Review: Fool Me Once – Harlan Coben

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

SYNOPSIS: In the course of eight consecutive #1 New York Times bestsellers, millions of readers have discovered Harlan Coben’s page-turning thrillers, filled with his trademark edge-of-your-seat suspense and gut-wrenching emotion. In Fool Me Once, Coben once again outdoes himself.

Former special ops pilot Maya, home from the war, sees an unthinkable image captured by her nanny cam while she is at work: her two-year-old daughter playing with Maya’s husband, Joe—who had been brutally murdered two weeks earlier. The provocative question at the heart of the mystery: Can you believe everything you see with your own eyes, even when you desperately want to? To find the answer, Maya must finally come to terms with deep secrets and deceit in her own past before she can face the unbelievable truth about her husband—and herself.  – via Goodreads

I don’t think I have ever read a Harlan Coben novel before. Crazy, right? I read a lot and I have never read any of his work. Well, here’s a start. I thought that Fool Me Once was alright, though not a great novel. It flowed well and it was a quick read, but it never really went anywhere, if that makes sense. It carried on meandering in the same circles, nothing really changing, nothing really being added to the story at all, lots of mystery and complaints about civilians using war analogies. The story is a little fantastical and gets a little too complicated for its own good at times, but unlike most novels like this, it ties up quite nicely at the end. The plot is pretty skinny though, complicated, but skinny. There are a lot of characters in here, and none of them are really likable, with the exception of Shane I reckon. I also liked the relationship between Maya and Eddie, it was quite a layered, deep one. The book was nothing really special, but I did enjoy the twist at the end of the book. It worked nicely. I think Maya’s parenting skills were incredibly questionable too – she always seems so distant, but loves her, but never considers her daughter in her big, crazy decisions. Does that sound like a good parent? Also, I didn’t really like her, which made it super difficult to actually care about her. I don’t have too much more to say about this book, when all is said and done. However, all things aside, I will certainly read more of Coben’s work.