Customer Reviews

Gone for Good

5 star:		(165)
4 star:		(56)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(19)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Harlan Coben makes his second departure from the Bolitar series (please, Harlan, don't forget Myron Bolitar entirely!) to skillfully plot another great thriller about a missing person!

Coben's newest is set in surburban New Jersey and NYC, and his hero is a social worker, Will Klein, whose life is a series of
tragedies. His old girlfriend was brutally murdered, his brother accused and disappeared for the last 11 years, his mother succumbs to cancer, and his girl, Sheila Rogers, disappears and is feared dead. Will enlists the help of his friend, Squares and Katy Miller, his first love's young sister.
He feels compelled to try to unravel what is happening, because the FBI and local law enforcement appear to be involved in a cover-up regarding his brother, Ken.
Squares is an enormously entertaining "yoga master" with a checkered past, and real devotion to his friendship with Will.
Another great character that Coben explores is John Asselta, a sociopathic acquaintance of Will's brother, known as "The Ghost".

All in all, Will encounters a lot of evil events in his search for Ken, a search that ends in a group encounter in the last chapter that has more plot twists and turns than I've ever seen.

Gone for Good is engrossing, well-written, and makes you care about Coben's main characters. The women in the book, unlike many suspense novels, are well-defined, and you care what happens to them. Coben succeeds, where others fail, at defining relationships while he builds suspense.

Don't miss Coben's latest, it looks like it will top the charts for a good long while, and the only thing to criticize is the neon yellow dustjacket....although it is an improvement from "Tell No One's" deer hunter orange jacket!

Get it, and get into it, as soon as you can!

Three days before her death, my mother told me-these weren't her last words, but they were pretty close-that my brother was still alive..." So begins Harlan Coben's powerful and harrowing page-turner, Gone For Good. Narrated by Will Klein, the youngest son of a middle class New Jersey family, now working as the Director of Covenant House for runaway teens, he recounts the story of his popular and charismatic brother Ken, who eleven years ago vanished after being charged with the rape and murder of a neighborhood college girl. The Kleins always believed in his innocence, and after so much time passed without a word or clue, had come to the conclusion that Ken must be dead. This all changes when his mother's declaration sends Will on a search of the house where he finds a current picture of his brother hidden in his mother's bedroom. Now with the help of his girlfriend, Sheila, the love of his life, he's determined to find Ken, bring him back home, and clear his name. But his plan soon begins to unravel when Sheila disappears, and her fingerprints are found at a grisly murder scene two thousand miles away in New Mexico. With the help of Covenant House street friends, Will begins to connect the ghosts of the past with the puzzling events of the present, and uncovers secrets, lies, and betrayals that shake the very foundation of his family, and what they thought to be the truth..... Harlan Coben has done it again, written a suspenseful and compelling thriller that grabs you from page one and never lets go. This is a novel that has it all...an intricate story line full of twists, turns, and more than a few unexpected surprises; smart, clever, and eloquent writing with a real ear for dialogue; and intense, riveting, vivid scenes that set you on the edge of your seat and keep you there. But it's Mr Coben's original and marvelously well drawn cast of characters that makes this novel sparkle, and he is able to breathe life into even the most minor figures, and bring them to life on the page. With a stunning climax and very satisfying ending that ties up all the loose ends, Gone For Good is a roller coaster ride of a thriller that doesn't disappoint, and should definitely find its place at the top of mystery/thriller lovers "must read" lists.

This is exactly the same premise and plot as "Tell No One", complete with the ueber-psycho hit man, a girlfriend who works with the homeless (really!), and a totally benevolent, gotta-love-him main character. Both of them were reasonably enjoyable page turners, but it was hard to enjoy what was essentially the same story. My best advice would be to pick one or the other (and they're both equally implausible, so flip a coin) and then don't read the other one.

One more time, Harlan Coben has written a superb mystery where every page adds another totally unexpected twist. This book didn't have as many extreme plot turns as his last, "Tell No One," but it is really close.

As you have read, the plot revolves around poor Will, who has to be the unluckiest man in love ever. His first love is murdered, his worshipped brother is the suspected killer and has been on the lam for 11 years, his current lover is missing. Can things get much worse? Of course they can because Coben makes up good stuff!! I refuse to say any more about the story because to do so would ruin it for you.

Suffice to say, the different story lines become interwoven, and downright creepy. I have followed Coben's writing since his very first novel and, in my humble opinion, he keeps getting better and better.

If you only read one or two novels a year, this is a don't miss for sure. If you read hundreds of novels a year, this is one you won't forget. "Gone for Good" is a great read, filled with suspense and the knowledge that Coben won't let you figure it out; he always has one more surprise up his sleeve. And the surprises just keep on coming. Buy it, Read it, Relish it. This book is one of the year's best!

I was very upset over the news of Harlan Coben's decision to temporarily shelve the Bolitar series. They were the best of its kind. Two steps above the Parker Spencer series. But all was forgiven after I had read Tell No One. A book the I personally bought 5 copies of just to give to friends. This was simply the best mystery I have every read. Until now. I have just finished Gone for Good; please don't make the mistake of thinking the last few pages of the book just ties up loose ends. From start to finish this book rocks. No longer is Tell No One the best mystery I have ever read, its now second best to Gone for Good. The only problem is I now have to buy a bunch of additional copies for my friends, so they too can read the best mystery author of our times.

This was my first Coben book, so I can't compare it to "Tell No One." I cannot tell you if it's a rerun of his previous plots. I can tell you that this is a superb thriller.

Part thriller, fully a mystery, "Gone for Good" starts with Will Klein's discovery that his older brother is perhaps still alive. The questions mount: How did his brother die? Was he really guilty of murdering a teenage girl? And the answers come only quick enough to lead to other questions.

When you think there are no more questions, you're wrong.

When you think you have all the answers, you're wrong.

Coben writes with a deceptively easy style. He writes with a quick pace, yet never forgets to give his characters heart. I found myself caring for these people, even feeling emotions in my throat once or twice. He paints with a broad brush, showing rage, love, pain, sorrow, twisted violence, and family concern.

If you haven't read Coben, I'm sure you'll enjoy this book as much as I did. If you're already a fan, then why'd you keep this guy secret for so long?

This is quite simply one of the best books I have ever read. Character development is too the point and not overdone. The storyline is intriguing and it has normal people responding in normal ways, no superheroes here, nor are their supervillians. And oh did I mention it has the best ending I have ever read. If you like twists, we are talking corkscrew like twists, then this is your book. The Sixth Sense has nothing on this book. Anyone who reads his Myron books, trust me when I tell you, get this book. And anyone who doesn't read his Myron books, trust me when I tell you, get this book. You'll feel the same after having read it. Now if my family would just return my copy, it seems to be making it's rounds. Expect the same from your family, you'll be touting this book to them like it contains the secret to eternal life.......

Review help - I enjoy Robert Crais, Stephen White, John Grisham, Micheal Connelly, and Ridley Pearson. If you enjoy these writers then you will definitely enjoy Coben. If you liked City Of Bones, L.A. Requiem, get Gone For Good. It's better.

A truly excellent book. I just finished re-reading this book. This is a book which shows the deficiencies of a 5 star rating system. The rating system should be 100 points and this would be one of the rare/few books I'd give the maximum 100 points to. Many books that I give 5 stars to would actually only get 95, 96, etc, but this would get the full 100.

Without giving away any spoilers, why would I give this book the max 100 points?
1) Coben is a good writer, his books are easy to read and easy to follow.
2) This book is truly suspenseful, as you read on, there are parts which you just can't explain until the book reveals it to you, and there are twists until the very end. And it takes an intelligent author to plot these twists.
3) The ending is satisfying.

The cons:
1) Too often, Coben's protagonists have a omnipotent friend which drags them out of tight situations. Its too easy my friend, try to think of some other way for them to escape.
2) Corny titles for these books.
3) No reason to think that Ken was actually dead in the first place.
4) A few logical lapses, but none that detract from the enjoyment of the book.

Why most books don't get my 100 points:
1) Characters are boring, undeveloped. Some writers just don't have the knack for creating characters that you care for. They are just 2 dimensional figures that you don't care if they live or die.
2) Most writers are bad writers. Their books are hard to read and follow. They get published because publishers need authors to sell.
3) Plots are uninteresting.

There you have it, a truly suspensful book which kept me flipping pages til I came right to the end, and it was an easy book to read and satisfying at the end.

I first became acquainted with the name Harlan Coben when I signed onto an Internet book list several years ago. At that time many of the readers were touting Coben's series, which featured Myron Bolitar, the feisty sports agent/private investigator. Although I never read any of these books, it was the premise of Coben's recent stand alone book, Tell No One, which interested me enough to read. Literally gulping down this book, I looked forward to either reading the first book in the Bolitar series or another stand alone by this author. And suddenly there was news of a new book, Gone for Good, which found me snatching it from the shelves the first day it appeared. Now, I consider Harlan Coben one of my favorite thriller/mystery author and I do look forward to making the acquaintance of Myrom Bolitar shortly.

Gone for Good is set in and around Manhattan and the suburban community of Livingston, NJ. Life in Livingston is presumably idyllic where children grow up thinking the world is theirs. But this isn't the case for the ----------family. Eleven years ago the oldest son Ken was accused of brutally murdering Julie Rogers, a neighbor and his brother's one time girlfriend. Feeling from the scene and his family, and while there have been unconfirmed sightings of him in different countries the family chooses to believe he is dead. That is until Sunny, Ken' smother dying from cancer tells her son Will that Ken is still very much alive. With nothing more than these words and then a revealing photo and also realizing that Sunny was on heavy medication before her death, Will decides this might be just enough to find out in fact if his brother is till alive. And while the plot certainly takes off from here, it certainly escalates when Will's girlfriend leaves him a cryptic note and then disappears leaving reader's to wonder if there is any connection between Sheila and Ken. And now the twist and turns come so fast and furiously that as you rush through the pages, you need to pay serious attention to the plot to keep up.

For all of the reasons I really enjoyed this book, not the least of them are Coben's wonderful characters. Beginning with Will and his family, we meet Ken's two old school buddies The Ghost and Phil McGuane, both violent men who will stop at nothing to protect themselves or their interests. We also meet Squares, a one time racist now turned Yoga guru who is more brother to Will than friend. From the seamier side of Manhattan, we meet Wanda, a transvestite who leads Will to Sheilah's former boss, Louis Castleman, an unsavory man who is now a quadriplegic and is care for by Wanda. And as we meet these characters We walk the mean streets of Manhattan and the tree lined streets of Livingston where Will and his father spend time reminiscing about Little League games, Ken and their family life.

This book is a hair-raising roller coaster of a read, which never lets up or disappoints the reader. Imbued with family values the book also explores the themes of friendship, loyalty and betrayal.
The ending can best be described as both shocking and poignant. From the first page to the last, you will be riveted and when the book ends you'll wish you were starting it for the first time.

Sorry I must hurry but I must get to the bookstore to pick up Deal Breaker, the first book in the Bolitar series. Writing this review has left me with a yearning to return to the books by Harlan Coben.

All of Harlan Coben's books have been excellent but he has far-surpassed himself in his latest, Gone For Good. Be prepared that when you sit down to start this book you won't want to get up until you finish it. It's one of those books that you don't want to stop reading and, at the same time, never want to end. Gone For Good is a rollercoaster of suspense and a tale of haunting love. Coben's skills in plot and character development, narration, and creating credible, edge-of-the seat suspense keep getting better and better. After reading Tell No One, I wondered if Coben had reached the top of his abilities. While there are some similarities in these two books, Gone For Good is by far Coben's best work to date. Now, I'm wondering again if he's reached his zenith. But, when his next book comes out, I'll be one of the first on line to find out.

Without going into detail, Gone For Good is about Will Klein's discovery after eleven years that his older brother, who was accused of murdering the girl Will had loved and disappeared afterwards, may not be "gone for good." To quote the jacket cover, "In Gone For Good, Harlan Coben has written one of those rare thrillers that will not only make the pulse pound, but stir the heart as well."

Now, rush out and get a copy of Gone For Good and have an immensely enjoyable reading experience!