Six Years is one of Harlan Coben's stand-alone novels and boasts an ingenious plot that readers will puzzle over until the very end. The protagonist is Jake Fisher, a college professor who attended a writing retreat six years ago. At this retreat, he met a woman named Natalie and fell instantly in love with her. However, Natalie ended up marrying another man and made Jake promise to stay away from the wedding. For six years, Jake has not been in touch with Natalie, but he's never forgotten her. However, when he sees Natalie's husband's obituary, he decides to find her again. He's in for a shock because the dead man's widow is not the same woman he knew six years ago. This woman was married to the dead man for over twenty years and doesn't know of any Natalie.
So who exactly was Natalie and why did she lie about her identity? Jake is determined to find out. However, when he tries to get in touch with Natalie's sister, she blows him off, and when he tries to go back to the place that he met Natalie, he is told that it doesn't exist. Did Jake invent Natalie? Did she even exist? Or is she the figment of a lonely man's imagination? If she isn't, then Jake must marshal all his resources to solve the mystery of her disappearance.
Harlan Coben has come up with an original and attention-grabbing concept for this book. He really gets into the mind of his protagonist, from whose viewpoint the book is written. Like all of Coben's other books, Six Years is cleverly written and well-paced with a likable protagonist that readers will sympathize with.
Harlan Coben was raised in Livingston, NJ and attended Amherst College, where he decided in his senior year that he wanted to be a writer. He was a member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity, along with Dan Brown. He began his career with a couple of stand-alone novels and then started working on a series featuring Myron Bolitar. He followed this with more stand-alone novels and two young adult novels featuring Mickey Bolitar, Myron's nephew. He has been the recipient of an Edgar award, a Shamus award, and an Anthony award. He lives in Ridgewood, NJ with his wife, Ann Armstrong-Coben, who is a pediatrician, and four children.
“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
Tell No One.”
—
Library Journal (starred review)