Harlan Coben rolls out compelling tales set in suburbia where secrets buried underneath the facade of a happy life threaten to destroy families and neighborhoods. Rarely can an author grab a reader from the first sentence, but Coben does so in his new novel, "The Stranger," with the line, "The stranger didn't shatter Adam's world all at once."
Adam has a wonderful wife named Corinne and two lovely boys. One evening he's waiting to meet with some colleagues when a stranger approaches and tells him that his wife has been lying to him. This man somehow knows things that only Adam's immediate family would know. How does he have such key access to their life? When Adam investigates the man's claims about his wife, he discovers they are true. He confronts Corinne, and she acknowledges everything. Before he can get a full explanation, she runs away, leaving him with more questions than answers.
Some of the elements of the overall conspiracy aren't fully explained, but that doesn't matter since that makes the scenario all the more believable. Real life doesn't come wrapped up in a pretty box, and this page-turner is one stranger that readers will want to meet.
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