I thought I have read Harlan Coben's book before. But after looking through my read booklist apparently I have not. Hmm .. wonder why did I think I have read one before.
Anyways, my first thought of this book was cliche'. Some dialogues or plots were just too obvious for me. I'm not sure what I was expecting. Perhaps a complicated investigation story? Maybe it was due to my recent read title which force me to fully concentrate that I'm expecting the same for this one.
Tia and Mike Baye never imagined they'd become the type of overprotective parents who spy on their kids. But their sixteen-year-old son Adam has been unusually distant lately and after the suicide of his classmate Spencer Hill - they can't help but worry. They install a sophisticated spy program on Adam's computer, and within days they are jolted by a message from an unknown correspondent addressed to their son - 'Just stay quiet and all safe.'
Meanwhile, browsing through an online memorial for Spencer put together by his classmates, Betsy Hill (mother) is struck by a photo that appears to have been taken on the night of her son's death and he wasn't alone. She thinks it is Adam Baye standing just outside the camera's range; but when Adam goes missing, his parents and Spencer's mom expect the worse.
When Adam confessed to Betsy that he and Spencer (Betsy's dead son) were fighting over a girl, I kept wondering ... which girl?
But on pp 349-350 I suddenly thought ~ maybe it was not over a girl? but a boy perhaps?
The book implied that we (normal people) like to assume or deduct our judgement from our obvious surrounding - especially in the case of the police enforcement in this story. But didn't Sherlock Holmes did the same? Or maybe not.
The book was read somewhere in Jan 2012. It was an okay read for me. I guess maybe I was expecting more (... usually that's the problem).
ps/so it wasn't about a boy after all ...
