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Stay Close (Abridged) Audiobook
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(3.00) - 15,826 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Megan is a suburban soccer mom who once upon a time walked on the wild side. Now she’s got two kids, a perfect husband, a picket fence, and a growing sense of dissatisfaction. Ray used to be a talented documentary photographer, but at the age of forty he finds himself in a dead-end job posing as a paparazzo, pandering to celebrity-obsessed rich kids. Broome is a detective who can’t let go of a cold case—a local husband and father who disappeared seventeen years ago—and spends the anniversary every year visiting a house frozen in time, the missing man’s family still waiting, his slippers left by the recliner as if he might show up at any moment to step into them.
Three people living lives they never wanted, hiding secrets that even those closest to them would never suspect, will find that the past never truly fades away. Even as the terrible consequences of long-ago events crash together in the present and threaten to ruin lives, they will come to the startling realization that they may not want to forget the past at all. And as each confronts the dark side of the American dream—the boredom of a nice suburban life, the excitement of temptation, the desperation and hunger that can lurk behind even the prettiest façades—they will discover the hard truth that the line between one kind of life and another can be as whisper-thin as a heartbeat.
Master of domestic suspense Harlan Coben delivers his trademark combination of page-turning thrills and unrivaled insight into the dark shadows that creep into even the happiest communities.
Praise for the narration of Stay Close by Harlan Coben, performed by Scott Brick:
“Scott Brick crafts characters not so much by shaping each individual voice with different accents but by expressions and tones that convey strong emotions. And the emotions are far ranging. Empathy, psychotic behavior, and frantic helplessness all figure into the narration as much as the plot. It’s a diverse group tied to the crimes: a crooked cop haunted by his conscience, two young psychopathic killers without remorse, old lovers who are trying to escape their past and confront their present. Brick’s narration is crucial as the solution is unearthed.” © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine
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"This was a very good book- I read it in a day! I was pleasantly surprised by the ending, though if I had been thinking about it a little harder, I probably wouldn't have been. I enjoyed it."
— Sarah (4 out of 5 stars)
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“Coben’s new novel takes William Faulkner’s famous statement ‘The past is never dead. It’s not even past’ as its starting point, with terrific results…Part crime procedural, part investigation of how and why people reinvent themselves, Stay Close is funnier and darker than many Coben thrillers and packs a lot of surprises. It’s the beach read of the pre-beach season.”
— People (four stars) -
“The story is intense, the characters are interesting, and the writing is magnificent. Coben’s talent is in high gear as he takes his readers to the magical world of Atlantic City, a place where dreams either come true or die.”
— Huffington Post -
“When everything explodes, the payoff is glorious. Stay Close is a perfect example of a master at the top of his game.”
— Associated Press -
“Edgar-winner Coben continues to mine rich veins of terror in his New Jersey novels of domestic suspense, exploring both the reality and the ideal of family ties and the ease with which evil can destroy both. In this masterful stand-alone…Coben writes with wit and irony, and his flair for exposing the frail balance point between order and chaos in our lives has never been stronger than in this suspenseful outing.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review) -
“Coben’s title describes perfectly how the suspense in this tour-de-force stand-alone works. It stays close in an unbelievably sustained way, giving the reader a steady stream of jolts and sinking feelings, as Coben’s three main characters face danger from without and from their own tricky psyches…Coben excels in descriptions of his characters’ tortured, ruminative inner lives. He also can pull out of their psychological nosedives to deliver some of the most shocking action scenes in current crime fiction. Once again, Coben uses the dives of Atlantic City as a backdrop, and what he does with the six-story pink construction known as Lucy the Elephant is worthy of Hitchcock. Satisfying on every level.”
— Booklist (starred review) -
“His characters are so real this time around that they almost seem to rise off the printed page…In the end, though, it is the plot that will keep you reading. And if the ending isn’t a full-bore, happily-ever-after one, it is just enough so to be satisfying and remain believable.”
— Bookreporter.com -
“While Harlan Coben’s plot involves many characters, he makes them memorable through their backstories. Scott Brick crafts characters not so much by shaping each individual voice with different accents but by using expressions and tones that convey strong emotions. And the emotions are far ranging. Empathy, psychotic behavior, and frantic helplessness all figure into the narration as much as the plot. It’s a diverse group tied to the crimes: a crooked cop haunted by his conscience, two young psychopathic killers, old lovers who are trying to escape their past and confront their present. Brick’s narration is crucial as the solution is unearthed.”
— AudioFile
Awards
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A USA Today bestseller
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A #1 New York Times bestseller
Stay Close Listener Reviews
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" A great Coben! "
— Melissa, 2/16/2014 -
" I enjoyed this book. I haven't read anything by Harlan Coben in quite a while. Like always, this is an exciting story. Will have to go back and read the other books that I have missed. "
— Carolyn, 2/5/2014 -
" Good read though I found some of the story a bit unbelievable. "
— Lisa, 1/26/2014 -
" I usually like Coban's mysteries, but this one didn't work for me, and I didn't finish it. My thought was that publishing business's pressure on writer such as Coban to produce a book a year is turning out books of lesser and lesser quality. Sad to see. "
— Frances, 1/26/2014 -
" This one kept me turning the pages! First Harlan Coben novel I read and won't be my last. "
— Maggie, 1/10/2014 -
" I am not sure how I really felt about this one. There was a pretty good plot, good characters, good twists and turns, but everything all seemed to fit in a nice little bundle, nothing left to wonder why? The characters were well thought out and explained, their actions fit the characters, but....I was still left wanting something more, but I just don't know what. "
— Season, 1/6/2014 -
" A quick read that kept me entertained but lacked emotion. I found myself skimming through sections but was nicely surprised at the end. "
— Elisabeth, 1/3/2014 -
" it wasn't his best effort. some slogging. usually he's very fast paced. it was good "
— Bevjirwin, 1/3/2014 -
" Wonderful plot, masterfully crafted, unable to figure out or put down. "
— Lynette, 12/25/2013 -
" First book i read by Harlan Coben and I will definitely being reading more. "
— Linda, 12/23/2013 -
" This was the first book I've read by Harlan Coben, and I will definitely be reading more. Very entertaining! "
— Alli, 12/21/2013 -
" Disappointing and could not finish. Last books by him do not compare to earlier writings. "
— Brenda, 12/15/2013 -
" Great weekend, poolside read. "
— Gisela, 12/6/2013 -
" Not as good as most of his books. Until the end I did not feel engaged in the book. Good ending but a bit predictable. "
— Elizabeth, 12/6/2013 -
" I like stories in the present that connect to the past. I like how Megan's past became part of her present. "
— Susie, 12/2/2013 -
" Crazy read...good twist...great story! "
— Heidi, 12/2/2013 -
" Harlan always keeps me hooked. "
— Colleen, 11/21/2013 -
" I've read better Harlan Coban books, it was disappointing! "
— Mary, 10/10/2013 -
" Not my favorite Harlan, but Harlan always rocks! "
— Lori, 7/28/2013 -
" Good book. It was hard to put down. First book of Harlan Coben's I had read. Will have to start reading his other books. "
— Bobbi, 7/20/2013 -
" Good read. Did not want to put down. "
— Corina, 6/21/2013 -
" WOW!!! My first Coben and certainly not my last!! GREAT book!!! "
— Linda, 5/14/2013 -
" Wow, this one get a bit intense. I was not prepared for some of things that happened in this book. I was a great read as always, but Harlan did add some extra punch to this one. "
— Kelly, 5/1/2013 -
" Exciting. Suspenseful. Surprise ending. This book has it all! "
— Joan, 2/1/2013 -
" I usually love Coben's books. But this one was slightly disappointing. The characters were as usual very believable and likeable, but there were no real shocks and I realised who'd 'done it' half way through the book,so the ending was of no great surprise. "
— Jayne, 1/30/2013 -
" This is a novel about a serial killer with a twist at the end you won't see coming. "
— Arlene, 1/26/2013 -
" Harlan Coben is definitely famous for is flips and turns...this book does not disappoint! Loved it! "
— Racheal, 11/27/2012 -
" Kind of entertaining, if not predictable and a little cheesy. "
— Jodie, 10/6/2012 -
" First Coben book I've read. The characters were pretty brutal, very violent scenes. I liked the twists and turns, the character development was good. Don't know if I'll read another but it will inspire a lively discussion! "
— Sharon, 10/4/2012 -
" Good mystery, took a little while to get into it but then was captivating. "
— Gayle, 8/10/2012
About Harlan Coben
Harlan Coben is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and one of the world’s leading storytellers. His suspense novels are published in forty-five languages and have been number one bestsellers in more than a dozen countries, with seventy-five million books in print worldwide. His Myron Bolitar series has earned the Edgar, Shamus, and Anthony Awards, and many of his books have been developed into Netflix series, including his adaptation of The Stranger, headlined by Richard Armitage, and The Woods.
About Scott Brick
Scott Brick, an acclaimed voice artist, screenwriter, and actor, has performed on film, television, and radio. He attended UCLA and spent ten years in a traveling Shakespeare company. Passionate about the spoken word, he has narrated a wide variety of audiobooks. winning won more than fifty AudioFile Earphones Awards and several of the prestigious Audie Awards. He was named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine and the Voice of Choice for 2016 by Booklist magazine.