Tell No One

By: Harlan Coben

Narrated by: Ed Sala

Critically acclaimed, bestselling author Harlan Coben has won the Shamus, Anthony, and Edgar awards during his impressive career. Tell No One is an irresistibly suspenseful thriller infused with nail-biting tension and packed with shocking plot twists.

It has been eight years since Dr. David Beck’s wife, Elizabeth, was murdered by a serial killer. When Beck receives a message containing a phrase only Elizabeth should know, he is tormented to tears. Either someone is playing a sick joke, or the wife he’s never stopped loving is still alive. He’s been warned to tell no one, and as the desperation of his search for the truth intensifies, he heads straight toward a deadly secret.

This audiobook includes an exclusive interview with the author.

©2001 Harlan Coben (P)2002 Recorded Books, LLC

Great Fun

A great thriller. A good versus evil mystery with some grey areas between the two. Romance, evil characters, suspense and a pace that makes it a really fun listening experience.

Straightforward Mystery, No Suburban Commentary

What I like best about Harlan Coben is how he weaves social commentary into his mystery thrillers, usually centering around the seamy underside of the New Jersey suburbs where he himself grew up. Tell No One is a good mystery, but it is strictly a straightforward whodunit, without the subtext we've come to expect from Coben.

Still, it's good enough for me to have ripped through it quickly, impatient to see what happens next, who done it, and why they done it. It's pretty obvious early on why Dr. David Beck's world is turned upside down by an e-mail suggesting that his wife, murdered eight years earlier by a serial killer, may still be alive. But the ultimate reveal, after several twists and turns, comes as a genuine surprise.

As with other Coben books, I remain unconvinced that real people would go to these lengths to do what they do. But if you suspend your disbelief over the first event (chronologically), the others actually follow, so it's not all that distracting. On the other hand, I am at a loss to understand why Coben wrote a virtually identical novel some years later -- I won't name it so as not to create a spoiler for anyone who already read that later book, as I have. I liked that later book well enough and don't hold anything against this one since it was written first.

The narration, as other reviewers have noted, is not good. It's not as unlistenable as some say -- IF you crank up the speed (I had it at an unprecedented, for me, 1.5x). That doesn't get you past the fact that Ed Sala sounds like a middle aged man reading the first person narration of a man around 30. But it's not a showstopper -- if you're a Coben fan, don't let the narration turn you off. Plus, if you stick with it to the end, you'll be rewarded by a very nice interview with Coben.

Dialogue is exhausting

The narrator oddly puts the emphasis on the second initial in O.J. And T.J.?

But mostly the writing style is killing me. Every time a question is asked, not a single person just answers the question. Instead, they answer a question with a question and make every single interaction tedious. If this were used occasionally for dramatic tension, that’s one thing but the author uses this trope every single time. I also find the protagonist unlikeable. His assessment of everyone and everything is wry and cynical.

Even still, if I don’t finish this story, it will nag at me. I just don’t think I’ll read any more Harlan Coben books.

Gripping

So many twists and turns it had me guessing till the end. Great narration too.

This Book Keeps You Guessing

This was an excellent thriller, mystery story. I so often can guess the ending, but not in this case. Also, really enjoyed the interview with Harlan Coben. He speaks about the development of his characters.