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Harlan Coben Book List |
There's nothing like a great read on a slow afternoon, or just before sleeping, and the mystery crime novel often fits the bill, if well written. The genre has changed quite a bit since the first detective novel produced in 1868 by Wilkie Collins (The Moonstone). At the end of a long line of super sleuths, please welcome Myron Bolitar, the hero of the Harlan Coben Book List series. Myron, a former pro basketball star forced out of the game by injury, is the central character of a series of books by Harlan Coben. Often solving mysteries for old clients, he is ably (and sometimes bizarrely) aided by a motley selection of friends, such as a gargantuan tranvestite wrestler and her partner, a former mercenary soldier who takes no prisoners, and his best friend Win, a super wealthy socialite who used some of his wealth to hone his body into a lethal fighting machine. It isn't often that a writer manages to come up with that special combination of plot, characters and action that keeps those pages turning, but Coben achieves it supremely well. If you like your mysteries a little off the wall, the Bolitar series is for you ... |
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Although dealing with the inevitable tragic death, and the equally inevitable cover up, Bolitar's life is also marred by mundane events and worries, which brings him down to the everyday level - he's just like us, but he gets the criminal. Just like real life, sometimes the blame is not clear, and the resulting mess is the accumulation of a quick cover up designed to protect certain people. In Coben's books, the underlying motives are well hidden, with just enough hanging out to keep the reader interested and continuously turning those pages. In fact, one of the few criticism that could be levelled at these books, is that they are too short by far. A great writer has several characteristics, but surely one of the most desirable is the ability to get us to identify with our favorite characters, and Harlen Coben books manage to do this very well. Myron and his friends may be a little strange, but who isn't, when it come down to it? One quality they all share is a fierce loyalty to each other, but specially Bolitar. Of all the interesting characters peppering the series, the mysterious figure of Windsor "Win" Horne Lockwood, III is by far the most interesting and entertaining. Holding a 6th degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, he meditates avidly and treats the world with cold disdain. He also has a very particular attitude towards women, who he regards simply as objects to be used and enjoyed. Often being described as a 'psycho', he is fiercely protective of his close friends. When compiling you Harlan Coben book list, be sure to include the Bolitar series.
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