Don't Let Go

Starred review from July 31, 2017
New Jersey cop Nap Dumas, the hero of this outstanding standalone from bestseller Coben (Fool Me Once), is shocked to learn that fingerprints at the scene of a crime—the shooting death of a fellow cop and high school classmate during a traffic stop—belong to Maura Wells, Nap’s high school sweetheart, who disappeared 15 years earlier. Maura went missing at the same time that Nap’s twin, Leo, and Leo’s girlfriend, Diana Styles, were hit and killed by a train. Maura’s reappearance sends Nap to see Augie Styles, Diana’s father, a police captain and his mentor. Nap comes to suspect that the deaths of Leo and Diana may not have been an accident and are connected to a secret military base that they and a few other students called the Conspiracy Club were investigating at the time. When Nap begins tracking the surviving club members, it gradually becomes clear that someone or something is now trying to eliminate them. Coben keeps Nap and the reader blindly guessing as he peels back layers of deceit reaching back 15 years, revealing nesting dolls of deadly secrets. Five-city author tour. Agent: Lisa Erbach Vance, Aaron Priest Literary Agency

Starred review from November 27, 2017
Coben’s new protagonist, suburban New Jersey cop Nap Dumas, is a witty and heroic sleuth who is not afraid to break the law when it comes to giving woman-batterers a bit of their own back. Nap’s everyday world is shaken up when he receives word that his high school crush Maura Wells’s fingerprints were recently found near the murdered body of another schoolmate, a Pennsylvania cop. Maura disappeared 15 years ago on the same night Nap’s twin brother, Leo, and his girlfriend, Diana, were killed by a speeding train. Always suspicious of Leo’s “accidental” death, Nap is convinced Maura’s abrupt departure was connected, and he’s driven to find his lost love and discover what happened on that long-ago night. Actor Weber has perfected his sarcastic wise-guy delivery reading the author’s Bolitar series. For much of Nap’s narration, he only has to toughen it a little, but when the going gets rough, he effortlessly enters the full-out performance zone. Weber skillfully presents the detective’s assorted witnesses, suspects, friends, and foes. But his major set piece is his enactment of Nap’s ever-more-frantic thoughts and emotions during a torture scene at the end. It’s convincing, chillingly effective, and award-worthy. A Dutton hardcover.