Saturday, April 13, 2013

Six Years by Harlan Coben


  • Title: Six Years
  • Classification: Adult Fiction
  • Genre: Mystery/Thriller
  • Format: Hardcover; 368 pages
  • Publisher: Dutton Adult; First Edition edition (March 19, 2013)
  • ISBN-10: 0525953485
  • ISBN-13: 978-0525953487
  • Author's website: http://www.harlancoben.com/
  • Notes: I read the ARC, Advanced Reader Copy, of this one.

Six years ago Jake Fisher fell in love.
Six years ago the love of his life, Natalie Avery, left him.
Six years ago he attended attended her wedding to another man because some things you just have to witness for yourself.
Six years ago he promised her he'd leave them alone and never seek them out.

For six long years, he kept that promise, but she was never far from his thoughts. When the obituary of her husband, Todd Sanderson, popped up on the university website, Jake decided six years was long enough. He boarded a plane and decided to pay his respects. Perhaps he'd finally get some closure. When he got to the funeral, however, the woman known to all as Todd's wife, and the mother of his children wasn't Natalie. He'd been married for well over six years to another woman with two teen aged children to prove it. So what happened to Natalie?

Six years wasn't nearly enough time for him to forget her or what they'd had, and some promises beg to be broken.

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I was actually approached twice by the publisher to read this book, once before publication and then again after. I have been wanting to read one of Harlan Coben's book's for some time. His name has been popping up for years on my reading radar, but the past couple of years have been filled mainly with books my Goodreads groups have chosen or that publishers have sent me. So while I was literally and figuratively  "booked" for March, I finally was able to find the time in April to read this one, and I am so glad I did. It was roller coaster ride of a novel. It was intense. It made you think. It immediately pulled you into the story and didn't let you go until you'd finished. Perhaps it should come with a warning stating: 
Beware, once you start you won't want to stop until you finish. Make sure to allow yourself the proper amount of time to finish our your regular daily life will be disrupted.  

Jake and his girlfriend, Natalie, were madly in love six years ago.They hit it off immediately and he just knew she was the one for him. After months of dating and being in each other's constant company, when their schedules allowed, she abruptly put an end to their relationship. Three days later she married someone else claiming he was an old flame and they had rekindled their relationship. Feeling a little blindsided, a lovelorn Jake did they only thing he could, he went to the wedding. He had to witness what he couldn't comprehend. After the ceremony Natalie calmly asked him never to look her or her husband up and to leave them alone which he did, but none of what he'd witnessed had ever felt right to him.

Six years later, after seeing Todd Sander's obituary, he just couldn't keep his promise anymore. Hopping on a plane, Jake goes to Todd's funeral and finds no trace of Natalie. So out of curiosity and concern, he starts asking question and investigating. Six years ago Natalie Avery dropped off the face of the earth. No one truly knows where she is, but that isn't all he discovers. He decides if he can't find anything out about her in the present, he'll start his search for her in the past. He'll start where it all had begun and ended. So, he goes back to the church where she was married and discovers there is no record of the ceremony. He goes to the town where the retreat Natalie had been attending when they'd first met resided only to find the land gated off and no one able to recall any such retreat ever existing. That's when he really starts to worry. When he finds out Todd was brutally tortured before he was killed, however, he realizes he's stepped into the middle of something bigger than he'd ever imagined. But Jake is even more determined than ever to discover what happened to Natalie and get the bottom of what truly happened six years ago even if it puts his own life in danger.

Jake is a college professor who is straight laced and well liked. He has no skills in tracking people but when he finds Natalie has been missing for the past six years, his instinct to protect kicks in and he wishes he'd listened to his sixth sense when he'd felt something was totally off with Natalie's marriage. He's smart, and after being a professor for years can read people very well. By following his instincts and any leads thrown his way, he is able to piece together most, but not all of what happened six years ago. What he finds and who is involved is rather shocking.

Overall, I gave this one 5 out of 5 roses. It was a great mystery that suspended me in it's grip. A web of lies, deceit, and secrets envelope you as Jake attempts to slowly unweave the threads surrounding Natalie's disappearance. Every time I thought I had some clue as to what had happened, it would be quickly dashed. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride with this one and hope to read more of Mr. Coben's books in the future. This was a high paced, action paced mystery with a great love story binding it together. I am forgoing  my Lisarenee Romance rating for this one as there were no love scenes, but as I always say, if a romance is done right, love scenes aren't always necessary. I HIGHLY recommend this one. I totally loved it and can't wait to see the movie. Did I mention Hugh Jackman read an early copy of the book and has already signed on to play Jake in the movie? This one promises to be good. So, if you're a read it before you see type person like I am, be sure to add this one to your "to read" pile.

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