Harlan Coben

[brianixon]

I have watched 'The Stranger' by Harlan Coben. There are always books of his in the library, they seem to be popular. I thought they were more like Lee Child and American.

It has an odd ending and thinking about it some strange connections. I was expecting a more tidy story, but this frayed at the edges.

Any comments on his writing anyone?

I read some of his earlier books after watching Ne le dis a Personne (worth a watch). I quite enjoyed them, but there were obvious weaknesses - attitudes to women in particular. And now he has diversified into YA fiction and is still churning out the regular books...the quality is bound to suffer, and this may be what you noticed in terms of loose ends.

One thing I did like in a later book is that he allows his characters to age, and perspectives to change - for example elderly parents' health issues and another character's womanising being seen as pitiable rather than enviable.

@TheYearOfSmallThings, thanks for comments, I shall look out for more. The Stranger (Netflix) was going so well but...

I watched The Stranger, although I can’t remember the ending now, so it obviously didn’t have much impact. He’s American, and I think the stories work better set in USA, rather than Britain and Europe…. something gets lost in moving the setting, and adapting to screen I think. I read quite a few of his (including The Stranger), but nothing recently. I would say the books are better. Start with the standalone novels, rather than the original Bolitar series imo.