The Innocent

By: Harlan Coben

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

Some mistakes can change your life forever. For Matt Hunter, that mistake came in one terrible moment when his attempt to help a friend and stop a fight resulted in an accidental death. Matt was convicted of manslaughter and sent to prison. Time that his peers spent in college, Matt endured behind bars.

Now, nine years after his release from prison, his innocence long forgotten, he's an ex-con who takes nothing for granted. With his wife Olivia pregnant, and the two of them closing on a house in his hometown, things are looking up. Until the day Matt gets a shocking, inexplicable video call from Olivia's phone. And in an instant, the unraveling begins.

A mysterious man who begins tailing Matt turns up dead. A beloved nun is murdered. And local and federal authorities, including homicide investigator Loren Muse, a childhood schoolmate of Matt's with a troubled past of her own, see all signs pointing to a former criminal with one murder already under his belt...Matt Hunter. Unwilling to lose everything for a second time, Matt and Olivia are forced outside the law in a desperate attempt to save their future together.

An electrifying thrill ride of a novel that peeks behind the white picket fences of suburbia, The Innocent is at once a twisting, turning, emotionally-charged story and a compelling tale of the choices we make and the repercussions that never leave us.

©2005 Harlan Coben (P)2005 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"What Coben does best is take readers into his characters’ hearts and minds. His protagonists are just common folks, minding their own business when - bam! - they are drawn into a terrifying world of sordid crimes and mayhem.” (USA Today)

“Modern suburbia unravels in this latest puzzler from Coben...Don’t make the mistake of not reading it!” (Library Journal)

"Jaw-dropping plot twists...Fans of rose-tinted nightmares [will] gasp their way through Matt’s free fall, scared and happy as kids on a roller coaster.” (Kirkus Reviews)

Chapter glitches

Within the first 20 chapters there is a glitch that causes the story to skip and repeat. Other than that it was a well performed and entertaining story.

Great Read!

Fast Paced, Lots of Details, Many Characters ALL make this impossible to put down!! Several story lines at fit & melt together making all even more interesting.....Plus S.Brick is a fav voice making this an all around 5-Star Listen.

Once again Mr. Coben doesn't disappoint.

At first I thought wait there's too many characters but slowly and surely they all came together. The narrator did a fantastic job with all the different chatacters voices.

Way too much attention to detail.

I liked the story.
There's too much detail. I often found myself daydreaming and had to back it up to hear what I might have missed. The storyteller was good.
this is the 3rd Harlan Coben book I have listened to. The first 2 were really good.
This one is disappointing compared to them.

Amazing Story

The Innocent is a great listen, I was hooked from the first chapter. There are so many twists and turns I may listen to it again. Coben spins a amazing story that keeps you interest and makes it hard to stop listening. I was on a 15 hour road trip, when I pulled up in my driveway I wanted more. It is truly that good.

For the master of suspense this is lacking in story

Narration was perfect yet the story was not on par with Cobens other titles. Many twists were foreseeable and characters were stereotypical for
Coben.

Excellent!

Some of Coben's novels are excellent, some mediocre. This one is terrific. He developed a tightly written novel with intriguing, realistic characters. While a longer read, it was well edited, and flowed, thereby the book went by fast. It's definitely worth your time. Good narration as well. An enjoyable book.

Great read

Good story twists and turns every which way . Had to keep listening constantly till finished

Great storyline.

The story is engaging and the performance is excellent. Lots of twists.
Definitely worth reading.

Solid as a Brick

This book is filled with well developed characters whose arrays of virtues and flaws makes you both cheer them and scold them. The story evolves at a pace that is never too hurried or too slow. I mostly listen while commuting. I was so enthralled on one commute that I truly did not remember driving home. Please also note that Scott Brick's narration is often flawless. This performance does not disappoint. His juggling of so many voices often makes me think he must be afflicted (or blessed) with a multiple personality disorder. He is that good.