Twenty two years ago, Sami Pierce woke up to find his girlfriend, Anna, dead in the bed beside him, her body awash with blood. After he reported this to the police and returned to the scene, the body had disappeared. On his father’s advice, Sami left the country, returned yo America and got on with his life.
In the present day, Sami is an ex-police detective, earning a living by teaching wannabe detectives at night school.
One evening, Anna walks into the building in the middle of a lesson and Sami’s world is derailed. He sets off to prove that Anna is still alive and also to work out what happened in Spain all those years ago.
It’s a slow burner of a book. In the early chapters, much is written about his band of students who, somewhat incredibly, he enlists to help him investigate both strands of the puzzle. I felt that Coben didn’t quite know what to do with this bunch of people. On the one hand, there were lengthy inconsequential conversations between three airhead influencers, nearly a full chapter given over to the background story of a student whose marriage broke up because he cheated at golf. Yawn. There was another sub-group called the pink panthers but I never really understood who they were or what they contributed to the story. Also incredibly, these students popped up at regular intervals during the story, armed with invaluable information just when the plot needed moving on.
There was a subplot involving the release from jail of the man who had murdered Sami’s fiancee some years ago. It didn’t contribute a lot other than providing a handy ‘man with a fun’ when Coben needed to polish off another character.
The book rolls along easily enough as long as you don’t scrutinise it too closely. I enjoyed Sami’s character development and the second half of the book sped up a bit when Coben concentrated more on the plot and eased up on the wisecracks and the random non sequiturs. The ending was satisfactory and had a neat little ‘you-what?’ moment.
#2025AudiobookChallenge
Jacqui Jay 