Maxima Library

"Trzy dni przed śmiercią matka wyznała – to były niemal jej ostatnie słowa – że mój brat wciąż żyje" – tak zaczyna się najnowszy thriller Cobena. Od dnia, w którym brat Willa Kleina, Ken, zamordował Julię, jego byłą sympatię, minęło jedenaście lat. Ścigany międzynarodowymi listami gończymi, dosłownie zapadł się pod ziemię. Z czasem rodzina uznała go za zmarłego. Przeglądając dokumenty rodziców, Will natrafia na świeżo zrobione zdjęcie Kena. Wkrótce potem znika Sheila, narzeczona Willa. Coraz więcej poszlak wskazuje, że nie była osobą, za którą się podawała. FBI poszukuje jej jako głównej podejrzanej w sprawie o podwójne zabójstwo. Co łączy Sheilę z serią morderstw i sprawą sprzed jedenastu lat? Czy ona także padła ofiarą zabójcy? Gdzie jest Ken? Will nie zazna spokoju, zanim nie dotrze do…

An explosive new stand-alone thriller from #1 New York Times bestseller Harlan Coben

Wendy is a reporter on a mission: She's chasing down the lowest of the low-sexual predators-and exposing them on national television. Her big break comes when she nails a child advocate who works with abused and underserved children. She's there, cameras rolling, when the cops cuff him and the guy realizes his life is well and truly over.

Three months later, the perp is off the grid, missing and presumed dead after the father of a victim claims to have killed him. Wendy, proud to have taken the man down in front of a shocked television audience, has moved on to the story of a missing girl, Erin, in a nearby suburb. The whole country is obsessed with finding this child, and Wendy should be well on her way to journalistic superstardom.

Then is all comes unhinged: Wendy gets a phone call that changes everything. A group of local fathers, out of work and not above vigilante justice, begins to take matters into their own hands on Erin 's behalf. Secrets long-buried rise to the surface and Wendy begins to wonder if her assumptions that fateful night three months ago were based on solid investigative journalism-or if she has unwittingly been part of a grand manipulation aiming to destroy and innocent man.

Sports agent and sometime investigator Myron Bolitar is poised on the edge of the big time. So is Christian Steele, a rookie quarterback and Myron's prized client. But when Christian gets a phone call from a former girlfriend, a woman who everyone, including the police, believes is dead, the deal starts to go sour. Suddenly Myron is plunged into a baffling mystery of sex and blackmail. Trying to unravel the truth about a family's tragedy, a woman's secret and a man's lies, Myron is up against the dark side of his business – where image and talent make you rich, but the truth can get you killed.

Hace veinte años, en un campamento de verano, cuatro adolescentes se adentraron de noche en el bosque. Dos fueron hallados asesinados y a los otros dos no volvieron a verlos nunca más. Para cuatro familias la vida cambió para siempre. Dos décadas después, está a punto de cambiar otra vez. El luto de Paul Copeland, fiscal del condado de Essex, Nueva Jersey, por la muerte de su hermana apenas comienza a remitir. Cope, como le llaman todos, está ocupado ahora criando solo a su hija de seis años tras la muerte de su esposa, enferma de cáncer. Equilibrar la vida familiar y una carrera profesional en rápida ascensión como fiscal le distrae de sus antiguos traumas, pero sólo temporalmente.

Cuando encuentran a una víctima de homicidio con pruebas que le relacionan con Cope, los secretos tan bien enterrados de la familia del fiscal se ven amenazados. ¿Es esta víctima de homicidio uno de los campistas que desapareció con su hermana? ¿Podría estar viva su hermana? Cope debe enfrentarse a lo que dejó atrás aquel verano de hace veinte años: su primer amor, Lucy, su madre, que abandonó a la familia, y los secretos que sus padres rusos podrían haber ocultado incluso a sus propios hijos. Cope debe decidir qué es mejor seguir ocultando en las sombras y qué verdades pueden salir a la luz.

#1 New York Times bestseller Harlan Coben delivers his next impossible-to-put-down thriller

In the course of eight consecutive #1 New York Times bestsellers, millions of readers have discovered Harlan Coben's thrillers, filled with his trademark edge-of-your-seat suspense and gut-wrenching emotion. In Fool Me Once, Coben once again outdoes himself.

Former special ops pilot Maya, home from the war, sees an unthinkable image captured by her nanny cam while she is at work: her two-year-old daughter playing with Maya's husband, Joe – who had been brutally murdered two weeks earlier. The provocative question at the heart of the mystery: Can you believe everything you see with your own eyes, even when you desperately want to? To find the answer, Maya must finally come to terms with deep secrets and deceit in her own past before she can face the unbelievable truth about her husband – and herself.

On October 17, eleven years ago, Julie Miller was found brutally strangled in the basement of her house in the township of Livingston, New Jersey. On that day, Will's brother, Ken Klein, became the subject of an international manhunt accused of the crime. He has not been seen since. Will has tried to get on with his life in the intervening years. He has a beautiful new girlfriend, Sheila, and a job working with the homeless. But when his mother reveals, on her deathbed, that Ken is still alive, and shortly afterwards Sheila disappears, the cracks start to show in his landscape again. But it is only when he finds that Sheila herself is wanted for a savage double murder that his life actually starts to fall apart…

***

"This is top-notch thriller writing' Observer

"Superbly crafted, high-adrenalin entertainment' The Times

"Gone For Good is Harlan Coben's follow-up to the best selling Tell No One, and will not disappoint the many readers who enjoy his devious tales of innocents caught in webs of deception… Ingenious and gripping, this is another thriller to stir the heart' Guardian

"This one's even better than the last [Tell No One]. Gone For Good serves up everything you could ask for in a can't-put-it-down beach book, yet complements its rocket-fast pace with a solid emotional underpinning… Gone For Good contains more plot twists than you can count, with a jarring revelation in nearly every chapter… Coben has crafted a taut thriller with a slew of compelling characters… as subtle as a shotgun, and just as effective' San Francisco Chronicle

"Highly enjoyable' Kirkus Reviews

"As you race through the chapters, you'll find both breath-stopping violence and, unusual for the genre, real intelligence capped by psychological insight' Newsday

"Riveting… has more twists and turns than an amusement-park ride… The loose threads come together, weaving a tight story… Gone For Good is great' USA Today

"True to form, Coben keeps the plot twists coming fast and furious, and readers will give up trying to guess the outcome quite early on… This title delivers' Publishers Weekly

"Coben… has written another nail-biter suspense novel with more twists and turns than a labyrinth' Toronto Sun

Chirurg plastyczny zostaje postrzelony we własnym domu. Po przebudzeniu w szpitalu dowiaduje się, że jego żona nie żyje, a sześciomiesięczna córka zniknęła. Lekarz płaci okup, którego zażądali porywacze, ale dziecko nie wraca do domu. Śledztwo po 18 miesiącach utyka w martwym punkcie.

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.

From Booklist

If the trick of suspense writing is to get readers to identify so passionately with the beleaguered principal character that they disappear into the story, feeling the knife points of tension themselves, then Coben is the Houdini of the form. Coben, who has won the Trifecta of mystery writing-the Edgar, the Anthony, and the Shamus Awards-likes to burst the bubble of suburban security by having his characters' well-ordered, happy lives upended in ways that mirror readers' fears. In his four stand-alone thrillers, the past comes back to bite or haunt the protagonist, or the present vanishes in one fatal moment. In this latest excursion into the dark, a suburban mother finds one picture that does not belong in the pack of family outing photos she's just picked up. The picture, showing a group of college students, seems as if it was taken 20 years ago. One of the group looks like her husband. A girl in the group has an X drawn across her face. When Mrs. Happily Married shows the picture to her husband, he seems shaken, then leaves home. Coben ratchets up the suspense of the wife trying to find her husband with another drama, that of a serial killer in the neighborhood. A tragic accident from the woman's past intersects with her husband's secrets and the movements of the killer in ways that are satisfyingly creepy.

They’re one of the country’s most telegenic couples: beloved TV journalist Sara Lowell and New York’s hottest basketball star, Michael Silverman. Their family and social connections tie them to the highest echelons of the political, medical, and sports worlds — threads that will tangle them up in one of the most controversial and deadly issues of our time. In a clinic on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, a doctor has dedicated his life to eradicating a divisive and devastating disease. One by one, his patients are getting well. One by one, they’re being targeted by a serial killer. And now Michael has been diagnosed with the disease. There’s only one cure, but many ways to die....

Qué haría un padre por proteger a su hijo? ¿Hasta dónde estaría dispuesto a llegar? ¿Le espiaría?¿Llegaría a mantenerle localizado permanente por el GPS de su móvil? Es lo que hacen Tia y Mike Baye, aunque vigilarle así no impedirá que Adam, su hijo de 16 años, desaparezca tras el suicidio de su mejor amigo. Ambos se lanzarán a una agónica búsqueda, mientras van conociendo con espanto que, en el fondo, no saben nada de la vida de su hijo.

Od śmierci Elizabeth z rąk seryjnego zabójcy minęło osiem lat, ale młody lekarz David Beck nie potrafi o niej zapomnieć. Niespodziewanie pocztą elektroniczną otrzymuje niezbity dowód, że jego żona nadal żyje. Jak to możliwe, skoro jej ciało zostało zidentyfikowane ponad wszelką wątpliwość? "Bez pożegnania" – "Trzy dni przed śmiercią matka wyznała – to były niemal jej ostatnie słowa – że mój brat wciąż żyje" – tak zaczyna się najnowszy thriller Cobena. Od dnia, w którym brat Willa Kleina, Ken, zamordował Julię, jego byłą sympatię, minęło jedenaście lat. Ścigany międzynarodowymi listami gończymi, dosłownie zapadł się pod ziemię. Z czasem rodzina uznała go za zmarłego. Przeglądając dokumenty rodziców, Will natrafia na świeżo zrobione zdjęcie Kena. Wkrótce potem znika Sheila, narzeczona Willa.

Durante trece años,Elizabeth y David Beck han acudido al lago Charmaine para dejar testimonio,en la corteza de un árbol, de un año más de felicidad. Ya no es así. Fue la trece su última cita.Una tragedia difícil de superar. Han pasado ocho años, pero el doctor David Beck no consigue sobreponerse al horror de semejante desgracia porque, aunque Elizabeth esté muerta y su asesino en el corredor de la muerte, aquella última cita puso fin a algo más que a una vida.

Marc Seidman ha tutto ciò che si può desiderare dalla vita: chirurgo plastico di successo, vive con la bella moglie e la figlioletta Tara di pochi mesi in una bella casa nei sobborgi di New York. Ma quando riprende conoscenza in una camera d’ospedale dove è stato ricoverato in fin di vita, Marc scopre con orrore d’aver subito un’aggressione durante la quale la moglie è stata uccisa e sua figlia è scomparsa senza lasciare traccia. Come se non bastasse Marc si ritrova ad essere il primo sospetto…

Publisher's Weekly

Terrible secrets lead basketball star David Baskin to fake his death while honeymooning in the tropics in this manipulative but otherwise engaging first novel. His bereaved bride, supermodel Laura Ayars, not sure that David's drowning was accidental, starts sleuthing-which proves dangerous when somebody begins killing people who may have the answers she wants. Meanwhile, David, fitted out with a new identity and appearance, tries out for his original team, the Boston Celtics, and ''replaces'' himself at his former position. Why he has faked his death is explained in the story's penultimate surprise. But why he risks playing in front of fans who know his style is never addressed. Crucial coincidences abound, such as the love affair of David's brother and Laura's sister-adults who, as kids 30 years before, just happen to have witnessed their parents' worst sins. Coben manufactures tension primarily by keeping key details out of his narrative, a method that eventually wears thin. The resolution comes as a relief, with less of a bang than its buildup promises.

Library Journal

Despite its fundamental implausibility, this is an engrossing suspense novel. A star pro basketball player, David Baskin, disappears on his honeymoon, and a mutilated, drowned body is assumed to be his. But strange things are happening to his beautiful widow. And a few months later, a total unknown startles the basketball world with a highly professional style of play exactly like Baskin's. The mystery has its origins in a murder 30 years earlier. The reader's suspicions about what actually happened to Baskin, and about the identity of the murderer, shift as layers of lies are stripped away. Despite the basketball, this is primarily great romantic suspense.- Marylaine Block, St. Ambrose Univ. Lib., Davenport, Ia.

School Library Journal

When Laura Ayers and David Baskin secretly marry, it is a match made in heaven. She is a former model turned entrepreneur, while he is the Boston Celtics basketball sensation. But tragedy strikes on their Australian honeymoon when David never returns from a swim in treacherous waters. As Laura struggles with her grief, events unfold to make her question David's mysterious disappearance. She begins to uncover a conspiracy of past and present that slowly destroys all those involved. Coben weaves a delicate web of intrigue that throws alternating suspicion on each person Laura trusts. A fast-moving thriller with a rapidly twisting plot that keeps readers in suspense until the final page. -Katherine Fitch, Jefferson Sci-Tech, Alexandria, VA

Will Klein tiene su héroe: su hermano mayor Ken. Una noche de calor agobiante aparece en el sótano de la casa de los Klein una joven, antiguo amor de Will, asesinada y violada.

El principal sospechoso es Ken.

Ante la abrumadora evidencia en contra suya, Ken desaparece.

Una década después de la desaparición, Will se ve mezclado en un inquietante misterio. Está convencido de que Ken está tratando de ponerse en contacto con él y de la existencia de un terrible secreto por el que alguien está decidido a matar porque no se desvele.

——

Six years have passed since Jake Fisher watched Natalie, the love of his life, marry another man. Six years of hiding a broken heart by throwing himself into his career as a college professor. Six years of keeping his promise to leave Natalie alone, and six years of tortured dreams of her life with her new husband, Todd.

But six years haven’t come close to extinguishing his feelings, and when Jake comes across Todd’s obituary, he can’t keep himself away from the funeral. There he gets the glimpse of Todd’s wife he’s hoping for…but she is not Natalie. Whoever the mourning widow is, she’s been married to Todd for almost two decades, and with that fact everything Jake thought he knew about the best time of his life—a time he has never gotten over—is turned completely inside out. 

As Jake searches for the truth, his picture-perfect memories of Natalie begin to unravel. Mutual friends of the couple either can’t be found, or don’t remember Jake. No one has seen Natalie in years. Jake’s search for the woman who broke his heart, who lied to him, soon puts his very life at risk as it dawns on him that the man he has become may be based on a carefully constructed fiction.

Harlan Coben once again delivers a shocking page-turner that deftly explores the power of past love, and the secrets and lies that such love can hide.

"Any new book from Coben is a cause for celebration, and one as good as is cause for jubilation."

"[Harlan Coben] delivers another amazing novel that will resonate with readers long after the final page is turned.The narrative is immersive, and the well-drawn characters and twisting plotting are stellar. With such a cool hook and a surprising and satisfying payoff, don’t wait six years to read what might be Coben’s best since . "

(starred review)

"SIX YEARS is a mind blowing, brain twisting, knuckle biter where nothing is as it seems. Coben never fails to deliver on his promise to keep readers riveted to their seats until the final page. Whether you're a devoted fan of Coben or you've never read a single book of his, don't miss this page turner! You'll be come an instant fan."

El mundo de una madre de clase media se desmorona por culpa de una simple instantánea. Cuando Grace Lawson recoge unas fotos de la familia recién reveladas descubre una, de hace al menos veinte años, en la que aparecen cinco personas. Grace no reconoce a cuatro de ellas, pero la quinta guarda un sorprendente parecido con su marido, Jack. Cuando éste ve la foto, niega ser él. Mas esa noche, mientras Grace lo espera en la cama, se marcha en coche sin dar explicación alguna y llevándose la foto. Conforme transcurren los días, ella duda cada vez más de sí misma y de su matrimonio y se plantea muchas preguntas acerca de su esposo.

Eight years ago David Beck was knocked unconscious and left for dead, and his wife Elizabeth was kidnapped and murdered. For the next eight years Dr Beck re lived the horror of what happened that day every day of his life. Then one afternoon, he receives an anonymous e-mail telling him to log on to a certain web site at a certain time, using a code that only he and his wife knew. The screen opens onto a web cam and it is Elizabeth 's image he sees. Is it a practical joke? But as Beck tries to find out if Elizabeth is truly alive and what really happened the night she disappeared, the FBI are trying to pin Elizabeth's murder on him, and everyone he turns to seems to end up dead…

An anthology of stories edited by Harlan Coben and Otto Penzler

Best-selling novelist Harlan Coben, a master of suspense and creator of the critically-acclaimed Myron Bolitar series, edits this latest collection of the must-reads in mysteries from the past year.

Matt Hunter's life has already been blown away once. At the age of twenty, he got into a fight outside a party and accidentally killed someone. That momentary lapse of reason cost him four years in gaol, and a small sliver of his soul. When Matt got out he set about rebuilding his life. He carved himself a job as a lawyer and married a beautiful woman. The break in the road seems to have only made him a stronger person. However, when he receives a strange video message on his mobile phone and he realises that a very bad man is following him, his new existence is suddenly under threat. Why is this ex-con on his tail, and who really is this woman he has married? Suddenly Matt can't trust anybody – least of all those he loves.

From Publishers Weekly

At the start of this disappointing stand-alone from bestseller Coben (Promise Me), Paul "Cope" Copeland, acting county prosecutor for Essex County, N.J., and Lucy Gold, his long-lost summer camp love, are still haunted by a fateful night, decades earlier, when their nighttime tryst allowed some younger campers, including Cope's sister, to venture into the nearby forest, where they apparently fell victim to the Summer Slasher, a serial killer. Cope's intense focus on a high-profile rape prosecution of some wealthy college students shifts after one of the Slasher's victims, whose body was never found, turns up as a recent corpse in Manhattan, casting doubt on the official theory of the old case. Cope's own actions on that night again come under scrutiny, even as the highly placed fathers of the men he's prosecuting work to unearth as many skeletons as possible to pressure him into dropping the rape case. Less than compelling characters fail to compensate for a host of implausibilities. Hopefully, Coben will return to form with his next book.

From Bookmarks Magazine

In this stand-alone legal thriller, Harlan Coben presents a riveting courtroom drama, creates riveting players, and delves into family secrets, love, loss, mistakes, and betrayal. A few critics noted that while The Woods falls into Coben's typical formula-a past crime affects innocent people in the present-it still comes off as fresh. The trial scenes, Cope's ruminations on what really happened that night, and the back-and-forth narration are particularly well done. Only the Washington Post faulted the novel's cheap thrills, improbable revelations, and awkward conclusion. Nevertheless, few readers will remain unaffected by its emotional heft.

Ustabilizowane życie Grace Lawson rozpada się w jednej chwili, gdy na świeżo wywołanym zdjęciu rodzinnym rozpoznaje swojego męża. Fotografia wygląda na zrobioną przed laty. Przedstawia także inne osoby; twarz jednej z nich jest przekreślona. Jack, mąż Grace, zaprzecza, by miał coś wspólnego ze zdjęciem. Krótko potem wychodzi z domu i znika, zabierając tajemniczą odbitkę.

¿Qué haríamos cualquiera de nosotros si uno de nuestros hijos fuera secuestrado?

El doctor Seidman, un cirujano plástico especializado en niños, se despierta de pronto después de doce días en coma en la cama de un hospital. Ha sobrevivido a los disparos que recibió en su casa la mañana en que su hija Tara, de seis meses, fue secuestrada y su mujer asesinada. Él es el sospechoso. A partir de entonces, este hombre acorralado por los recelos de la Policía, e inmerso en un sinfín de sentimientos contradictorios y dudas, se ve empujado por el escalofriante mensaje de quienes le exigen el rescate. «Si te pones en contacto con las autoridades, desapareceremos. No habrá otra oportunidad.» No puede hablar ni con la Policía ni con el FBI. No sabe en quién confiar. Seidman no descansará.

Najnowsza powieść niekwestionowanego mistrza thrillera z fabułą stworzoną według sprawdzonej recepty Alfreda Hitchcocka – najpierw trzęsienie ziemi, a potem napięcie musi wzrosnąć. Dwadzieścia lat temu czworo nastolatków wymknęło się do lasu z letniego obozu. Dwoje odnaleziono później z poderżniętymi gardłami. Pozostała dwójka jakby zapadła się pod ziemię, nie pozostawiając po sobie nawet najdrobniejszego śladu. Była wśród nich siostra Paula Copelanda, obecnie prokuratora i owdowiałego ojca sześcioletniej Cary. Paul ma ambicje polityczne, ale jego plany mogą lec w gruzach, gdy w zastrzelonym na Manhattanie mężczyźnie rozpoznaje ofiarę tamtej tragedii. Nie ma wyjścia, musi postawić sobie pytanie – czy jego siostra żyje? Jaką tajemnicę skrywa milczący las? Co naprawdę wydarzyło się owej pamiętnej nocy?

Nowy bestseller mistrza thrillera, w którym niepowiązane ze sobą wątki łączą się w najmniej spodziewany sposób, ukazując dramat zwykłych ludzi zamieszanych w coś, czego znaczenia nie są w stanie pojąć. Każda rodzina ma swoje tajemnice…Rodzice Adama Baye, zaniepokojeni tym, że po samobójstwie kolegi z klasy ich szesnastoletni syn zamknął się w sobie, instalują na jego komputerze program szpiegowski. Śledzą każdy ruch chłopaka, każdy wysłany i odebrany e-mail. Ze zgrozą odkrywają wiadomość przesłaną przez anonimowego nadawcę, który każe mu siedzieć cicho. Czy Adam wie coś na temat samobójstwa? I co ma wspólnego z brutalnym zabójstwem na przedmieściach Nowego Jorku, nad którego zagadką pracuje detektyw Loren Muse? Dlaczego rodziną Baye interesuje się FBI?

An anthology of stories edited by Harlan Coben and Otto Penzler

Best-selling novelist Harlan Coben, a master of suspense and creator of the critically-acclaimed Myron Bolitar series, edits this latest collection of the must-reads in mysteries from the past year.