Finished 3-21-12, rating 4/5, YA, 304 pages, pub. 2011

Book 1 of a new YA series.

I don’t read many young adult books, so I’m fairly picky when I do pick one up, but this is by one of my favorite authors and a continuation of the Myron Bolitar series so it was a no-brainer.  For those who love Myron this is a nice way to transition out of the series (if that is what Coben’s planning).  Myron is still around, but only marginally and his ward/nephew is a lot like him.

Mickey’s dad is dead and his mother is a junkie in rehab.  His uncle Myron, who had been estranged from his dad since before he was born, agreed to take him in while his mom cleaned herself up.  Mickey is living with Myron in the house his dad where grew up, going to the same school his dad did, and being lured in to the same urban legends of the neighborhood.

The Bat Lady is someone feared and ridiculed so when she tells Mickey that his father is not dead he doesn’t know what to think.  But he has other more pressing problems, like being the new kid at school and having your brand new girlfriend disappear.  He also befriends or is befriended by  two of the school outcasts, Spoon and Ema, who help him get into and out of trouble depending on the day.

This book felt very similar to Coben’s Myron series and as a fan I appreciated that.  Mickey is a boy who grew up a nomad, living around the world with his parents until he was 14, only a year before, so it stands to reason that he may have more worldly smarts that most kids.  Only he may have been too much like Myron in his propensity to find trouble for him to truly seem like a kid.  And the bullies at school seemed a little like caricatures.

I really liked the story and, as always, the plot was intricate and moved along at lightning speed.  There was a cliffhanger at the end, but the second book is coming out this fall so I don’t have to wait long to find out more.

I thought this was a good foray into the YA genre and I loved visiting Myron, even if only for a few minutes here and there.

Finished audio 3-15-12, rating 3.75/5, fiction, pub. 2010

Unabridged audio 9 hours 30 minutes. Read by Hope Davis.

Mary Beth Latham has a nice family. She and her husband still share a romantic love life even with three teenagers in the house.  Their oldest daughter, 17 year old Ruby, and her long-time boyfriend Kiernan are breaking up, which is hard since he was like part of their family.  One of her 14 year old twins, Max, is having growing pains and might need to start seeing a therapist.  All pretty standard fare in a fiction novel.  Until…

Well, let’s just say, something happens.  Something that moves the story from a story about motherhood to one about family tragedy.  There is really no way to review this book without giving too much away, so I won’t give details, but I did mostly like it.  The shocking event wasn’t totally unforseen, but it threw the trajectory of the story off just enough to make the book seem like two separate books.  I had some issues with the story before and then after, but the book was ambitious.

I know I read reviews for this but because I waited a while to read it I didn’t remember them, which was a good thing.  If you like your fiction on the darker side I think this would appeal to you.

Have you read it?  Without giving too much away what did you think of the twist in the middle?  I give it a thumbs up just for shock value.

I thought the narration by Davis was excellent.

This was from my library.