I’ve been a fan of Mr. Coben’s books since friends of mine who used to own a bookstore recommended his first Myron Bolitar novel, Deal Breaker, to me. I generally enjoy both the Bolitar series and Mr. Coben’s other, largely standalone, thrillers. Like people who complain that they like Woody Allen’s funnier movies best, I have a slight preference for some of Mr. Coben’s earlier works, which are lighter in tone and substance than his more recent fare, but even his darker stories are engaging (if that sort of thing appeals to you).
[Digression: I can't prove it, but I suspect the influence of all the procedural shows on television raises -- or possibly lowers, depending on your point of view -- the bar for thrillers. Part of crafting effective procedurals week after week is coming up with new mysteries to unravel, or finding a new angle on the old mysteries that make them fresh enough to keep the audience coming back week after week. One of the ways to twist the mystery is to make it more shocking, and to plumb the depths of human depradation and inhuman morality. As this has become the norm on television, it seems it has pushed print authors in the same direction.]
Mr. Coben’s latest thriller continues his strong track record. At the same time, I take slight exception with the book. Mr. Coben is an alumnus of Amherst College, although I try not to hold that against him when I read his work, much as I can appreciate the achievement of Mark Helprin’s A Winter’s Tale despite Mr. Helprin having written speeches for Senator Bob Dole during the 1996 presidential campaign.
However, as a resident of Berkshire County, and as someone who has a theoretical rooting interest in certain of this region’s institutions, I take slight exception to the sociopath/villain/narrative instigator of Hold Tight being an alumnus of Williams College. It’s not so much the sociopathy that bothers me as much as the cut-rate, cartoonish nature of it.
