No Second Chance

By: Harlan Coben

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 14 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

Marc Seidman awakens to find himself in an ICU, hooked up to an IV, his head swathed in bandages. Twelve days earlier, he had had an enviable life as a successful surgeon, living in a peaceful suburban neighborhood with his beautiful wife and a baby he adored. Now he lies in a hospital bed, shot by an unseen assailant. His wife has been killed, and his 6-month-old daughter, Tara, has vanished. But just when his world seems forever shattered, something arrives to give Marc a new hope: a ransom note.

Both a white-knuckle thriller and a story about the loyalty of old friends and the bond between parent and child, No Second Chance is another masterpiece from an author who writes "suspense at its finest" (Jeffrey Deaver).

©2003 Harlan Coben (P)2003 Penguin Audiobooks and Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Nimble and ingenious." (The New York Times)

"The author doesn’t build suspense. He opens fire." (New York Daily News)

"At times the suspense in No Second Chance is almost painful." (Chicago Sun-Times)

Horrible narrator

I really thought Scott brick ruined this so so book. His characterization were over the top and generalized. I skipped though to the end just to get it over with. Don't waste a credit on this absurd performance.

Longggg story.

Story took a really long time to tell. Some twists towards the end that I didn't like. Not the worst book of ever read but not the best Harlan Corbin I've ever read either

Entertaining and chilling, but not complete

First, I enjoyed the listen and do recommend this book. I don't, however, think it is as wonderful as the other reviewers did.

I think Coben is awesome at story development, but is a little shy on the delivery. He reuses adjectives and adverbs often enough I was able to predict phrases before Scott Brick read them. And the drama was a little too heavy for my liking (but that might have been in the reading).

The plot was well developed and somewhat believable, but seemed rather hurried towards the end. The character development was exceptional. After the book ended, though, I felt like I was led through 18 months of the lead characters hell, only to have all of the loose ends tied up way too quickly. Additionally, the twist that is so common in murder mysteries was there ? but it was predictable and weak.

If I hadn?t read so many rave reviews of this book, I probably would have liked it better. I fear I expected too much.

Predictable

This book was alright but I wasn't impressed
To me it was predictable, it always is the best friend or spouse and you got that 2 chapters into it
First book with this author I'll try another one hopefully it's better
Enjoyed the narrator

Excelllent

An amazing story and so well written! I highly recommend this read to anyone . Mr. Coben is a master.

Too long!!

This story was too drawn out. It could have been told in 8 hours. Surprised, because most of Mr. Coban’s books are direct and straight to the point.

Too much vilolence

I had to quit reading this book halfway through because it had too much gory violence. I don't usually mind it as I mostly read in this genre but it was too much for me.

Not my favorite Coben

Love the narration but not my favorite Coben. Felt too slow to get into the meat of story.

What the …. ?

Shaking my head & effectively speechless — I enjoyed almost all of this book’s twists and turns. I devoured the bits of juicy storyline slowly unearthed, bit by bit as the story progressed. Then, in the last, what, 30?, minutes, comes an ending so implausible it made me feel like the whole thing was a waste of my time. Uggggh.

Another great book by Coben

A great thriller. I Couldn’t “put it down” (or stop listening). Brick is excellent in narrating the story. I feel it is one of Coben’s best thrillers. If you like Coben’s books, you’d love this one.