The Stranger by Harlen Coben

The Stranger is unusual among the Harlen Coben books.  (See, I can avoid saying it's one of the stranger novels because I'm not Myron Bolitar). It's a standalone novel, but doesn't feature Lauren Muse, Cindy Shaker and the others from the New Jersey DA's office.  There is actually one rather subtle reference to Myron Bolitar when one of the characters playing basketball is having a great game, and is even able to outplay the former Duke star who wears a knee brace.


Many of Harlen Coben's novels involve a disappearance or a missing person, and some years after the fact there is an indication that the missing person may still be alive.  Generally the novel involves solving the mystery of how someone can still be alive, and why there was the period of non-contact.


The Stranger is a missing person story told in a much more conventionally chronological manner.  A stranger whispers a secret.  The subject of the secret is confronted.  The secret seems to go deeper than initially indicated, and then the subject of the secret disappears.  All of this usually comes out in the backstory of a Harlen Coben novel, so it's a lot of fun to see him build suspense in a more traditional story telling fashion. 


I'm not sure if I would have had as much fun with The Stranger if I wasn't familiar with Mr. Coben's plot patterns.  Somehow it made the more conventional tale seem fresh and exciting because it was unexpected from him.


As with many of Mr. Coben's recent novels, The Stranger shifts perspective, at its convenience, into a second-person style of narration, just to bring home that you, the reader, are no different than these specimens of suburbia on display.  He goes back to his tagline question of how far you would go to protect your family, and whether we are all Raskalnikov at heart, particularly when it comes to our own children's welfare. 


I found that aspect a bit heavy handed, but I liked the analogies about how easy it is to fall into stealing, or cheating a bit here and there.  I also liked the slightly more subtle aspects of how sometimes the dream of living in the perfect suburb is suffocating and crushing.  More than one character in this book was prepared to seek relief in life insurance proceeds.  The concept that providing for your family, and the need to keep up appearances and participate in the community and maintain your children in the school is of such importance that even if it's not achievable financially, it must be done at any cost. 


The offhanded, casual way that idea was introduced; that your life insurance policies can maintain the suburban dream for your family, and if all you have to do is die, then it's well worth it, I found to be the most chilling aspect of The Stranger.  As a side note, the main character, Adam Price is a lawyer who deals with eminent domain (how to hold onto your house when the government is trying to kick you out).  While I think that ties into his character, and the overarching themes of the book about holding on past all reason, I couldn't help but think that it might have been more fitting if the protagonist was an insurance broker.