Found by Harlan Coben
| Found by Harlan Coben | |
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| Category: Teens | |
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Reviewer: Loralei Haylock
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| Summary: Another good instalment of Mickey Bolitar's story. With themes of identity and coming of age that a lot of teens will relate to, realistic characters and high school drama, and exciting crime plot twists and turns, there's still a lot to love about Harlan Coben's YA series. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 336 | Date: September 2014 |
| Publisher: Orion | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-1409124511 | |
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It's been eight months since Mickey watched his father die in a car accident. Since then, he's been drawn into the work of the mysterious Abeona Shelter, rescuing children and young people from dangerous situations. The latest person to go missing is Ema's online boyfriend. Mickey isn't convinced he exists, but Ema's adamant they need to look for him. Meanwhile, Mickey's nemesis Troy has been taken off the basketball team after failing a steroid test. Troy isn't exactly Mickey's favourite person, but he knows the team won't play so well without him, so when Troy asks Mickey for help to prove his innocence, Mickey reluctantly agrees.
But Mickey could never have guessed how these events are interconnected - with each other and the agenda of the mysterious 'Bat Lady', leader of the Abeona Shelter and the only person besides Mickey who believes his father could still be alive...
The adventures of Mickey Bolitar continue in good form in this latest instalment. The blend of crime action and teenage drama works really well, especially considering the overarching themes of identity and coming of age nicely connect the two sides of the story.
Because this is all about finding yourself. Mickey and the crew may be out to find missing children, but their adventures help them to find their own identities along the way. And it's all about how you fit in with other people. From Ema's online relationship, to Mickey's desperation to fit in to the basketball team, the characters are trying to find their place, and making plenty of mistakes along the way. I think a lot of teenagers will relate to the characters and their predicaments - and they're so real, you can forgive some of the more ridiculous situations the characters get into because of the crime element of the storyline.
The ending is a little saccharine, and did leave me with a bit of a 'well, why would he bother doing that?' question in my mind. But apart from that, this was a really enjoyable read. It felt kind of final, like this is the last instalment; I don't think I'll be alone in feeling a little hopeful that there will be another.
My thanks to the publisher for sending a copy.
Fans of YA Crime may also enjoy How to Fall by Jane Casey.
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