112. TELL NO ONE

Harlan Coben 2001

An easy, entertaining suspense thriller read. A straightforward novel with enough twists and action to keep me turning the page. Dr. David Beck, a pediatrician lost his wife Elizabeth eight years ago from a brutal serial killer. As he tries to go on with his life, still unable to totally cope with this tragedy, he then receives a series of e-mails he cannot tell anyone. As he plunges head on and discovers secrets and cover-ups, he raises to answer the important question: Can Elizabeth still be alive after all?

'There should have been a dark whisper in the wind. Or maybe a deep chill in the bone. An ethereal song only Elizabeth or I could hear. A tightness in the air. Some textbook premonition.'(opening lines)

'We could have gone to the same college, but we discussed it and decided that this would be yet another excellent test for our relationship. Again, we were doing the mature thing. The result? We missed each other like mad. The separation deepened our commitment and gave our love a new distance-makes-the-heart-grow-fonder dimension... Nauseating, I know.'(16)

'For anniversaries or holidays or Elizabeth's birthday, I get so geared up that I usually handle them with no problems. It's the "regular" days that are hard. When I flip with the remote and stumble across a classic episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show or Cheers. When I walk through a bookstore and see a new title by Alice Hoffman or Anne Tyler. When I listen to the O'Jays or the Four Tops or Nina Simone. Regular stuff.'(18)

'I clicked the little icon and the email came up:

Tomorrow same time plus two hours at Bigfoot.com

A message for you will be left under:

Your user Name: Bat Street

Password:Teenage

Beneath this, clinging to the bottom of the screen, just five more words:

They're watching. Tell no one.'(54)

'Part of being a doctor is patience. I constantly give children tests that have life-altering-- if not life-ending-- implications and tell them and their parents to wait for the results. They have no choice. Perhaps the same could be said for this situation. There were too many variables right now.'(76)

'It's an amazing thing really, when you think about it, we learn life's most important lessons from TV.'(90)

'Still, death is a great teacher. It's just too harsh... I wish I could tell you that through the tragedy I mined some undiscovered, life-altering absolute that I could pass on to you. I didn't. The cliches apply-- people are what count, life is precious, materialism is overrated, the little things matter, live in the moment-- and I can repeat them to you ad nauseam. You might listen, but you won't internalize. Tragedy hammers it home. Tragedy etched it onto your soul. You might not be happier. But you will be better.'(103)

'Hope, that caged bird that just won't die, broke free. I leaned back. Tears flooded my eyes, but for the first time in a long while, I let loose a real smile... Elizabeth. She was still the smartest person I knew.'(150)

'You might argue that I'm nesting myself on an awfully slippery slope. I would agree with you, though I might counter that most of my life is lived out there. The problem was, there were repercussions when you lived in the grays-- not just theoretical ones that taint your soul, but the brick-and-mortar ones, the unforeseeable destruction that such choices leave behind.'(300)

A Dell Book

370 pages

Book borrowed from the library, the 'Classic' section(?). See related post here.