Live Wire
Virginia and I each took a copy of Harlan Coben’s newest novel, Live Wire, when they arrived last week. She finished first, with me right behind. Live Wire is the tenth book to feature Coben’s most popular character, Myron Bolitar. In this book we learn more about Bolitar than we ever knew, his family, his roots, and the skeletons hidden deep in his closet. Both Virginia and I found this to be a fast read. As the different plotlines were revealed the pace quickened. In the final breath Coben ties it all together with his trademark suspense and classic style.
Gabriel Wire is the prettyboy frontman for the chart topping Australian rock band HorsePower. Myron’s client Lex plays number two in the act, or as Coben puts it, “the John Oates to Gabriel’s Daryl Hall.” As the story revs up we learn that Lex’s former tennis star wife, Suzze T, is also one of Myron’s clients. Eight months prenant, she calls for Myron’s help in finding the missing Lex. As he searches for Lex, we get our first glimpse of Kitty, Myron sister-in-law, who disappeared some 15 years earlier along with younger brother Brad. The story weaves in-and-out of now and then, as we learn of Myron’s early years, the injury that kept him from playing for the Celtics (he was a #1 draft pick), how he formed his agency, and how his first clients fell into a scene of fame, complete with drugs, sex, murder and revenge.
Coben takes Bolitar on an lifetime journey that reveals to the reader unknown sides of the character. Coben delicately juggles strong character analysis with a suspense filled storyline that keeps the reader fully engaged.
Those reading Coben for the first time will find “Live Wire” a great starting point, while longtime fans will be wondering how Coben maintains his surperb quality from one book to the next.
