Just One Look by Harlan Coben
Deja Vue
When Grace Lawson picks up a newly developed set of family
photographs, there is a picture that doesnt belong-a photo from at least 20
years ago with a man in it who looks strikingly like her husband, Jack. And
though Jack denies it, he disappears that night, taking the photo with him.
Now, to save her family from a fierce, silent killer who will stop at nothing to
get the photo, Grace must confront the dark corners of her own tragic past.
Personal Review: Just One Look by Harlan Coben
Nominally, the principal characters are Grace and Jack Lawson, a pair of
boring suburbanites--both with disturbing pasts, which it turns out, are
linked. The story begins when Grace finds an old photo of Jack with three
other young people, in a stack of freshly developed photos. When she
shows it to Jack, he drives off, without even a goodbye. Then, while being
tailed by a part-time private detective (Rocky Conwell), Jack is kidnaped by
a psychotic professional assassin (Eric Wu).

The background to the story begins 15 years earlier when Grace was
nearly killed by a stampede at a rock concert, at which Johnny X was the
lead singer. Wade LaRue was convicted for discharging a gun in the air at
the concert. Mafioso chieftain Carl Vespa's son was one the the people
killed by the stampede. Gordon McKinsey, a security guard at the concert,
was hailed as a hero. Coincidentally, Jack and all of his friends other than
Jeri Duncan went into hiding shortly after the concert. Shortly after
discovering that she was pregnant, Jeri was killed in a fire. It was while in
hiding (in France) that Jack met Grace.
The events of the novel are set in motion by three independent events:
LaRue will shortly be released on parole. McKinsey (who has become a
police captain) is dying of cancer. Monte Scanlan (a professional
assassin) confesses to Scott Duncan (Jeri's brother) that he had set the
fire to kill her. In the coarse of the novel, the young people in the photo are
identified and located (dead or alive), with the exception of the mysterious
Shane Alworth who has not been seen for 15 years. Without revealing
any spoilers, the rest of the story is about Grace's metamorphosis into a
detective who (with the assistance of her friend Cora Lindley) uncovers
Jack's past, and of course, Jack's incarceration and ultimate escape.
This is a pure mystery novel, featuring multiple mysteries. In addition to
perhaps a dozen essential characters (few of which are fleshed-out), the
novel features about two dozen "accessory characters", some well
developed, some not. Virtually all of these "accessory characters" could
be deleted with no effect on the story whatsoever. The development of
these accessory characters may seem to the reader to be a waste of time--
and a waste of the reader's time. Actually, these accessory characters are
subtle "red herrings". That is, the reader has no way to know which of
these characters will (or will not) emerge as significant characters. The
extent that a character is developed is NOT an indication of his/her
ultimate importance in the story. Indeed, new significant characters ARE
introduced late in the novel. Each of the numerous characters provides
additional opportunities for misdirection, and indeed, shadows of suspicion
are cast on many of them.
Such a pure mystery novel requires red herrings and other misdirection.
Coben has chosen to provide the red herrings and misdirection subtly,
which is less annoying to than stories with just one or two major red
herrings, or excessively strong misdirection. As a pure mystery novel,
"Just one Look" it is very well crafted. It will keep you guessing until the
very end. Mystery novels can be unsatisfying if the reader guesses wrong
about the bad guy. No chance of that with "Just one Look".
Critique:
The novel begins with a sequence of three completely unrelated chapters,
each with a completely new and different cast of characters Practically
speaking, the story actually begins with the sixth chapter, by which time

many readers may have decided to find something else to read. Such
"front loading" of rip-rap is a common feature of mystery novels. Whether
or not this is a successful strategy may depend on the reader's tastes.
Caveat, the first three paragraph of this review can serve to provide the
essential connections if you haven't read the novel yet.
This is not a book to be read casually--i.e., one or two chapters, every few
days. It requires your full attention and concentration. Taking notes is
probably a good idea. The novel is especially difficult for audiobook
readers, who cannot easily "flip back" several chapters to refresh their
memories , and who normally do not have access to a summary or an
annotated cast of characters. But that is probably true of all mystery
novels. Perhaps the real lesson is that mystery fans should stick to printed
versions.
It may be a personal bias, but I found myself unable to relate to the main
character (Grace), and therefore I had little sympathy for her plight. Jack is
only a cut-out generic "victim" of little interest. Eric Wu, the psychotic killer,
is just too much of a demonic monster. A number of other potentially
fascinating accessory characters are introduced, leaving the reader
frustrated wondering why such an interesting character was not developed.
Many or most of these appearances are cameos from earlier Coben
novels.
The very last twist is excessively contrived. Nominally, the photo was
simply a generic photo of Jack and three friends. The twist turns on the
assumption (for which no basis is given) that the photo was taken at the
concert.
Comment:
Have you noticed that the highest rated reviews are those of professional
reviewers (often taken from dust-jacket copy), ONLY because they were
the first reviews posted by Amazon? Have you noticed that (with few
exceptions) these reviewers have obviously read ONLY the first few
chapters of the novels? A one paragraph summary of the first three or
four chapters of a novel is NOT a review--and most certainly is not a useful
critique. Coben manages to defeat those reviewers with this novel.
Hurrah!
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