Stay Close - new Harlen Coben on Netflix

[Violetroselily]

Anyone watching yet? I'm 3 episodes in, liking it so far but starting to get slightly confused by there being so many characters.

I love James Nesbitt

flapjackfairy I took it that Ken had told her this before she killed him?
We didn’t see their altercation

@Inspirationpending
ah that makes sense I guess.

Just watched episode 1 and I'm not feeling it. Dubious whether I can be bothered to continue.

The ruins behind vipers are in the woods in our village ( Brinscall ) . All the local kids would go down the lane to watch when they were filming.

@ShirleyPhallus

I am most of the way through and have guessed the killer and motive (I think)

Some of the acting is TERRIBLE. Really hammy. But enjoyable nonsense nonetheless.

My favourite line was when the photographer opened the door and said “detective and….?” And Jo Joyner says “girl detective”

We thought the acting was terrible in parts. Dave and Jordan can't act for toffee, the ginger policeman and woman in wheelchair were even worse.

@VioletCharlotte The policeman's body was found propped up on the roof but it looked to have been there a while

@flapjackfairy

At the end Lorraine told Broome that Barbie and Ken had killed Harry and that other girl whose name escapes me. She had gone off to be a nurse and as far as I could tell her body hadn't been found and no one even knew she was missing . So how did Lorraine know? Or did I miss a bit ?

Barbie and Ken didn’t murder Tawny thingy in the book - they just played around with her already broken finger. Tawny just ran away.

Brooke’s supposed boss, the red headed guy, was just not believable as a senior police officer.

I didn't understand when M was running away from her past and went through all that trouble to change her name and identity only to go and start a new life a few miles away from her old life made me a bit surely you would move to a different part of the country or even to a different country.

@unfollowme

I didn't understand when M was running away from her past and went through all that trouble to change her name and identity only to go and start a new life a few miles away from her old life made me a bit surely you would move to a different part of the country or even to a different country.

And not only that... She never once took her kids to the seaside there in 17 years...

"But muuum... I don't want to drive 8 hours to Weymouth when there's a seaside 20 minutes away .."
"Shush and get in the car.."

I switched off after the dancing couple killed and danced afterwards. Too flippant and unnecessary. Might return later.

Finished the whole thing last night and also have questions

Like a PP what was the deal with Ken touching Barbie's breast? Seemed like work colleagues then went on about no kids and honeymooning in the Galápagos Islands

Liked the fact that Megan was the only one who realised what had happened to Carlton.

Not a fan of miraculous recovery after being bitten and stabbed

I did like the fact that there was more diversity in this. Not used for the plot, just people working who aren't perfect physical specimens.

I liked all the interiors. I remember from Safe and The Stranger that the homes were beautiful. Big and clean. Very soothing.

Finally - yes to strong women. Not the usual 'female being rescued by strong male' story. The way Lorraine spoke about her abuse was really chilling.

Overall I enjoyed it but so many things to question (many of which were already said on here)
-why did Megan/Cassie not have any scars from the Barbie attack?! Her wedding dress was revealing.
-why did no one question where Carlton's car is? It must have passed several traffic cams to get to Vipers, I know Lorraine destroyed the cctv footage from the car park on the night but surely it was noted it didn't leave the area? It mustn't have passed any cameras on the way out so a relatively small search.
-Richard Armitage's character was awful. I almost wish he had done something just to stop him moping about. Would he not have been arrested for disposing of a body?!
-Why did they keep showing the proposal flashback so many times? Once or twice was enough but it was constant and not an important plot point?
I felt like the majority of the series was too long and would have been tied up much faster if each character had said just one more sentence of detail. It was driving me mad how poorly they all communicated.

I read somewhere that Netflix signed a deal with Coben to make 14 books into series? If so, that's a lot to look forward to if we're only 3 down so far

@Violetroselily sorry if this has already been said but more than 3 have been adapted so far; some have been developed in foreign languages, The Woods is in Polish and The Innocent is in Spanish, though I haven't seen that one. So there are more for you to watch already!

Also- that was the weirdest club ever. Not the location, as I know of a similarly placed one in the North West, but it just couldn't make up its mind on what it wanted to be. It seemed to be a strip club that also was a drag Queen bar but was also a Cabaret bar with singers. It happened to be where all the older people went for a night out (wouldn't Ray have just avoided it afterwards? Is it the only bar in town?!) but also where the young cool kids went as it seemed more like a rave on carnival night. It was open all night but also all day like a pub? I can't think of anywhere I've been to that covers all of those different clientele.

@Tobogganist

Oh god. There was good acting in this but WTF ?! Barbie and Ken in the outfits dancing and singing that was SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!!!

They really creeped me out in front of Harry's when they broke into that dance, reminded me of Luther. Imagine minding your business alone on a dark quiet street and you just see that 😳

Yes - what was vipers?

Sometimes romantic and quiet enough to chat, sometimes noisy and fighty??

Spoiler alert

Please correct me anyone.

How come Ray was allowed to walk free when he chopped stuart into pieces and later directed the police to find the remains? Did the police not figure out it was Ray who did this cutting a dead body in pieces, throwing it in the river, keeping it a secret for nearly two decades and lying to the Police? Shouldn't he have got some jail time ?

Also, wouldn't Broome's relationship with Lorraine have been frowned upon seeing as she was involved in the case? I believe it's also suggested that he'd had some sort relationship with Stuart Green's wife? Or did I get that wrong?

Yes Broome was partnered with his ex-wife at work, had had an affair with the original victims wife previously and started a relationship with the serial killer.

Even though he was still hung up about the case of the original disappeared man Stuart, he hadn't noticed the 15 (or however many) men who had disappeared in similar circumstances from a similar place at a similar time in the intervening years (nor had anyone else)

Cassie had invented a new life (living down the road) and not bumped into anyone over the years.

A likely story.

Was Cassie’s blonde hair meant to be a bad wig?

Just finished watching and it was pretty entertaining for me, but so many plot holes as others have said. I thought it was ridiculous that the 2 detectives went into the bunker, didn’t seem like a safe thing to do . Should have at least had one person remain outside.

I liked that there were strong women characters and not the usual murder women plot

Didn’t like the fact the two main coppers used to be married, just totally unrealistic and unnecessary

@Hemingwayscatz

That's the most realistic bit in it! DH's colleagues border on incestuous and include two married couples where each person used to be married to a member of the other couple iyswim. All worked together and socialised together as two married couples and then essentially, swapped partners. Lots of affairs, marriages and divorces. DH takes the piss out of all cop dramas but said they'd finally got something right.

Can someone tell me if the nail varnish thing was real. Can you really tell if someone spikes your drink like that?

@wizzler

Can someone tell me if the nail varnish thing was real. Can you really tell if someone spikes your drink like that?

I hope so. I haven't googled but thought it is a fabulous idea.

@wizzler

Can someone tell me if the nail varnish thing was real. Can you really tell if someone spikes your drink like that?

They tried to develop it according to Google, but it's not a thing you can easily buy.

Coben probably just threw it as it heard they were developing it.