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September 14, 2003
Review: Plots within plots
THE trouble with reviewing fiction is that one has to tread carefully, lest one gives out too much of the plot while voicing, or as in this case, penning one’s opinion. However Gone for Good is such a multi-plot book that one clearly does not run the risk of doing that.
Set in the backdrop of a theme on teenage delinquency, the book primarily revolves around the life of one Will Klein, whose girlfriend is brutally murdered and the prime suspect is Will’s own brother Ken, who has become a fugitive from justice. The story opens up eleven years after the gruesome episode with Will, now a social worker still convinced of his brother’s innocence, but has lingering doubts about the whole episode that he still hasn’t answered in his mind. Things seem pretty mundane till Will comes home for his mother’s funeral only to realize that his unresolved past has come back to haunt him and that is where the story starts to get interesting.
The book is well written but requires a little patience in the beginning. The author invests a lot of space initially to bring in complex character introductions that sometimes require a great effort to keep track of, but pay off later. One particular strength of the book is the attention to detail that has been paid on every character.
Unlike a lot of fiction writers who paint their characters as extremely good or bad, as if in black and white, Coben’s characters are varying shades of grey. All characters have definite good and bad attributes in them, even the best and the worst of them. With so much detail invested in them one can almost relate to the characters in the book. Particularly interesting characters such as Squares, a reformed drug pusher, and the near psychotic John Asselta have been described in such diverse and wonderful detail that makes them the most memorable aspect of the book.
As the plot thickens, one sometimes tends to lose patience only to realize that there is not one but a whole host of sub plots that are driving the story. By the first 100 pages one is tempted to assume that one has figured out the entire plot but then the story just takes another interesting turn that brings you back to square one and that pattern is carried throughout the text.
This is a great feature of Coben’s writing as to how he maintains multiple plots throughout the text and weaves them together only to make the reader realize that all along it was one single plot and each sub-plot which seemed to be diverse and non-related had some incremental value to the whole.
Gone for Good is definitely one book where one can not afford to let any detail slip one by. Every single utterance, every phrase it seems that one took for granted has some bearing in the end as the book nears conclusion. This is something that can irritate readers particularly when reading the book in multiple sittings but then if one manages to keep track of the story, the ending becomes all the more rewarding. The approach to constantly build on the plot with constant twists, turns and frequent climaxes is something that Coben seems to have perfected to near art form.
The text is easy to read, with expression that stands out for both brevity and clarity. However sometimes one needs to refer back to a certain section when it becomes apparent how it fits in with the overall plot. The situations are well described and that helps to keep readers absorbed in the text, but sometimes particularly in the climatic moments of the book, the detail seems to be overbearing, with one’s finger inadvertently trying to flip the page.
If there is one weak link in the book it is towards the end. Once the cat is out of the bag, there are some aspects of the plot that at least I found just a little farfetched. However having said that, and I cannot say much for I may give too much away, the conclusion will clearly be a surprise to most if not all readers, primarily because the fact that the plot weaves in so comprehensively together that one is awestruck by it.
Gone for Good is the type of book that is good for a single read which never stops entertaining till the last page is turned. Coben clearly has a winner on his hands with this one.
Gone for Good
By Harlan Coben
Orion. Available at Liberty Books (Pvt) Ltd, 3 Rafiq Plaza, M.R. Kayani Road, Saddar, Karachi
Tel: 021-5683026
Email: libooks@cyber.net.pk Website:
www.libertybooks.com
ISBN 0-75284-912-3
387pp. Rs395
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