“Six Years”

If you are a Harlan Coben fan, you will probably enjoy his newest “Six Years.”  If you aren’t, you are not missing much.

The basic plot involves a young guy who meets the love of his life in rural Vermont.  He is there trying to complete his PhD thesis.  She is working on honing her craft as a painter.  After an intense three month affair, Natalie abruptly tells Jake that she is going to marry someone else. She asks him never to contact her again.  Important first clue that all is not what it seems.

Fast forward six years later.  Jake has never gotten over Natalie nor has he ever tried to see her.  One day he sees on his college’s website, he teaches at a very prestigious New England school, an announcement that Natalie’s husband has died.  This, of course, is his signal that all bets are off, and he can make contact with Natalie.  He soon learns that the man she married was murdered and, more importantly, he was never married to Natalie.

Confused???  This is only the beginning of an involved tale that includes two hit men, a secret society, Jake’s murder of one of the hit men,  and the revelation that Jake’s best friend isn’t who he says he is.

Coben does write a fast-paced story. However, the plot details in “Six Years” are so contrived that even though everything meshes in the end, surprise, surprise, I as a reader felt that he could have written a better novel using his core idea.