Loukussa (2010)

Caught by Harlan Coben is a 2010 Dutton publication.

Remember those shows where pedophiles were lured into a sting operation, thinking they were meeting up with an underage girl, only to find themselves under arrest?

Well, this is the story of Dan Mercer, who falls into that same kind of trap- and Wendy Tynes is the reporter who set him up. When things take an unexpected and shocking turn, it leaves Wendy with more questions than answers.

Meanwhile, the case of missing teenager Hayley McWaid suddenly heats up when evidence surfaces that connects Dan Mercer to Hayley. While this stunning development seems to confirm that Dan was exactly the type of man Wendy thought he was, things just aren’t adding up and Wendy won’t stop until she gets the whole story.

My 2021 reading resolution is to read more books from my TBR list and a significantly fewer number of ARCs. My TBR list was nearing the 4000 mark by the end of last year, so the first thing I did was start culling through the list, purging nearly a thousand books from the pile. Sad, but necessary. But, while I was going through all those books I was surprised to find this book had been languishing on my shelf for eight years!! I left a Harlan Coben novel on my TBR list all that time? Apparently so. How could that be? LOL- ( I'm sure there are plenty of his books I've never on my list for eight whole years.)

Naturally, I had to dive into it immediately. I almost read the book in one sitting. Maybe it was the comfort of the familiar style, or the quality of the writing, or that it kept me engaged and challenged enough to loathe putting the book down.

Whatever the reason it reminded me of why I became such big fan of this author. While I can’t say that compared to his other books, this was one of his very best- in fact, the plausibility meter was almost completely off the charts- but it was definitely a page-turner and kept me guessing from start to finish... Oh, and if you like the Myron Bolitar series, Win makes a very brief appearance in the book, which was the icing on the cake for me.

Overall, finding this book tucked deep down on the TBR pile was a pleasant surprise and an entertaining diversion.

4 stars ( )

The best thing about this Harlan Coben novel (my first) are the references to Northern Bergen County NJ, where I live! He's a hometown boy, so I finally decided to pick up one of his novels... but this was not the right one to start with! I was completely underwhelmed; the story really wasn't that interesting and a bit contrived, to boot.I liked the Wendy Tynes character and her relationship with her father-in-law and her son, but the rest of it? Not so great. I'll try another Coben. Not sure which one, though. I really want to be blown away! Any suggestions? ( )

Tijdens haar spraakmakende tv-programma Op heterdaad ontmaskert Wendy Tynes de meest meedogenloze criminelen. Jeugdwerker Dan Mercer is de kroon op haar werk. Ze beschuldigt hem in de laatste uitzending onder meer van het misbruiken van een jong meisje dat hij via een chatroom heeft ontmoet…

Mercer verdwijnt en niet veel later bekent de vader van een van zijn slachtoffers hem te hebben vermoord. De zaak lijkt hiermee afgesloten. Maar dan krijgt Wendy een merkwaardig telefoontje waardoor een lang verborgen geheim aan het licht komt. Ze vraagt zich af of ze in haar onderzoek naar Mercer wel tot de juiste conclusies is gekomen. Of zou een onschuldige man het slachtoffer zijn geworden van een veel groter schandaal?

I picked this up because I liked the Netflix series The Stranger which was based on another or Harlan Coben's novels. I liked this one a lot and plan to pick up another of his works soon. ( )

Carrington MacDuffie was the narrator, and she was OK also. ( )