The Innocent: A Suspense Thriller

Loved it

This is one of Harlan Coben’s better novels, but it is immensely convoluted. We begin with what appears to be a character-driven story. Matt Hunter is a nice guy who tried to break up a fight, accidentally killed another man and served four years of hard time for manslaughter. He is out of prison now. He and his wife Olivia are about to have a child and buy a home. Suddenly he receives messages from her cellphone that appear to show her in a compromising position in a hotel room with a sleazy man who taunts Matt. So here is the problem: if Matt acts on his natural impulses he risks losing everything and returning to prison. On the other hand, he is in agony over the thought of his wife’s possible infidelity. From there we are plunged into an enormously complex set of intertwined plotlines involving Olivia’s past life. The thrust of the story will then be the discovery of the tangled webs that have been woven and a good man’s many-sided attempts to salvage his marriage, protect his family, stay out of jail, work with the good cops, escape from the bad cops . . . and, well, you get the picture. What starts as a character-driven story becomes a puzzle that is so complex that a simple summary would probably require several thousand words of text. The story is ultimately intelligible but it is very, very improbable and implausible. The good news is that the story holds your interest and the ending is ultimately satisfying, even though HC resorts to the annoying trick of setting up parallel cliffhanger stories each of which stops at a crucial moment as we shift our attention to the activities on another cliff and then over to another cliff and then back again. For those who read only for the plot, this will be a garden of delights. If you want a powerful setting, strong themes, complex characters and lovely prose, you will have to look elsewhere. This is an exercise in skillful plotting and skillful plotting is something that few can do at HC’s level, but this is an example of basic thriller/suspense/genre fiction, not a novel that you would ever consider rereading. 4 stars.

Coben spins a complex tail as only he can with memorable characters, surprising plot twists and more questions than answers that keep you spellbound until the last paragraph.

Overall --- Enjoyed this Book. To start, this was my first book by Coben since Tell No One, way back in the day. I loved Tell No One and before I describe my full opinion in the Innocent, I will simply state that I loved this book too. I consider myself a casual reader who will get through maybe 30-50 pages in a day or so. With The Innocent, I was done with all 500 in about 2 days. I couldn't put it down because there was always something happening with one of the characters. Many of the negative reviews of this book describe too many plots, characters and scenarios. I feel the characters weren't overwhelming and were interesting to follow their "side stories" while taking a little breather from the developments of the main story. The overall plot, in my opinion, is fantastic if you are looking for a fast-paced thriller, which you must be if you are searching for a Harlan Coben book to read. I, to the opposition of many reviews, like how the book starts and finishes by putting you in the action as the main character. Scale of 1 to 5: Characters - 4 Plot - 5 Realistic Quality - 4 Suspense - 5 Desire to Keep Reading - 5 When I find myself looking through reviews and searching for a new quick-read for myself, the only thing I really concern myself with is if people recommend reading it. So for that purpose, I will end this review by saying yes, I 100% recommend reading this. Worst case scenario...you waste about 2-3 days reading a book you don't like. Enjoy!

Matt Hunter is an ex-con. He served four long years hard time for the accidental slaying of a young college student, while trying to break up a fight at a fraternity party. After his release, his brother Bernie got Matt work with his legal firm as a Paralegal (an ex-con cannot become a lawyer). After a little research and a planned, accidental/on purpose encounter with the lovely, Olivia Murray, Matt and Olivia get married. Matt had been carrying a king size torch for Olivia for years, even before prison, when he met Olivia and spent the most memorable, though chaste, evening of his life with Olivia, in Las Vegas. Life is great. Matt and Olivia are enormously happy and in love. Olivia discovers she is with child. Matt is ecstatic. Things couldn't be better. But they could be worse and all of a sudden Matt experiences Murphy's Law, firsthand. Olivia drags Matt down to a mobile phone dealer where they pick up matching camera phones, before one of her scheduled business trips. Not much later, while Olivia is allegedly in Boston, Matt is sent a cell phone photo. Thinking at first it was from his wife, he is surprised when the picture turns out to be some unknown smug looking guy. Another picture some time later shows the same guy and Olivia in a blond wig. Other things are happening and happening fast. Matt is questioned by a county investigator about the murder of Sister Mary Rose, a nun and school teacher who had breast implants - a person Matt has never heard of. Then he is being tailed and after another murder, Matt's life begins spinning out of control. Olivia is almost murdered and he's on the run from the police. The answers to these events point toward Nevada and Olivia and Matt agree to meet there. Conclusion Harlan Coben is an interesting writer. The Innocent is the third novel I have read by him and each book had a compelling plot. In the case of The Innocent, the story reminded me of a rockslide. Coben starts with a disclosure, like a pebble on an incline, which dislodges more pebbles, (more disclosures) which in turn dislodge rocks, then boulders, then a full fledged avalanche. Coben's writing style is lucid and easy to follow. His choice of verbiage seems to coincide with the vocabulary of the average reader. At least this average reader. His character development is a little weak, in this novel but as the book goes on, you realize it was purposeful. He does use some well used clichés and throws in a moldy joke occasionally, and that's okay. It fits with the story. What's not okay and the reason I didn't give The Innocent, five stars is the several stretches and loose ends that are evident. Yes, there are a few things that don't ring true, like Matt's nebulous, almost invisible connection to the murder victim, Sister Mary Rose, was enough for the U.S. Attorney to decide to indict him for murder and issue a warrant for his arrest. This, and about a half dozen other problematic revelations, were enough to lower my rating to four stars. Those problems aside, The Innocent is a great read that will keep those pages turning late into the night.

A little too contrived and convoluted. Too many bad cops to seem realistic and too many coincidences. Entertaining but not at all realistic.

H. C . Books hook you from the 1st page & you just have to know what's going to happen next this is 1 of his best page turners. The secrets & twists & turns are plenty. I couldn't put it down. I didn't know what to believe or who to trust & HC writes characters that are loveable & relatable. He even made a dead character likeable lol great story & writing

Great read! I loved the twists and turns and the unexpected. I also loved the spell-binding journey to get to the final resolution filled with mystery and intrigue.

I discovered Harlan Coben with one of the Myron Bolivar books and was immediately hooked. By now I have read about 10 of Coben's books and know I cannot wait until I've read them all. His books are funny, his characters are not middle of the road, and you find yourself liking even the strangest ones. I often laugh out loud when reading.

yes, after Tell No One and Fool Me Once, I picked this one to experience the same thrill to be reiterated and I am not at all disappointed. Sometimes, overwhelmed by the number of characters in the plot but was able to connect as I progressed. The novel explores the dark sides of human nature and also gives a hope that we can overcome them if we try.

主人公はいわゆる前科者で、彼の暗い過去をたどる重苦しい導入部があり、ちょっと気が滅入りながら読み進めていくと、いつの間にやらすごいスピード感でいろんなことが起きてきます。何せ前科者の主人公なので彼には常に引け目があり、周囲も「あいつは何かやったのではないか」という目で見ているので、読者はやきもき状態が続きます。そのうち、「えっ」と驚く展開が始まって、もう読むのを止められなくなります。page-turnerとはこういう小説を言うのでしょう。登場人物たちの会話のテンポも小気味よく、最後はふぅー、とため息の出る小説でした。

Encore une histoire pleine de suspense et de rebondissement. Harlan Coben et l'un des rares auteurs à pouvoir nous tenir en haleine jusqu'à la dernière page. Les personnages sont attachants (on en connait déjà certains). Le héros, un ancien taulard, qui avait tué par accident un étudiant au cours d'une bagarre il y a 10 ans, a refait sa vie avec une femme qu'il adore, mais celle ci cache de lourds secrets. En parallèle, une bonne soeur aux faux seins est assasinée, mais heureusement Loren Muse mène l'enquête... L'histoire sort un peu des lieux habituels (New York et New Jersey), on ira jusqu'à Vegas et on y rencontrera des strip teaseuses. Comme d'habitude, un héros au grand coeur qui se bat par amour contre des méchants...

This really is a 'cannot put it down' book. Lot of action and twists. Told in a straightforward and readable way. I found there were too many characters to keep track of but maybe that's just me.