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Reviewed by Louise Leetch
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I have to admit I was leery when I first picked up Harlan Coben‘s latest book, after slogging through the gratuitous violence in his previous book, Long Lost. Caught deals with another ilk of life’s icky people, pedophiles. The new book eschews graphic detail, dealing instead with innuendo, accusations and the power of fear-mongering.
Wendy Tynes is a TV reporter still trying to work her way out of the tabloid type stories. She’s assigned a sting operation to trap pedophiles. Dan Mercer, a man who works with kids in foster care, responds to a fake e-mail from a troubled teen. When he appears at the address the fake girl gave him, the sting is sprung–setting off a sequence of fateful events.
Mercer may not be convicted, but everyone knows he’s a pedophile; after all, it says so in the blogs. But a disastrous encounter sparks Wendy’s doubts about his guilt–what she discovers will lure you into succeeding chapters (if you even notice the transition) and stop you from turning out the light. Luckily, Coben’s writing is so crisp and fluid, you can finish this book in a day or two: worry about sleep later.
In a pre-trial evidentiary hearing, the gallery includes parents of abused children, including Ed Grayson, a man whose anger and hatred emanates from every fiber of his being. Wendy feels his rage burning through her as she testifies about the trap and subsequent discoveries in Dan’s home.
Grayson feels that Wendy must be able to tell him where Mercer is hiding. “Alcoholics, well, they can quit. Pedophiles are simpler–there really is no chance for redemption,” he explains with murder on his mind.
The novel is ultimately about the difficulty of forgiveness; easy to ask for, harder to deliver. Along the way it reinforces our trepidation of the incredible power of the Internet’s social networking sites. It may be great fun to connect with friends, but watch out for your reputation. You never know when you’ll be photo-shopped, blogged or tweeted into the abyss.
Louise Leetch divides her time between Chicago and Wisconsin. Both houses are just crammed with books. She collects her reviews on her GoodReads page.