Debut
This book is by a former customer of ours, who, as a kid, used to shop with his family at our store. He and his brother gobbled up thrillers like they were candy, and I’m happy to say, Becker has now written an excellent one of his own. I have rules when I’m reading a thriller, and if they don’t meet them, I always feel a lack. They are: upping the ante; the seemingly unsolvable problem; the twist; specifity; and pace.
Becker ups the ante right off the bat. Ben and Veronica, a happy, seemingly ideal couple, are suddenly split apart when Veronica disappears after a mass shooting in a Washington DC park. Immediately, the reader is on Ben’s side as he tries to find his wife, the only clue being a mysterious text she’d sent him out of the blue before her disappearance. There’s the unsolvable problem: where is Veronica, and why has she disappeared?
Ben has some advantages going for him. He’s smart and capable and he works for a Congresswoman. Even more to his advantage, his best friend appears to be the front runner in an upcoming presidential race. He has strings to pull and he pulls all of them, including the string that ties to Veronica’s place of employment – she’s a gifted mathematician and a professor. The math parts are Becker’s specific details that make this book stand out. While I’m not a math-y person, it didn’t matter, as the clues were laid out and explained fairly, and they added that important and grounding note of believability to the story.
This book is full of twists, which I’m not going to give away in a review, but there’s a look at deeper, unknown motives for the characters that are discovered throughout the book. Harlan Coben is excellent at this, and Becker has obviously learned at the feet of the master. I will say there are family ties and connections that are unexpected and provide all the twists any reader could want.
Last on my list is pace, which no good book lacks. This book is well paced and had me looking forward to opening the pages after I’d been away from it for a bit. It was hard to put down. But the last rule of thrillers, which has never made it to my official list, is that the main character is sort of an everyday hero. From John Buchan to Dick Francis on down to Harlan Coben, the main character is a relatable person who in the worst of circumstances steps up and most importantly, does what’s right. Ben fills that bill.
This is a very well told and put together thriller. I loved the DC setting (another specific element of the book) and I really liked Ben and was on his side the whole time. While his hunt is for Veronica, it’s Ben the reader roots for as they read. (Veronica is basically the MacGuffin.) Ben is a worthy hero to drape this wonderfully constructed story around. This is a terrific debut. — Robin Agnew