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If you do, you'll miss the subtleties as skillful author Harlan Coben pays another visit to see his first protagonist, the wisecracking sports agent, Myron Bolitar. If you read this alone, you might like it, but to appreciate what Coben's trying to do, you need to let the fact that he's letting everyone in the series grow up (except for Win, Myron's sidekick)to the tune of six years passing since Myron's last adventure.
There's much to appreciate - Myron gets caught up in childrearing drama when he gets the teenage daughter of friends and the daughter of his girlfriend to promise that they'll call him if they are ever in a situation where they have no ride home that isn't drunk or drugged out. The reader is squirming a little at how suburban Myron has become, including new love Ali (not a winning combination), and being drawn, mouth-agape into the complex and risky world of teenagers in today's culture.
Coben probably brings back a character or two that are not necessary, in an effort to please his old fans. The subplot of visiting his folks in Florida would be ludicrous, if the context of the dialogue between El Al (his parents, Ellie and Al) wasn't so darn funny. Big Cyndi, however, a character I swear he shares with Janet Evanovich, did not bear revisiting.
The final twist in the book is just a little over the top, and I, for one, hope that Bolitar goes back to repping sports figures and not celebrities, but all in all, Coben's given us a great continuing chapter in a series that thrives on wisecracks, while blending the over the top humor and violence with some of today's real tragedies (college entrance pressure, dysfunctional families, domestic abuse. Coben attempts a lesson, and succeeds, but "Promise Me" falls short of some of the earlier and more cartoonish Bolitar fare.
Nevertheless, not to be missed if you're a Coben fan!
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