No Second Chance

Harlan Coben

Average Rating 8/10 (1 Review)

Marc Seidman's idyllic world is brutally ripped apart when he is gunned down in his home. Twelve days later he wakes up in hospital to learn that his wife is dead and his baby daughter Tara is missing. A ransom demand is made and agreed to. But something goes terribly wrong. The kidnappers escape, and Marc remembers the ransom note's ominous warning: there will be no second chance. An agonising eighteen months pass with no word. And then, as Marc has just about given up all hope of seeing his daughter again, a package arrives with a note attached: want a second chance? The note is chilling, but Marc sees only one thing: the chance to save his daughter. And, haunted by deception and deadly secrets - about his wife, about an old love, and about his own past - he vows to bring Tara home... at any cost.

'Suspense at its finest.'

Review by Michael Banfield (290608) Rating (8/10)

Review by Michael Banfield
Rating 8/10
Harlan Coben is well known for his unique writing style, fast paced, twist filled and humorous. No Second Chance fits all these criteria, and takes the concept a little further as well.

Unlike Coben's Myron Bolitar series (excellent), No Second Chance has some psychologically thrilling elements. The plot centres around the kidnapping of plastic surgeon Marc Seidman's daughter, and the lengths he goes to to rescue her. In typical Coben style the reader is immersed in the story, as chapter by chapter Marc's life falls apart around him. Shocking twist after shocking twist leaves the reader on the edge of their seat until the last page.

Some criticisms, when you have read as much Coben as I have the same old jokes start to get a bit tired. There is only so much Woo Hoo a reader can handle. Like all Coben books the main characters speak and act in much the same way, but that's just part of the experience.

So to sum up No Second Chance is a book I would recommend for anyone to read. It is a perfect thriller, funny, exciting and involving. I can guarantee right now that this is one book that you have no chance of predicting the ending.
Michael Banfield (29th June 2008)

Taken from Top 10 Thriller Novels of the Month (www.thrillernovel.blogspot.com), an informative blog that contains reviews, top 10 lists and soon to come; Licensed to Thrill - a three month guide to writing and publishing a thriller short story.