jayanth

2.5 stars.
Disappointing at the end.
The book contains zero suspense (I don't mean this as a bad thing). The crime happens in the first chapter. We as readers know everything (who, why, and how) and we will be seeing how the good guys try to figure it out and how they bring the culprits to justice. It is interesting partially( bcoz we already know what happened). The thing that annoyed me at the end was that the author keeps making things tougher for the good guys, and I was very intrigued by how the lead character gets out of it and brings justice. But, the author took an easy way out, and it was done in a very lame way.

2 star.
It was disappointing. I know this is a classic, and I went into the book with moderate expectations. The setup was quite interesting, as we got to know about Rebecca (the first wife) through the eyes and ears of the 2nd wife. In the beginning, the suspense about Rebecca and the characters of the house keeps you interested enough. But slowly, you feel there is no aim for the story, and we will be going through the daily activities of the house with minimal or no plot progression for nearly 40–50% of the book. Only in the last 120–130 pages does the plot get interesting. Still, at the end of the book, there is a non-satisfying feeling.

2.5 stars.
The book is kind of dragged. It starts out interesting because of the narrative style (back and forth), but after a while, it is just the characters eating, roaming, and talking, which is not interesting enough for 150–200 pages. But at the end, I did kind of feel slight emotions towards the characters.
Come to think of it, the love story between the leads is not well developed. They just fall in love for the sake of it. Also, what is the art that Clare does? I didn't understand it. Whenever the topic about her art comes, it just skim through it

This is my 3rd Harlan Coben book. I had a similar experience as the books before i.e. A DECENT Thriller. The major advantage of Harlan Coben's books is that they keep you interested from the very first chapter and are very easy to read. The disadvantage is the characters and it's a very forgettable story. Mind you, I am not someone who looks for unique or interesting characters when reading a Thriller book, but the characters in Harlen Corben's books are too lame and boring for me to care anything for them. They are not clever either. It is just the narrative that keeps you interested.

Coming to this particular book, as usual, starts out very interesting but slows down as the book progresses(One reason is the courtroom subplot). I thought I would end up giving a 2.5 stars but the climax is good/decent enough for me to push it up to 3. (Complaint 1)One thing that irritated me was the ML doing almost nothing except going from place to place and flashing his prosecutor ID at people's faces to get the information out of them. He does nothing to uncover the truth. Most of the information/investigation is given to him by his PA. (Complaint 2) I felt the subplots(KGB Russia and courtroom case) used as threads to complete the main plot were forced. They didn't seem organic.

Suggestion: If you are someone who is OK with absurd/ suspension of disbelief and looking for some quick, easy read, you can give this a try.

PS(slight spoilers)
After reading three Harlen Coben books, I realized that the surprise/shock factor he uses at the beginning of the book to keep us interested is almost the same( Bringing back someone who is presumed to be dead)