cover image Don’t Let Go

Don’t Let Go

Harlan Coben. Dutton, $28 (400p) ISBN 978-0-525-95511-5

New Jersey cop Nap Dumas, the hero of this outstanding standalone from bestseller Coben (Fool Me Once), is shocked to learn that fingerprints at the scene of a crime—the shooting death of a fellow cop and high school classmate during a traffic stop—belong to Maura Wells, Nap’s high school sweetheart, who disappeared 15 years earlier. Maura went missing at the same time that Nap’s twin, Leo, and Leo’s girlfriend, Diana Styles, were hit and killed by a train. Maura’s reappearance sends Nap to see Augie Styles, Diana’s father, a police captain and his mentor. Nap comes to suspect that the deaths of Leo and Diana may not have been an accident and are connected to a secret military base that they and a few other students called the Conspiracy Club were investigating at the time. When Nap begins tracking the surviving club members, it gradually becomes clear that someone or something is now trying to eliminate them. Coben keeps Nap and the reader blindly guessing as he peels back layers of deceit reaching back 15 years, revealing nesting dolls of deadly secrets. Five-city author tour. Agent: Lisa Erbach Vance, Aaron Priest Literary Agency (Sept.)