Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Promise Me, by Harlan Coben

Synopsis 
The school year is almost over. In these last pressure cooker months of high school, some kids will make the all too common and all too dangerous mistake of drinking and driving. But Myron is determined to help keep his friends’ children safe, and so he makes two neighborhood girls promise him that if they are ever in a bind but are afraid to call their parents, they will call him. Several nights later, the call comes at two a.m. The next day, a girl is missing, and Myron is the last person who saw her. Desperate to fulfill a well-intentioned promise turned horribly wrong, Myron races to find her before she’s gone forever. 





     As I knew from the second I got "Promise Me" from the bookshelf, this book became an "addictive page-turner" for me. Not just because Forbes or Entertainment Weekly said the same, but because Harlan Coben has always been a master in grabbing the reader with his fascinating suspense and involving mood. I've read other titles by Harlan Coben such as "Trust Me" and "When she was gone", both read in portuguese. Now I had the chance to read one of his most sold titles, "Promise Me" which I knew would be a great and smart story, especially because the main character is Myron Bolitar who is the main figure in other 6 books by Harlan Coben.
     The way Harlan Coben works with Myron Bolitar is amazing. His personality and thoughts are a huge part of the story. Myron has an incredible perceptive mind in which leads the reader to deep thoughts. 
     "Promise Me" could be said as a typical Coben's story. It starts with a simple point, a simple and innocent beginning about a promise made by Myron to help senior high-schoolers to prevent them getting in trouble for drinking and driving, and maybe, saving their lives. What Myron did not know when he made this promise was that it would initiate a whole set of entangled problems involving not just the girl's life, Aimee Biel, but also her family,doctor, teachers...
     The book summarizes itself as a pursue for Aimee Biel when she disappears after Myron's help, and he became the first target of the police and of her parents who begged him to help them find their daughter. Making another promise, Myron seeks the girl and tries to solve and understand the context she was involved in, as an detective.
     A brilliant point of this book is how the facts connect with each other in the end. What seemed to be impossible to make even a little bit of sense, after some conclusions, becomes clear and the reader realizes how the answer could have been right there, right in front of you, and Myron Bolitar comes as a smart and intelligent character who breaks the mystery step by step. 
     The book shows how we can change and how far we can go for whose we love. It is not a matter of just love, it is a natural instinct, especially from parents, how it is showed in the book.
     "Promise Me" as a Harlan Coben work, captures the reader and tells lessons revealed by mystery well told. 




Depression after the reading: 70%
Final Rating: 90%

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