of the trifecta of mystery-writing honors--the Edgar, the Agatha, and the Shamus--produces a fascinating hybrid thriller here. Coben began his career writing detective novels starring Myron Bolitar, an ex-Celtics basketball player turned entertainment agent. For the past six years, he has concentrated on stand-alone thrillers. Coben's novels are noted for their use of technology, both as weapons used against the innocent and as ways for victims to escape their tormentors, usually with a clock ticking ominously in the background. In Promise Me, Coben skillfully grafts this deadline suspense onto the career of his series hero, Bolitar. As in his stand-alones, the novel starts with a purely domestic situation--at a party in his home, attended by friends and their offspring, Bolitar overhears two teen girls talking about driving home drunk from parties. Stung by his own memory of a high-school friend who died in a car crash, Bolitar makes the girls promise to contact him if they ever need a lift or are in trouble. The call does come a few nights later. Myron drives the caller to a friend's house, but she ends up disappearing, and guilt-ridden Myron must use all his resources to try to find what happened. Coben's resurrection of Bolitar works superbly: the melding of high suspense and high technology with a somewhat battered, very canny, questing hero is sure to produce another major hit for the way-hot Coben. --Connie Fletcher Copyright 2006 Booklist

Kirkus Book Review

After six years of spinning jaw-dropping stand-alone thrillers, Coben brings back his sports agent--make that everything agent--Myron Bolitar (Darkest Fear, 2000, etc.) for an encore. Overhearing high-school senior Erin Wilder, his current ladylove's daughter, sharing confidences with her friend Aimee Biel about getting driven by wasted friends, Myron Bolitar promises both girls that if they ever need a ride, they can call him and he'll pick them up, no questions asked. All too soon he gets a chance to deliver. Aimee phones him from midtown Manhattan, where he just happens to be staying, and asks him to drive her to suburban New Jersey. Myron obliges but pushes a bit too hard with the questions, and Aimee vanishes into a strange house. The next day she's still missing, and in jig time the police, armed with Myron's credit-card slips and EZ-Pass records, come calling. It turns out that Myron's not a credible suspect. But because everybody connects Aimee's disappearance to that of fellow student Katie Rochester three months ago, Myron's on the hook with some serious people, from Aimee's parents, who beg him to bring her home, to Katie's mobbed-up dad, who's too proud to beg but has other ways of getting him to cooperate. As usual, Coben piles on the plot twists, false leads, violent set pieces and climactic surprises with the unfocused intensity that have made his thrillers (The Innocent, 2005, etc.) such a hot ticket. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
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