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Oct 15, 2012

My Thoughts: Seconds Away by Harlan Coben

4 chocolate no bakes.

Cover Love:  Yes!  There is even foreshadowing in this cover!

Why I Wanted to Read This:  I enjoyed Harlan Coben's first outing into YA fiction and was excited for this sequel.  Here's the synopsis from GoodReads:

This action-packed second book in international bestseller Harlan Coben’s Mickey Bolitar young adult series follows Mickey as he continues to hunt for clues about the Abeona Shelter and the mysterious death of his father—all while trying to navigate the challenges of a new high school.

When tragedy strikes close to home, Mickey and his loyal new friends—sharp-witted Ema and the adorkably charming Spoon—find themselves at the center of a terrifying mystery involving the shooting of their classmate Rachel. Now, not only does Mickey need to keep himself and his friends safe from the Butcher of Lodz, but he needs to figure out who shot Rachel—no matter what it takes.

Mickey Bolitar is as quick-witted and clever as his uncle Myron, but with danger just seconds away, it is going to take all of his determination and help from his friends to protect the people he loves, even if he does not know who—or what—he is protecting them from.
Romance?: Nope.

What I Liked:
I loved that this book started exactly where Shelter (the first book in the Mickey Bolitar series) ended.  And the mystery of the story starts out very quickly after that.  I am getting a little frustrated with the lack of answers when it comes to the Abeona Shelter.  I want to know more about that and how it relates to Mickey's dad.

I really like Mickey's relationship with Ema and Spoon.  It was bothering me a bit because he seemed very single minded in his pursuit of answers to the mystery of who shot Rachel, but his uncle explained how helping people was genetic.  And even though I haven't read any Myron Bolitar books that explanation was good enough for me!

This kind of book is truly comfort reading--I used to read a lot of adult murder mysteries and when I got into a main character I loved I would whip through the whole series.  This book is written the same way and I found myself having a hard time putting it down.  The action came fast and there were enough crumbs for the reader that I never felt the mystery was dragging.  In fact I woke up in the middle of the night and finished it because I couldn't fall back to sleep.

I was glad the timeline was as quick after the first one so there is a reasonable explanation for him not being able to see his mom.  However, I also want to know the story behind Mickey's dad and his uncle and their falling out.  Maybe if I read the Myron Bolitar books I would know, but I haven't, so I don't.

I also enjoyed the mystery.  I didn't have it figured out.

There were a few things I found implausible (the whole basketball team incident--I live with a head coach (who is also a cop) and I think that would've been handled very differently) and I am tired of Mickey having such an enemy at school, but I can overlook those for this kind of read!

To Sum Up:  Besides the fact that these are good, action packed reads, there are a lot of unanswered questions that will keep me coming back for more!

eGalley requested and received from Penguin via Edelweiss.  Thanks!

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