How to Suspend Disbelief (or Not)

  Play Dead, by Harlan Coben
Sometimes, especially after some bad economic news as outlined in my last post, you just want some escapism.  Harlan Coben, who writes mysteries and thrillers, can usually be counted on to provide this.  I’ve read a lot of his books, and I’ve enjoyed most of them (iin particular the Myron Bolitar series).  But he just kind of phoned it in for this one - cardboard characters, ridiculous plot, etc.  Very disappointing.  Nevertheless, once I started it I felt compelled to finish it (I’m stubborn that way).  It’s hard to believe he even wrote it, that’s how bad it is.  (In fairness, it was published back in the early 1990’s, so he’s had time to improve his writing since then.)  I also read The Innocent and The Woods this summer.  Neither is among his better works, but I was at least able to suspend disbelief long enough to enjoy them.


  If you want to read a good page-turner by Coben, try Tell No One (although I warn you - it’s kinda violent).  It was turned into quite a good French Movie, with the typical New Jersey setting moved to Paris.  I was wondering why more of Coben’s books haven’t been made into movies, but apparently there are five of them in development right now, including another version of Tell No One. (The others in development are The Woods, Long Lost, The Innocent, and Deal Breaker.)  It’s possible that not all of these projects will make it to the screen, of course.

Harlan Coben has written a whole series of books with the endearing sports agent Myron Bolitar as the wise-cracking main character.  The Myron Bolitar books have the same fast-paced plots as the other thrillers, usually involving athletes or sports (if only peripherally) but they are also extremely funny, and well worth reading for the wit alone.  One thing I like about Coben’s books is that he doesn’t make fun of New Jersey or the suburbs - many books, movies, etc. love to show the dark side of suburbia, it’s become a cliche - but in his books NJ is a nice place to live and raise a family (though it has its bad elements like everywhere else).  Maybe because my father is from NJ and I have fond childhood memories of visiting relatives there, I have a soft spot for the place.  I also like Myron’s affectionate relationship with his parents.

Coben tends to use the same plot contrivances in just about all of his books, e.g., a character who is believed to be dead is not really dead!, but in hiding, or living under an assumed identity.   Or, a character is actually an imposter who has taken on a new name and identity.  Despite this, his plots always keep me guessing, and I’m usually surprised at the ending.