Book Review: The Innocent

Reviewed By: Woodstock - RAM

The Innocent     Amazon US HC Amazon UK PB Amazon UK HC Amazon Canada HC
Harlan Coben
Class/Genre:   Mystery
Dutton, May 2005, 370 pages

In the last few months of his years at college, Matt Hunter stops for a drink as an univited guest at a rowdy fraternity party. Too much alcohol and an overabundance of testosterone lead to a confrontation at the party, and in the melee which follows a young man dies from a head wound after Matt pushes him. Matt is found criminally liable for his death, and serves a four year prison sentence.

Across the country in the dry desert back country of Nevada, young women are enticed into the grimy world of "exotic dancing" They live in battered mobile homes, hoping against hope to find enough cash to break free of their exploiters.

And in the New Jersey suburbs of New York City, a respected nun, a teacher at a Catholic school is found dead in her room.

At first reading, these story lines seem totally at odds with each other, but Coben makes it work.

Woodstock - RAM

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