Fool Me Once. Finished 4-17-16, rating 4.5/5, thriller, 390 pages, pub. 2016

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.       from Goodreads

I’ve long been a Harlan Coben fan and have read all of his books, his Myron Bolitar series being some of my favorites. Coben likes to twist and turn and have smart, quick-witted characters, so it’s easy to be a fan. His standalones are always fast pasted, current, and good, but not always memorable.  This isn’t a bad thing, there are many, many books I don’t remember, but it was nice that this one had that extra something that will make me remember it for years to come.

Maya was a tough cookie. She saw and did unspeakable things in service of her country and she paid dearly for every choice she made.  She was a new mom but didn’t seem all that motherly. She was newly widowed but didn’t seem all that broken. She was facing public shame yet seemed unbowed.  She was an interesting character and I kept wanting to know more about what made her tick.

As the police search for a killer and a whistle-blower threatens more public outrage directed toward her, Maya sees her dead husband on the nanny-cam.  Debilitated by war-time nightmares but with a good friend by her side she tries to figure out what is going on and to stay one step ahead of the police.  Oh, and she needs to keep an eye on her niece and nephew who are living with their heavy drinking father.

I hear it’s been optioned for a film and I think it would be a great one.  Not my favorite Coben, but it’s definitely one of his better ones.