Michael Gorey

Darkest Fear by Harlan Coben is a witty suspenseful novel that entertains and enthralls.

I found it much better than Gone for Good and Deal Breaker. The story here was more believable.

Readers of fiction will grant authors licence to stretch the facts, but a plot still needs to be credible. A credible thriller is more frightening than a fanciful one because our natural tendency is to place ourselves in the story.

In Darkest Fear, Coben creates a scary scenario in which a kidnapper terrorises the families of his victims. He threatens, teases and cajoles them into silence in exchange for a faint hope their loved ones may be returned.

The police know nothing of this man because his victims are too afraid to report the crimes. Then a newspaper journalist is given exclusive access to perpetrator and victims, only to be unmasked as a plagiarist. But was he?

The central character is again sports agent Myron Bolitar, with support from his partner Esperanza and financier/trained killer Win. They solve the puzzle and help apprehend those responsible, with a fitting twist at the very end.

There were emotional sidelines surrounding the revelation that Myron has a son he didn’t know was his (the final kidnap victim) and the boy’s battle with a rare bone marrow disease.

This all sounds very serious, and it was, but Coben has a rare gift for interspersing the heavy stuff with a constant barrage of one liners.

There’s literally a gag a page and nearly every one hits the mark to at least raise a smile. The writing could easily cross into corny land, but Coben manages to stay on the right side of the line.

This is a book that will make you laugh, cry and fear in one great package.

These articles might be of interest:

• The Madman’s Tale
• Gone for Good
• Embarrassing sporting photos