The elevator pitch:
A lovesick New Jersey cop on the hunt for the truth of his brother's death.Read/Skip:
Read!
Remember the Better Call Saul scenes where Saul and Kim would pair off to rip off the greedy, the sleazy, the dense? Now imagine one of those encounters concluding with Kim witnessing the mark pulling one on Saul. And I mean, a gun. That's more or less how Don't Let Go begins, with a con gone wrong.
After the opening scene, Harlan Coben newest leaves the con-man genre behind. Instead, it spins a tale of conspiracies, Military bases gone dark, a tightknit group of teenage friends, and a deadly night near the railroad tracks. One that the protagonist, New Jersey Detective Napoleon "Nap" Dumas, hasn't managed to get over.
As you can deduce from the description of the story, this thriller has heavy Stranger Things/ Lean of me vibes.
I could pitch this book by saying: Imagine Eleven disappearing like she did and not coming back for decades. And Mike, as a grown man, now a cop, hearing her prints have popped on at a crime scene. Oh, and nobody has supernatural powers here.
But in spite of its influences, Don't let never go derivative. Thanks to a well-drawn protagonist, a cutting and sarcastic writing style, superb pacing, and lots of surprises. I managed to figure a few things out before the ending. Still, the why and how was a punch to the gut.