Rating: 
Summary: A fun, first-person read
Review: An enjoyable book written in first person - something one does not have the opportunity to read much anymore. It is a rather easy read but the story moves along. There are enough clues along the way that if you pay attention, you can figure it out.
Rating: 
Summary: No Second Chance by Harlan Coben
Review: " I hated to see the fear in the eyes of the parents. But I understood it. The day you become a parent, fear becomes your constant companion. It never lets you go. My life was Exhibit A in the why."The twin themes of targeted personal deceit and targeted personal loss have long been hallmarks of much of Harlan Coben's work. They both certainly standout in this latest novel which is another stand-alone thriller. Plastic Surgeon Marc Seidman is married and lives in a beautiful home with his lovely wife Monica and their new baby daughter. That is until someone shoots him at close range leaving him for dead, shoots his wife and kills her, and takes his baby daughter. He awakens in a hospital room twelve days later to find out that the police and FBI have no clues and believe he is the primary suspect. Law Enforcement always targets family members initially and when one spouse dies, the other is investigated thoroughly. Dr Seidman knows this and also knows that the longer they focus on him the less likely they will ever find the real culprits and his daughter. All he wants is his daughter, Tara, back where she belongs. The police assume Tara is either dead or long gone and untraceable, but when his rich father in law gets a ransom note demanding Marc make the drop, Marc suddenly has hope again. But the drop goes haywire and the captors vanish without a trace. What follows is a multi month nightmare as Marc begins a long drawn out search for his missing daughter. Friends and enemies alike have their own secret agendas as does Law Enforcement and Tara is not necessarily at the top of anyone's priority list besides Marc. As other evidence begins to surface that Marc can't explain, Marc fins himself with no one he can truly trust and at the center of a Law Enforcement investigation. None of that matters, because Tara is definitely alive and he does not care what he has to do to get her back. While much of the novel reminds the reader of Mr. Coben's other novels, especially the recent "Gone For Good," this novel is still a worthwhile read. This book is not simply a rehash of his earlier books by changing characters and settings. As Coben always has, he has created another novel full of complex characters, hidden motivations, and mutli-layered storyline. While this novel does not have the humor that his early works did, the anguish and pain that Dr. Seidman is forced to endure comes through loud and clear. The reader is drawn into his nightmare and the work resonates within as this complicated character strives to find his daughter and stay alive.
Rating:
Summary: my favorite roller coaster ride
Review: okay. yes i am only twelve. what do i know about suspense and thrillers? Probably not that much right. But this review aimz towards kids my age, kids who want to taste a new genre. First of all i gotta say this Harlan Coben author, has a way of keeping you up at night reading page after page until once u kno it u finished the book. Thats what he did to me haha. Coben has a way of weaving polt twists in and out of the book so Imaginatively,that it left me thinking this has to be as good as it gets. The way he uses these plot twists to make the reader stop and rethink a reasonable theory about what really happened when Marc Seidman and his wife were shot, is amazing. in conclusion this book is like riding the best rollercoaster in six flags, with alot of loops and a good finish.
Rating: 
Summary: Dull towards the end
Review: After keeping me reading avidly through the first 3/4 of it, the book becomes too farfetched towards the end, introducing new key characters and losing most of its appeal. The story is about a surgeon that finds himself recovering for coma and finding that his wife has been murder and his daughter has been kidnapped. He is then given the chance to pay a ransom to get her back, but contacts the FBI and spoils it. Eighteen months later he gets a second chance. With a better crafted plot in the end, this book could have been a masterpiece!
Rating:
Summary: Snoozefest
Review: What a painfully boring book. After reading a lot of positive reviews about this book, I figured that I'd be in for a real treat. Wrong!
Plastic surgeon Marc Seidman wakes up only to find himself lying on a hospital bed. His family life ended with two shots into his body and another into his wife Monica, leaving her as dead as Marc was supposed to be. He learns that his baby girl Tara has disappeared from his home as well. There's a ransom demand, and Monica's wealthy father is happy to pay the demand. Marc ignores Edgar's wishes and tips off the police and the FBI, and loses the money, any hope of recovering Tara. Eighteen months later, the kidnappers give Marc the second chance they swore they wouldn't: For another $2 million, they'll return Tara, whose hair samples they've already sent to her grandfather. This time Marc has a new ally, his college girlfriend Rachel Mills, a former FBI agent who just happens to have turned up.
Rating:
Summary: A rollercoaster of a ride
Review: Marc Seidman wakes up in ICU twelve days after being shot in the chest and top of the head. His wife has been murdered and his six-month old baby daughter is missing. This all takes place in just the first seven pages. What ensues is a wild ride of plot twists and turns. This is a extremely fast-paced, page-turning book. I loved the characters. Their plight made my heart beat faster in anticipation of events. It was quite stressful at times. There are many characters, and the plot is quite complicated, so you really need to pay attention. This book was well worth the time and effort to read it.
Rating:
Summary: A Second Chance
Review: Plastic surgeon Marc Seidman is shot in his home. He comes to twelve days later in the hospital and learns that his wife has been killed and his infant daughter Tara is missing. There are no leads, there is no ransom note and the police suspect Marc, however after he's released from the hospital a ransom note is finally delivered. "No cops, two million dollars and no second chance if instructions are not followed," it says. But Marc does tells the cops, then delivers the money. His daughter is not returned. A year and a half later a second ransom note arrives. As usual Harlan Coben takes us on a walk down dark path of our deepest fears. We suffer along with Marc at the loss of his daughter, our heart quickens when we find out she may still be alive. Also, as usual, Coben slides between the first and second person point of view with such ease we hardly know he's done it. Coben spins words so well we don't even notice we're caught in the web till the story is finished. Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne
Rating:
Summary: An okay thriller
Review: Interesting characters and story twists. I thought the ending was a bit disappointing though. Some characters that are introduced right in the climactic moments turn out to be very important, and you kind of ask yourself where these people came from... Anyway, this book's not bad.
Rating: 
Summary: NO CHANCE
Review: I loved Coben's previous two books Tell No One and Gone For Good - which surpassed his earlier hardboiled Myron Bolitar books and made him the hottest breakthrough novelist in years. He was like the next John Grisham - an exciting new author of sexy, intelligent suspense stories that kept you guessing and turning the pages. A breath of fresh air in the stale crime thriller genre. No Second Chance is the same kind of book as the earlier two - exactly the same - and a big disappointment. Now that Coben's found a winning formula he's beginning to write his books to order - just like Grisham. The problem is that publishers put pressure on successful authors to write the same kind of book. Every time. So the product fits a mould in the market-place. Again we have a doctor struggling to rebuild his life after his wife has been killed and someone close to him has disappeared.
If you haven't read Tell No One or Gone For Good, then I'm sure you'll like No Second Chance. But at the third chance it all sounds samey and predictable. Coben needs to find a new direction before he becomes just another "brand name" author.
Rating: 
Summary: Like a Bad Made-for-TV Movie
Review: I started rolling my eyes after the first 20 pages or so; the constant references to daddy's infatuation with his baby daughter made me a little nauseous, like when you eat too much cotton candy. And like every similar book or movie ever made, where a kid gets 'napped, you just KNOW the parent will do any number of stupid moves against police/friends/lawyer [pick one] advice. [YAWN]. I didn't waste any more time at that point; I didn't even bother to read the last chapter. Back to the library. Glad I didn't buy it.
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