Long Lost

Author: Harlan Coben
Genre: Suspense/Mystery
Pages: 404
Published: 2009
Series: 9th book in the Myron Bolitar series
Series Order:

1. Deal Breaker (1995)
2. Drop Shot (1996)
3. Fade Away (1996)
4. Back Spin (1997)
5. One False Move (1998)
6. One Final Detail (1999)
7. Darkest Fever (2000)
8. Promise Me (2006)

First Line: ""YOU don't know her secret," Win said to me."

Synopsis: Terese, an ex-girlfriend of Myron Bolitar, calls him in the middle of the night and asks that he fly to Paris to help her - no questions asked. Myron goes to Paris and learns about a secret Terese has kept for over a decade -- she once had a daughter who had died in a car crash. Now Terese suspects that her daughter may be alive and needs Myron's help to find her.

My Thoughts: This book reminded me a lot of James Patterson's style of writing and keeping the reader really engaged in the story. "Long Lost" (and the Myron Bolitar series in general, so I've heard) has a lot more humour than a Patterson book. Lots of little jokes here and there made it an enjoyable read.

One of my favourite characters in the book is Myron's best friend Win. In my head I pictured a Barney Stinson-type character (if you watch "How I Met Your Mother" you'll now have that picture in YOUR head). Win offers a lot of humour to, at times, a tense storyline. I just wish he was in the book more.

On the negative side, I wasn't totally loving the reasoning behind the mystery -- it seemed like a bit of a reach to me. But I do plan to read more books (starting at the beginning) of the Myron Bolitar series. I've heard from other people that this book is the weakest book in the series and that the previous books are a lot more witty and have more suspense in them.

My Rating: 3.5/5 stars