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Just One Look (Paperback)

by Harlan Coben (Author) "There are sudden rips ..." (more)
3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (77 customer reviews)

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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Just one look at Coben's latest stand-alone thriller (after No Second Chance) highlights the author's customary strengths (swift pacing, strong lead characters) but also his weaknesses, including limited originality and, in this case, a plot so complicated that many final pages are devoted to sorting it out. The premise is simple enough: suburban housewife Grace Lawson collects some pictures at the local Photomat; inexplicably, one is an old print depicting her husband, Jack, with other college students; when Grace shows the photo to Jack, he drives away-and disappears. Grace's hunt for her missing husband, whom we learn has been kidnapped (but why? and Coben fans will note that the author's last novel also hinged on a kidnapped family member), sweeps her back into a nightmare she thought she'd escaped: the evening years ago when she survived a rock concert rampage, occasioned by a shooting that left many dead. Meanwhile, Eric Wu, a-dare we say?-inscrutable martial-arts killer who has snatched Jack for reasons unknown, menaces assorted folk. Eventually Grace, aided by a Gotti-like mobster whose child was killed in the rampage, gloms on to Wu, as well as on to Jack's sister, a high-powered attorney who, it turns out, is representing the guy who started the rampage by firing his gun. Only he didn't start the rampage after all, and then there's the rock star who vanished after the shooting and resultant mayhem-what's he now doing on Grace's doorstep? This is all as complicated as a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle and about as hard to figure out, although in the midst of the murk there are some wonderful character touches. Coben can write thrillers that lift readers off their seats; this one, alas, will have them slumping.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


From AudioFile

Here is yet another example of Corben's gifted storytelling. Carolyn McCormick expertly expresses the wide range of emotions experienced by Grace Lawson as she attempts to figure out how and why a twenty-year-old picture turns up in her recently developed photos, and why her husband has disappeared after recognizing himself in the old photograph. While the production's subtle sound effects neither enhance nor detract from the story, the listener is most definitely engaged by the rising tension of McCormick's delivery. S.K.P. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews

77 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.6 out of 5 stars (77 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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3.0 out of 5 stars A complex thriller that needs a little concentration!, Nov 2 2008
By Paul Weiss (Dundas, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Just One Look (Paperback)
Grace Lawson has the stereotypical North American dream life ... a good husband, a happy marriage, two well adjusted children, a lovely home and a successful career as an admired artist that actually generates enough income for her to consider herself prosperous. Her world, metaphorically travelling at a comfortable pace down Main Street, suddenly accelerated into a curve and took a high speed turn on two wheels into a threatening narrow dark alley on the day she found a twenty year old photograph mysteriously tucked into a package of newly developed shots she had just picked up at the camera shop. The old photo portrays a group of young friends, one of whom appears to be her husband as a much younger man. When she asks him about it, he hotly denies it, clearly covering up something. He leaves the house and promptly disappears without a trace.

In "Just One Look" Harlan Coben takes his readers on a roller-coaster ride through a Byzantine complex plot as Grace searches for her missing husband. His writing is breathlessly urgent. The tension is palpable and the compulsion to turn the pages is quite unavoidable. But somehow, after all was said and done, the novel failed to completely satisfy.

Psychedelic drugs and stampedes at a crowded 1960s rock concert, a ruthless near invincible Ninja style hit man, a Mafia Don with a soft spot in his heart for Grace's predicament, police who don't believe that her husband has disappeared at all, plagiarism and theft of song royalties - it's difficult to imagine what else beside the kitchen sink that Coben could have tossed into this plot! Another reviewer suggested that Coben told an intriguing story that was as "complex as a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle, but never confusing". Frankly, I disagree. The plot was convoluted and I felt it took considerable concentration to hold the threads together and to keep the entire story intact.

I enjoyed the novel but, personally, I like my thrillers to be just a little less effort and a little more brainless enjoyment. Here's the suggestion - if you're looking for PURE brain candy, this isn't your book! If you're looking for mental stimulation and you like a great suspense thriller as well, this is probably a cup of tea that will warm your heart.

Recommended.

Paul Weiss
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4.0 out of 5 stars Pale Ink, Jun 23 2007
By Craobh Rua "Craobh Rua" (N. Ireland) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Just One Look (Paperback)
Harlan Coben was born in New Jersey in 1962 and is best known for his Myron Bolitar novels. "Just One Look", however, is one of his was stand-alone novels, and was first published in 2004.

Although Grace Lawson is a well-known artist, she's better remembered for an incident known as the 'Boston Massacre'. Fifteen years before the book opens, Grace was in the front pit for a a Jimmy X concert - a show that had been due to start at 8:30pm. The crowd are, obviously, a little agitated when it hits midnight and there's still no sign of the singer. Unfortunately, at that point, things move a little beyond agitation when three shots are fired. The resulting mayhem eighteen people dead and Grace, briefly, in a coma - with a variety of injuries. A year later, she movea to France to study art and meets Jack Lawson there - the man who was to become her husband. It had been love at first sight for the pair, though each kept their secrets : Grace couldn't really talk about the concert (her memories were still a little fuzzy), while Jack had a falling-out with his family - the details of which he was also reluctant to share.

Grace and Jack returned to America, shortly after Grace fell pregnant with their first child. (Emma is now eight, while their more recent addition, Max, is six). Her troubles start as she picks up some freshly-developed photographs from a family day out - when she discovers a photo she didn't take in her packet. At first she thinks someone else's photo has accidentally been sorted into hers - but then she suspects it's been placed there on purpose...There are five people in the photo and, judging by the quality of the print,and the style of dress, it was taken around fifteen years ago. One of the faces has been covered with a large 'X', while another - she thinks - is of Jack...but, at a point in his life before she had met him. Later that night, when Jack arrives home from work, he sees the photo and - within a matter of minutes - nips out the front door and drives off without a word. When he doesn't return, Grace knows he's in trouble. She's right : what she doesn't know, however, is that Jack's been grabbed by Eric Wu - not a man you'd want to mess with. The police, initially, assume he's just done a runner (possibly to scratch a seven year itch). Grace, on the other hand, knows better - and so starts trying to discover what's happened to him. Luckily, she has a couple of useful allies - including noted Mafia Boss Carl Vespa and an Assistant US Attorney, Scott Duncan.

Although I don't think "Just One Look" will ever be considered a classic, it's certainly much better than a Dan Brown book. Admittedly, there wasn't much in the way of tension or fear and some of the characters - the friendly neighbourhood Mafia Boss, for example - were just a little bit too convenient. There also turned out to be a few too many connections between the key players...however, I did find it to be a very enjoyable, pacey and easily read book and it's certainly worth a rattle.
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3.0 out of 5 stars A bit convoluted but still readable, Jun 9 2006
By April (Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Just One Look (Paperback)
My first Harlan Coben book...I would give him another go and will try other stuff by him....this book will NOT change your life and obviously isn't aiming for that...he could work on making the plot twists a little less 'ker-plow'- it takes away from the believability BUT, still a good rainy weekend read.
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 		 Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Full of Twists and Turns
Injured during a stampede at a rock concert more than a decade before, Grace Lawson is unaware when she finds a misplaced photo in her order from a photo shop that this will lead... Read more
Published on Nov 18 2004 by Macayla

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT BOOK!!!!
This book was very good. It had alot of action. This is the second book that I have read by Harlan Coben. I plan to read others by this author.

I highly recommend this book.

Published on Jul 18 2004 by Lorraine Brown

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice start going slowly down hill
I have read all of Mr Coben's books and this is probably the least enjoyable.

I dont mean to dwell on the editing but its really terrible. Read more

Published on Jul 16 2004

4.0 out of 5 stars What causes a life to fall apart?
Grace Lawson, wife and mother, picks up her developed photographs at the local shop and finds an unexpected photo in with her family pictures. Read more
Published on Jul 13 2004 by L. Redding

1.0 out of 5 stars Could barely read this book
Had to put it down after just the first couple of chapters. Will probably throw it away. Typographical, grammatical, and expositional errors were so numerous that they became a... Read more
Published on Jul 12 2004 by J. Williams

5.0 out of 5 stars Just One Look
Coben does not dissapoint. If your from New Jersey you must get into his books.
Published on Jul 11 2004 by J. Schwieters

4.0 out of 5 stars Good read, but the ending is a bit muddled...
I finished up Harlan Coben's latest novel Just One Look. A page-turning mystery that delivers pretty well all the way through. Read more
Published on Jul 10 2004 by Thomas Duff

3.0 out of 5 stars Not one of Coben's best
I enjoy Coben's books--they always have a surprise ending and usually one that's totally unexpected--this one is no exception. Read more
Published on Jul 6 2004 by jlww

5.0 out of 5 stars A True Page Turner with twists and turns you'll never expect
Just One Look is everything you look for in a suspense novel. It departs from others of its type by making the protaganist an ordinary person living an ordinary life. Read more
Published on Jul 2 2004 by stacey scharf

5.0 out of 5 stars A MIND TOO QUICK
Harlan Coben is one of my favorite writers, and even though I am still ticked off he hasn't given us a Myron Bolitar in years, I still found JUST ONE LOOK a good read. Read more
Published on Jun 30 2004 by Michael Butts

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