"Missing You"
I admit to stepping way out of my comfort zone with this review of
the new Harlan Coben novel titled "Missing You". The reason being
"Missing You" is the title of a favorite song of mine and the song
happens to play an important part in this book. However, Coben is
not one of my favorite authors.
Kat Donovan is a dectective on the NYPD, and eighteen years ago,
her father, also on the police force, was killed and her longtime
boyfriend suddenly walks out of her life. Kat's best friend Stacy
is concerned because Kat's whole life is work and more work, so
she gives Kat a year on the dating website, YouAreJustMyType.com.
The story begins with Kat seeing Jeff, the boyfriend from eighteen
years ago, on the dating website and sending him a video clip of
their favorite song "Missing You". But his reply isn't what she
anticipated. This is clue number one. Then she receives a visit
from a college student named Brandon who insists his mother is
missing although there is no real proof of that. In fact, every-
one who hears his story believes she has simply gone away for the
weekend with someone she met on the website YouAreJustMyType.com
and Brandon insists that someone is Jeff. Clue number two.
Suddenly another character is introduced. His name is Titus and he
is definitely up to no good so don't skip over that chapter because
it doesn't seem relevent or is too gruesome. Clue number three is
the yellow sundress Brandon's mother, Dana, is wearing when she gets
into the limo to leave for the airport. There are many other clues,
but I'll leave those for you to find.
When Kat learns the man who confessed to killing her father is about
to die in prison, she goes to try and find out who paid for the hit.
But under the influence of drugs meant to ease his pain, he recants
his original confession and denies he had anything to do with the
killing. Kat believes him and starts to dig deeper asking questions
of everyone connected to the case, even her mother. To me this part
was the most interesting, but at first it seemed to be separate from
the other two.
So Kat is looking into the death of her father and the disappearance
of Dana while trying to reconnect with Jeff. "Missing You" is a timely
reminder of the dangers of internet preditors and idenity theft, but
although I could see the common demoninator between the plots early
on, I could not grasp how Colben meant to successfully tie them
together.
"Missing You" is a book that demands to be discussed and would be a great
read for any book club generating such questions as: How about the way
Reynoldo was killed? And did you understand all that about how the
websites were set up? What adult (male or female) in their right mind
would go off with someone they'd never met or even spoken with over the
phone? Was it believable what happened with Bo? And what about that
song that played such a prominent role in the story? Did you find the
video on YouTube? And most importantly, did Kat and Jeff get back
together or didn't they?
Check out "Missing You" by Harlan Coben at the Moniteau County Library
and see what you think.