Product Description

#1 bestselling author Harlan Coben asks that provocative and terrifying question with his fifteenth thriller. How much do parents really want to know about their kids?

#1 bestselling author Harlan Coben asks that provocative and terrifying question with his fifteenth thriller.

#1 bestselling author Harlan Coben has become an unstoppable force in suspense fiction. His most recent novel, The Woods, spent more time on the New York Times bestseller list than his previous books and sales reached his highest levels to date. His latest page-turner, which is about just how far parents will go to protect their kids, is destined for the top of every bestseller list.

Tia and Mike Baye never imagined they’d become the type of overprotective parents who spy on their kids. But their sixteen-year-old son Adam has been unusually distant lately, and after the suicide of his classmate Spencer Hill—the latest in a string of issues at school—they can’t help but worry. They install a sophisticated spy program on Adam’s computer, and within days are jolted by a message from an unknown correspondent addressed to their son: “Just stay quiet and all safe.”

Meanwhile, browsing through an online memorial for Spencer put together by his classmates, Betsy Hill is struck by a photo that appears to have been taken on the night of her son’s death . . . and he wasn’t alone. She thinks it is Adam Baye standing just outside the camera’s range; but when Adam goes missing, it soon becomes clear that something deep and sinister has infected their community. For Tia and Mike Baye, the question they must answer is this: When it comes to your kids, is it possible to know too much?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2844 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 416 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Parents will find this compulsive page-turner from Edgar-winner Coben (The Woods) particularly unnerving. A sadistic killer is at play in suburban Glen Rock, N.J., outside New York City, but somehow he's less frightening than the more mundane problems that send ordinary lives into chaos. How do you weigh a child's privacy against a parent's right to know? How do you differentiate normal teenage rebelliousness from out-of-control behavior? When and how do you intervene if suicidal signs appear? Other issues include single parenting; career versus family; marital honesty; and how much information you should share with a child at what age. Coben plucks each of these strings like a virtuoso as Mike and Tia Baye try to deal with the increasing withdrawal of their 16-year-old son, Adam, after a friend's suicide. A pair of brutal, seemingly senseless killings, punctuate the unfolding domestic troubles that ratchet up the tension and engulf the Baye family, their friends and neighbors in a web of increasing tragedy. The this could be me factor lends poignancy to the thrills and chills. (Apr.)
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Review
Praise for The Woods

“The Woods might just be the best thing Coben has written. . . . A gripping story, filled with fine characters and dark secrets.”
—Chicago Sun-Times

“Gripping. . . . The characters are authentic, the writing spare, and the courtroom drama so riveting.”
—Boston Sunday Globe

“Harlan Coben has been keeping me awake at night. . . . I devoured his latest bestseller The Woods. . . . Fortunately you won’t have to worry about navigating impenetrable woods. Coben is the perfect guide, clearing all the hurdles with maximum speed and efficiency.”
—The Orlando Sentinel

About the Author
Harlan Coben is the bestselling author of fourteen previous novels including The Woods, Promise Me, and The Innocent, and is the winner of the Edgar, Shamus, and Anthony awards.

Customer Reviews

Good thriller that goes too many places
This book starts with an emotional bang. Parents Mike and Tia Baye are very concerned about the behaviour of their son Adam. They have tried to reach out to him but he is acting out, runs away for days and they are at their wits end. Also playing a factor is the fact that his best friend recently committed suicide. Mike and Tia decide after much deliberation to put a spy program on Adam's computer so they can monitor his actions. All characters here are written very realistically and emotions and actions totally ring true.

We get to see inside the lives of many families - the Bayes, the family whose son committed suicide and a single father raising a daughter. All this family emotion provides suspenseful heartfelt action enough to carry the book. It expertly addresses many issues families must face in day to day life. But we have added in a string of senseless murders that are taking place. At first the addition of this is fine and the characters involved in this plot line are also well realized. I found the first 3/4 of this book superbly written but the last 1/4 lost some steam. As the murder mystery part wrapped itself up it seemed to totally take the focus off the family issues and story lines which were the strongest part of the book. Much effort is given into bringing a conclusion to the familial story lines as well but the in the first 3/4 of the book all actions rang true but the wrap up looses steam and the emotional intensity provided earlier. It is a little unsatisfying.

I recommend this book but wish the high quality in the beginning remained for an explosive ending - both emotionally and issue wise. The book raised so many issues of what actions family members should undertake so strongly and then seemed to wrap things up with a formulaic ending.

Harlan Coben is Magic
Harlan Coben has done it again. This book grabbed me on page one, and didn't let up. Like his other books, Hold Tight tackles a universal issue through a character the reader can readily relate to. When Mike's son disappears, we experience his terror and regrets first hand; and fully empathize when he and his wife grapple with guilt over invading their son's privacy for his own protection. An excellent book to save for a lazy day on the couch.

A Gripping Tale
A woman is brutally murdered.

A troubled teen commits suicide.

Another teen apparently distraught over the suicide of his best friend suddenly disappears within days of his parents installing a sophisticated spy program on his computer.

The child of a neighbor is in urgent need of a kidney transplant and his mother confides a devastating secret to his doctor.

Another child is being tormented by classmates in the wake of an inappropriate remark by a normally good teacher.

How do all these disparate issues relate?

A master craftsman interconnects them and draws all these families into a tragic and violent web that will have you turning pages and staying awake at night to see what happens next.

Anyone who has ever worried when their child walked out the door will relate to this gripping tale.

Coben's Myron Bolitar novels are good. His stand alone novels like this one are great.