Tell No One

"This is one of those classic thrillers, and it’s brilliantly plotted. It starts with a husband and wife celebrating the anniversary of their first kiss in their lakeside holiday home. The wife is kidnapped and murdered by a known serial killer and the husband is beaten and left for dead. And then we fast-forward eight years to the present and the man is a doctor who, although still traumatised, is getting on with his life. And then out of blue he gets an e-mail message which seems to be from his wife, and it appears she’s still alive. Yes, exactly. He can’t be one hundred per cent sure because, like everyone else, he’s convinced she’s dead, but he looks into it more deeply and he opens up a real can of worms, finding out first that she is still alive (although in hiding), and then that he’s being set up for her murder. People around him start dying and he finds himself on the run. It’s a hugely pacy book, with short chapters and a whole load of twists and turns. You always think you know what is going to happen but then Coben produces another twist and once again you don’t know where you are. And he manages to carry this on right the way through the book, which is no mean feat. Yes; the French made it into a film which was very well reviewed, but for me it wasn’t as good as the book. What I really love about the book is that you get straight into the action. I don’t want a story where for the first 100 pages the author’s slowly setting the scene. I want to be hooked immediately."