Harlan Coben, No Second Chance

I just absolutely loved this book. It was one that I just absolutely could not put down. The author keeps you on the edge of your seat and wanting to know what happens next. I have read that even Dan Brown, The author of The Da Vinci Code, called Harlan Coben the modern master of the hook-and-twist, luring you in on the first page, only to shock you on the last. I have to say that I agree with him.

The main character, Dr. Marc Seidman, was a plastic surgeon whose specialty was repairing children's facial injuries, was shot and nearly killed while standing in his kitchen. He woke up in the hospital twelve days later to discover that his wife was killed and their daughter Tara had disappeared. The police searched for the culprits but had few leads and no ransom note. The police detective and FBI agent assigned to the murder and kidnapping case begin to wonder whether Marc himself was involved in the crime. They suspect his marriage was in shaky condition.When Marc was finally released from the hospital, his father-in-law Edgar Portman had him brought to directly to his house. A ransom note had finally been received. Edgar had followed the instructions in the note and filled a bag with two million dollars in cash. The ransom note read:'We are watching. If you contact the authorities, you will never see your daughter again. There will be no second chance. Marc confides in his best friend and lawyer, Lenny, and decides to tell the detective and FBI agent about the ransom. Marc turns over the bag of cash at the drop point, but Tara is not returned.But then, eighteen months later, another ransom message is delivered, along with evidence that Tara is alive. With each step Marc makes to recover his daughter, the mystery of the shootings, his wife's death and Tara's kidnapping seems to uncover bit by bit.No Second Chance taps into a parents' deepest fear ' " the disappearance of their child. the story sucked me in from the first page and the grasping first sentence of'When the first bullet hit my chest, I thought of my daughter... '

Harlan Coben, No Second Chance

Dr. Marc Seidman wakes up and finds himself in a hospital. He has been shot, left for dead. His wife, Monica, has been shot and killed, and his baby daughter, Tara, vanished, practically out of thin air. This book is about Dr. Seidman's incredible journey to find his daughter and try to put the pieces of his life back together one by one. He finds one thing, however, that will help keep his hope alive and his will strong. A ransom note. When he follows the notes instructions and goes to deliver the money, the kidnappers take the money and drive off. It seems that Marc's luck is not the best. Every time, something goes wrong. Terribly wrong.This book is about lost love that may not be so far away, hope for the return of his six month old daughter, and, most of all, second chances. When Marc finds how close his "lost love" Rachel has really been this whole time, he seeks her help, and maybe a little bit more. Things get much better when they are together, but still no luck with the drop-offs. In the end, the shocking truth is revealed about the real kidnapping, and who was behind it all along. But,don't take my word for it, read the book yourself. TRUST ME, its worth the money. and the time. Coben's got a winner with this one!!