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)

Good read

Really enjoyed this book. It has some good plot twists but nothing that was unbelievable. Harlan Coben and Scott Brick are a perfect match. Thanks for the best book I’ve heard in months.

Good boot nice twists

It was a good book with nice twists. Well read. A few technical issues but over all I would recommend a listen.

Excellent

A great story by a great storyteller…. Will keep you invested and involved till the e end

Coben knocks another out of the park

This guy is certainly in the the right (write?) line of work.
I'd like to see an MRI of his brain.

Great Innocents

Great story line, wonderful character development. Harlem outdid himself again. looking forward to the next.

Great book!

I didn’t want to stop listening! It kept my attention the entire time. Highly recommend.

Loved it

I love all the twists and turns he writes into his stories. Turns you don’t see coming.

Great plot with many interesting twists

Well developed story line !!Could hardly put it down!!! It was a pleasure to read each chapter.

Meh... Not my favorite H. Coben

Not Harlan's best writing. I'll admit, there were times where I kept listening because I was excited to see where the plot twist was headed. It was written pretty well with many different characters and plot lines intertwining. I enjoyed the process of "unwrapping" the story, much like a present. However, I felt it often times moved slowly.

In my opinion, the story was just too hard to believe and too convoluted for my taste. There were times when I really just wanted the story to get moving. I felt the author focused on a lot of irrelevant details regarding the characters. He'd introduce a character, spend what I felt was an eternity on unrelated minute details regarding said character, and then move on to the next character, only to do it all over again with that character. Honestly, there were times where I found myself zoning out during these introductions and recalls, only to snap out of it and not feel like going back to see what I missed. Another annoyance to me was, when all said and done, everything was wrapped up in a neat little bow. I have to roll my eyes when stories like this, where all these characters from different locals, are so entwined, only to have everything fall into place just in time.

The narration was great. I enjoy Scott Brick and the books he voices. Where some think he's being too dramatic, I find that I lose myself more in the story when the other "performs" the book rather than simply reading it.

The Innocent

After enjoying Coben's No Second Chance, I decided to try some of his other works.

In the first hour of The Innocent, there seemed to be nothing but wailing and whining about a tragic accident and the murder conviction that so unfairly had come of it. However, just as I was about to open the lid of the clinker bin, the author finished setting up, a plot materialized, and I was hooked.

There are a few consistency goofs (even in New Jersey, a shotgun is not a rifle) but on the whole the story is well crafted. Characters, action, and description are nicely balanced. Scott Brick does his usual terrific job of reading.

While some of the twists and turns were predictable, and others were a little implausible, The Innocent provides quite an enjoyable ride.