Thursday 19 March 2015

Book ~ "The Stranger" (2015) Harlan Coben

From Goodreads ~ The Stranger appears out of nowhere, perhaps in a bar, or a parking lot or at the grocery store. His identity is unknown. His motives are unclear. His information is undeniable. Then he whispers a few words in your ear and disappears, leaving you picking up the pieces of your shattered world. 

Adam Price has a lot to lose: a comfortable marriage to a beautiful woman, two wonderful sons and all the trappings of the American Dream: a big house, a good job, a seemingly perfect life. 

Then he runs into the Stranger. When he learns a devastating secret about his wife, Corinne, he confronts her and the mirage of perfection disappears as if it never existed at all. Soon Adam finds himself tangled in something far darker than even Corinne’s deception, and realizes that if he doesn’t make exactly the right moves, the conspiracy he’s stumbled into will not only ruin lives - it will end them.

Adam has a good life.  He is lawyer, is happily married to Corinne and has two great sons.  That all changes when a stranger approaches him in the legion and reveals to him a secret ... Corinne had faked her pregnancy and miscarriage two years ago.  Needless to say, Adam is shocked, hurt and angry.  When he confronts Corinne about it, their lives then fall apart.

Though the focus is on Adam dealing with his wife's disturbing secret and the ramifications, also interspersed throughout in the book are the secrets the Stranger reveals to others and the reasons.

I enjoyed this book ... the story of a stranger revealing secrets and potentially ruining people's lives was an interesting concept.  It's written in third person perspective and I liked the writing style.  There is a lot going on and there is a purpose for it all.  There are lots of twists and turns and I didn't see the ending coming.

I liked Adam.  Everything is going well until his world is torn apart.  He loves his family and is trying to make sense of what is going on.  He's not sure whether others in his community, who he has known for years, are working with him or against him and he doesn't know who he can trust.

I've read a couple of this author's books and look forward to reading his others.

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