DNA Matching Can Be Thrilling—THE MATCH by Harlan Coben Shows Why

The March 2022 release from Harlan Coben, THE MATCH, is a taut and fast-paced thriller charged with dangers and dark deeds -- and underlaid with honest affection and a craving for justice.

That makes it one of the best mysteries of the year so far, worth buying, reading, then waiting a bit and re-reading, because it holds up so well in terms of human value.

THE MATCH begins as a sequel to The Boy From the Woods. Wilde (his only name) survived as an abandoned small child in the woods north of the New Jersey suburbs. In the earlier title, his survival skills assist TV lawyer Heather Crimstein in finding, and finding justice for, a missing girl.

There's no need to read The Boy From the Woods before THE MATCH, though. Wilde's strong bond and interdependence with Heather come through clearly from the start, along with his loyalty and love toward others in Heather's family. And he is understandably determined, at this point in his adult life (post military service), to discover his own roots if he can.

Wilde's submission of his DNA to the online databases, however, opens a door to life-threatening danger. The man identified as his father by the database claims a long-forgotten one-night stand; the man pinpointed as Wilde's cousin may have committed suicide; his other presumed cousins cover a range of misleading to nasty. And in opening the gate toward what may have resulted in his being abandoned, Wilde crosses paths with a powerful faction that doesn't shrink from abuse and murder.

Threaded through the book are tech surprises ranging from password tricks to vicious vigilantes, classic material for Coben, whose thrillers skate along the edges of military secrets, surveillance, and stalking. But when real danger crowds up against Wilde and the people he cares about, it comes from a significant betrayal that could cost him ... everything.

Highly recommended. And if you are new to Coben, the surprises he provides about both New Jersey and cybercrime will add to the delight of discovery. 

PS: Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here.

BEFORE HE FINDS HER, Michael Kardos: Everyone Was Wrong

A dying reporter, a pregnant college student, a 15-year-old news story of a family murder. Michael Kardos brings them together in BEFORE HE FINDS HER and crafts a novel of suspense that depends on the confusions of love and friendship -- and the persistent determination of Melanie Denison, 18 years old and sheltered from almost everything, in small-town West Virginia.

"Everyone knows" how the widely reported murder went, back in 1991: New Jersey long-haul trucker Ramsey Miller killed his wife and little girl and has been on the run ever since. Jealousy, wasn't it? Or was it the long-term craziness that he carried in him, the susceptibility to a science-fiction-style prediction at a moment when some part of him knew he'd lost what mattered most?

Kardos exposes Miller's tortured and tragic thinking, as a sideshow to the main act: Melanie Denison's decision to seek out the truth about her father. Hidden for 15 years with her loving uncle and aunt, within the Witness Protection Program, she's never gone to public events other than school classes; never traveled; even couldn't apply for a library card. But in an abrupt rebellion against the silken ties that bind her and keep her safe, she's found a boyfriend, and she's pregnant. And she can see clearly that everything in her life echoes the theme of hiding, in a math-class moment about the repeated shapes that make up fractals:

"Miss Denison, did you say something?"

She kept looking at the geometric shape, amazed because it was so obvious and true. She hid in her small house, hidden on a deserted road, itself hidden in a small town in  remote part of West Virginia. The same at every scale, her hiding, and so total it felt like a mathematical certainty.

"I'm sorry," she said to the instructor. She was calling attention to herself in the worst way -- a way that wouldn't soon be forgotten. The weird, quiet girl was finally saying something. A few students chuckled nervously. "I just ..." She looked around at the twenty or so other students and thought about this baby growing inside of her, how this smaller scale of herself would end up deeply hidden, too, layer under layer under layer.

This she couldn't allow.

Melanie's insight sends her abruptly out of her home, toward the Jersey shore and the dying reporter whose blog on the crime involving her parents has been one of her secret resources. Critical to her safety is whether her fenced-in existence has given her enough experience to tell truth from lies, and fact from wishful thinking. And safety from danger.

After all, just saying who she is -- that long-ago three-year-old child who was supposedly killed 15 years back -- is breaking open the first layer of secrets.

Kardos peels back layers and makes revelations, page by page. But they are at least as much about the fragile and confusing nature of love, as they are about that old crime. And in his hands, the working and married lives in Jersey in 1991 unfold tenderly, as if a Bruce Springsteen song had come to life in all the fullness of family and work and aching. What comfort can there be? What risk?

BEFORE HE FINDS HER proves that a work of suspense need not be gory, bloody, or pushed by threats of explosion -- the power of the past and the tenderness of the unfolding present make this a very unusual page-turner. And as for Melanie ... what she's risking and daring is simply ... amazing.

Brief Mention: FOUND, Harlan Coben, Third "Mickey Bolitar" Mystery

Harlan Coben's "young adult" series featuring high school basketball player Mickey Bolitar now has three titles: Shelter and Seconds Away and the newly released Found.

Mickey's refusal to resign himself to the death of his dad, his mother's drug addiction, and being walled out of a child rescue operation that involves a survivor from the Holocaust takes him into danger and a lot of heartache, for him and his eccentric friends Ema and Spoon. Good thing the book is a swift and tightly-paced read, because I couldn't put it down, and the work schedule was at risk.

Get all three titles -- it's an ongoing and very good set of adventures, good against evil, highly satisfying. Pretend you're buying them for a friend in his or her early teens; my husband Dave pointed out that even the austere New York Times is now putting books like these into a "Young Adult Crossover" genre. The plot for Found is solid, the characters unforgettable, and I do believe I've spotted a few loose ends that promise another book in the series.

Brief Mention: Andrea Kane, THE STRANGER YOU KNOW

During this very strange Super Bowl game evening, I confess I've been distracted -- I hope my lack of attention didn't contribute to the Denver disaster. Sigh. Superstition runs rife among sports fans and writers. There is one sports fan in the house, and one writer who makes sports-related kitchen efforts. You can probably guess which of us is which.

In the process of fine-tuning the chicken wings recipe and excavating a heap of books in the kitchen (hey, you know how distraction goes), I found a title that I should have reviewed back in October, when it was released: THE STRANGER YOU KNOW by Andrea Kane. It's the latest to feature the "Forensic Instincts" team: headed by Casey Woods, and specializing in behavioral and forensic psychology. I like the generous and strong characters, the quick thriller-style pacing, and the carefully shaded modern noir note here. Kane's earlier titles brought out by Mira (the crime fiction side of Harlequin) are The Girl Who Disappeared Twice and The Line Between Here and Gone.

While I'm sorry to be late mentioning Kane and this latest title, I am glad to see the book is coming out in paperback in March. If you're a pre-order person and you'd like to sample this line of well-crafted psychological sleuthing, here's a good moment to mark Kane onto your list.

Kane is a long-time author of romantic thrillers and historical romances as well, and she's a Jersey Girl; I hope we'll see another title from her soon. Author website here.