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Stay Close Audiobook
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(3.00) - 15,835 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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"The story here is a real stretch but still an edge of your seat thriller. I did guessed the ending which doesn't happen with Coben. Megan is a suburban soccer mom who walked on the wild side back in the day and her family knows nothing about her former life. She makes the mistake of revisiting this life and gets involved in secrets, murder, lies, etc."
— Jackie (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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" Harlan Coben has been a favorite mystery/thriller author of mine for quite a while. With all the previous books I've read from him, I've never been able to guess the ending. However, I didn't find "Stay Close" to be all as engaging as his other books. It was an interesting story, but I felt that he focused too much on progressing the plot and not enough on developing the characters. "
— Priyasha, 2/12/2014 -
" A great book! Had that must-keep-reading quality. I have not read any Harlan coburn books before but I will do in the future! "
— Julie, 2/10/2014 -
" Everyone once in a while I like to read this type of book. Its a quick read (less than on day for me) but fun and mindless. Great book for the holiday weekend. I enjoyed it! "
— Patti, 2/7/2014 -
" Didn't enjoy this as much as previous novels by HC - found it difficult to like some of the characters. Still a good read though. "
— Jules, 2/6/2014 -
" Loved this book. Harlan has such a way to spin a thriller mystery that keeps you turning the pages for more. Never quite knowing until the end the answers. "
— Kevin, 1/29/2014 -
" I don't know if I'll finish this. It seems to be predictable and more than a bit ugly. In ways that aren't necessary either to advance the story or some set of sensibilities. There are the quickly drawn, accurately rendered characters. Misfits and those who are just trying to scrape by in their tawdry lives. There is violence; there are sudden connections, but it seems to me the suspense is lost. One knows what will happen in the next chapter; whose bones will be broken and why. "
— Chris, 1/22/2014 -
" Usual great crime stuff. "
— Kate, 1/22/2014 -
" Solid B murder mystery. I couldn't stay focused all the time. The suspense just wasn't there for me. "
— Jenna, 1/18/2014 -
" Like HARLAN cOBEN books alot and this was one of the ones I liked. Was a little slow and/or confusing in parts but all melded together in the end. "
— Sondra, 12/30/2013 -
" I always enjoy reading Harlan Coben, however, the conclusion was too unbelievable. "
— Joan, 12/27/2013 -
" serial killer fiction usually scare me, but I enjoyed this one. well written, suspenseful without the gore and heeby jeeby. "
— Sherryi, 12/25/2013
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.