Genre: Thriller

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Harlan Coben is one of those authors who writes two books a year, and I anxiously look forward to every one. I was addicted to his Myron Bolitar series and am thrilled to hear that a new one is coming out this year.  His stand-alone novels are always thrilling although often have reoccurring themes.  I happened to watch the French adaptation of his book Tell No One this week (excellent) and found similarities to his latest book, Fool Me Once.  That being said, it worked both times!

Maya, a special ops pilot, watched her husband as he was murdered.  She stood with their daughter as he was buried. Several days later, while reviewing her new nanny-cam tape, she watched him enter the room and put their daughter on his lap.  The mystery and excitement build from there, and like all of Coben's books, there is very little down time. He weaves so many subplots into the framework of this story that the reader dares not let his/her mind wander for even one minute. His research is evident as he describes Maya's PTSD (in the last few months she served in the Middle East, was dishonorably discharged, buried her sister and now her husband), and we can feel her anxiety build as everything she thinks she knows is proven wrong.

Author Coben is a master of characterization.  While his stand-alone books are always plot driven, he never lets his character build-up suffer.  Even his minor characters show emotions, and I always feel let down when I say goodbye to them at the end of the book.  Luckily he is a prolific author, and we can rest assured that each year will bring us another book to get our adrenaline pumping.

- Beverly


Publisher - Dutton
Date of Publication - March 22, 2016

Genre: Legal Thriller

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This is the fifth book in the Anna Curtis series that I have read and reviewed, and they just keep getting better.  The topic of The Last Good Girl is a difficult one because it is highlighting the issues surrounding college rape and some universities' inability to handle it correctly.  The National Crime Victimization Survey says that approximately 1 in 6 woman are victims of sexual assault (with the rate higher in college) but most rapists avoid punishment.    A small percentage of those crimes are ever prosecuted and even fewer lead to convictions.

The story that Leotta tells is a common one, with a few twists to keep it interesting.  Emily is a freshman who, who while attending her first fraternity party is drugged and raped by Dylan.  She is the daughter of the college's President, a man who can't decide whether to protect his daughter or his university's reputation.   Dylan is the son of a high powered, and very wealthy, politician who will manipulate anyone to get his way. When Emily disappears after being seen running from Dylan, he is suspected of foul play. Anna Curtis, a U.S. Federal prosecutor, and FBI Agent Samantha Randazzo team together to find Emily and arrest Dylan.

The story alternates between the search for Emily and a Video Blog that she posted on a school site detailing her rape.  The details are upsetting, but Leotta handles them well as she tries to tell a story that needs to be told.  The subplot involves the reader in the life of Anna, and the author has a way of making these characters as three dimensional  as any I have read.  Through the series we meet her boss, and ultimate fiancé, Jack, and learn to love him and his daughter as much as Anna does.  When they break up during the third book in the series, the reader feels the loss.  In book number four she goes back to her home town  to defend her sister and runs into her old friend, Cooper.  Their romance starts slowly, but in The Last Good Girl she is living with him and obviously loves him.  Of course Jack re-enters the picture and tries to win her back.  I loved both men, and could not decide who to root for as the book progressed.  

The Last Good Girl will give you plenty to think about and make you realize how far we are from actually achieving the "women's rights and equality" that we hear about in the political arena.

- Beverly


Publisher - Simon and Schuster
Date of Publication - May 3, 2016