Usually I love Harlan Coben’s books. Especially the non Bolitar ones that focus more on the mystery and less on spy stuff. And thus far every one that I’ve read I’d put between a 9/10 and a 10/10. I love the way he constructs mysteries, I love how he writes his characters and most of all I love the security that the endings will always have closure. Well, almost always. Because this book was an exception. And within a few chapters it managed to completely piss me off.
From this point I’ll be talking with heavy spoilers so if you haven’t read the book proceed with your own caution. So a quick recap of the plot is this. Dr Mark Sidman and his wife are shot in his home. When he wakes up he learns that his infant daughter has been kidnapped and soon a ransom letter appears. With the help of an old flame he never moved past, he falls into a deep web of secrets and crimes trying to save his daughter.
And here’s where we get to the problem. The attitude of the main character. In the entire book, a standard is that he is constantly blaming himself for everything and beating himself down with any opportunity. He even has self loathing rants about how he’s not as good of a person as he seems despite being a reconstructionist surgeon helping kids who got damaged in wars, because he does that for the rush and feels like the “true heroes” are people who selflessly do jobs they hate for others.
His attitude was annoying me all throughout the book, but in the ending it got to a complete crescendo.
Even though he learns that his wife babytrapped him and then tried to kill him when she feared he was leaving her, he still blames himself for not caring enough to see her mental problems.
And not just that. He finds out his daughter was illegaly adopted by a family, and after a cringeworthy scene of forced idylic family bliss he decides to leave her with them because he doesn’t think he’s good enough to be a parent. They even offer to just give her back, but he instead ends up doing a co-parenting agreement. But not even one where *they* are allowed to see her sometimes. No, it’s him who has to bring his life upside down and move next to them, so that he can see her sometimes. His own fucking kid.
Even more infuriatngly, he learns that his best friend is the one who killed his wife and thinking he too is dead, arranged of the illegal adoption and fake ransom to throw off the police. And left him suffering for 1.5 years with his wife also knowing.
And he lets HIM of the hook as well, because “it’s my fault because if I loved my psycho babytrapping wife none of this would have happened”.
And even though he gets back with the ex, he says he’s not sure if it’s gonna last because he blames their feelings still being there for his wife’s insecurities leading to all the tragedy.
So yeah, blame everyone but the people who commited the actual crimes.
I just can’t man. Self-loathing protagonists that keep beating themselves up for not being more lenient with toxic people are my achillies heel.
by TvManiac5