David Burroughs is in year five of a life prison sentence for killing his son Matthew. But he maintains that he didn’t do it. His estranged ex sister in law Rachel, finally comes to visit after all this time. She saw a photo of a family at Six Flags and who’s in the background? A boy that looks exactly like Matthew at the age he would be now, about 8. Obviously this fills David with hope and a will to live. Not only live, but escape prison, find his son, and lastly, prove his innocence.

The warden, Phillip Mackenzie, is David’s godfather. Somehow no one had figured this out in five years. Maybe a conflict of interest. Phillip and his son, David’s best friend Adam, help David escape. He immediately goes to the home of Hilde Winslow, whose testimony put him in prison. She testified under oath that she saw David burying a baseball bat, the murder weapon, in his backyard. Hilde changed her name and moved to a new city so obviously we know she lied on the stand.

There’s a lot of back and forth. A bit Jerry Springer-esqe : is he the father? Is he not the father? Let’s see a paternity test! Anywho, it was very good. I love Harlan Coben books, particularly the Myron Bolitar series. So it’s no surprise that I loved the banter between Special Agents Max and Sarah. Very reminiscent of Myron and sidekick Win. I can’t wait to watch the series next!

4/5

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More from Harlan Coben but if you’re doing the Bolitar series, try to go in order:

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