Quick Review – I Will Find You by Harlan Coben

I Will Find You Cover

Publisher: Century (Trade Paperback – 16 March 2023)

Series: Standalone

Length: 407 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Last year I was lucky enough to read and review the new Harlan Coben novel, I Will Find You. This was the first book I had read from Coben, a man renowned for his twisty and tricky thriller books, and it proved to be a pretty cool read. While I really enjoyed I Will Find You, I never actually got around to reviewing it, which was a pretty major regret I had about my writing last year. However, as I just received a copy of Coben’s new book, Think Twice, I figured this would be a good time to finally review this amazing book.

Plot Synopsis:

David and Cheryl Burroughs are living the dream – married, a beautiful house in the suburbs, a three year old son named Matthew – when tragedy strikes one night in the worst possible way.

David awakes to find himself covered in blood, but not his own – his son’s. And while he knows he did not murder his son, the overwhelming evidence against him puts him behind bars indefinitely.

Five years into his imprisonment, Cheryl’s sister arrives – and drops a bombshell.

She’s come with a photograph that a friend took on vacation at a theme park. The boy in the background seems familiar – and even though David realizes it can’t be, he knows it is. It’s Matthew, and he’s still alive.

David plans a harrowing escape from prison, determined to do what seems impossible – save his son, clear his own name, and discover the real story of what happened that devastating night.

The first thing I need to point out about I Will Find You is that Coben came up with a pretty awesome standalone concept that really draws your attention from the get-go. An innocent man trapped in prison for a crime he didn’t commit is always a great start to the story, but combine that with proof that his murdered child is still alive and with someone else, and you have yourself a real winning plot that I really fell in love with. Coben easily has the writing chops to back this story idea up, and the resulting book turns into an impressive read.

I really enjoyed so many great elements of I Will Find You, especially as Coben throws in his trademark twists, elaborate action-set pieces, and fantastically complex character motivations. The book starts with an awesome, if slightly coincidental, prison break (thank God for family connections) and develops into a good fugitive storyline with an investigative bent to it. The resulting chase between the protagonist and his pursuers, both official and unofficial keeps the pulse racing, and I loved the combination of two fast-talking cops leading the main pursuit, and a shadowy, influential family invested in his capture/death. The investigation angle works out very well, and the combination of Matthew’s straightforward methods, and the subtler results from Rachel, the sister-in-law, allow for some intriguing progress towards the plots conclusion.

The various resulting twists that lead up to the end of the book are well handled, and I loved how compelling Coben was able to make the plot of I Will Find You. I particularly loved the elaborate, sinister, and slightly oddball motivations behind the actual crime, as well the lengths the antagonist was willing to go to secure what they wanted. The unique relationships that also emerge make for some fun reading, and the compelling and over-the-top main story is well balanced with the inherent tragedy of the protagonists and the sorrow they feel for their loss. The entire book comes to quite a fantastic conclusion which, while it could have used a little more explaining, proved to be very satisfying.

While I did enjoy the story that Coben came up with for I Will Find You, and he presented it extremely well, I did myself disliking certain elements of the plot, namely that the author relied way too much on coincidence and story elements that come out of nowhere. A good example of this is the machinations of a certain mob-boss, which helped lead to the protagonist’s situation. While the eventual confrontation between David and this mobster is really well written, I honestly think their involvement in the whole affair could have been set up better, as their actions, while interesting to the plot, was a bit of a sudden inclusion. This, and other confidences and unanswered questions, conspired to throw me off the groove of the story at key points of the book, so I didn’t have as much fun as I possibly could of. Still, this is a mostly minor issue for me, and I had an overall exceptional time with this book.

I Will Find You was a pretty novel book, and it proved to be a fantastic introduction to Harlan Coben for me. The elaborate and intense story writing really grabbed me, and I loved the author’s ability to pull together a great character-driven twist. As such, I Will Find You is well worth checking out, especially to those who are already fans of the author.

I Will Find You Cover 2