This book had a good premise but fell short in parts for me. Some of the characters were unbelievable and unlikeable. That said it was a ok read. I would try another novel from this author though. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

First, the blurb; "Over twenty years ago, heiress Patricia Lockwood was abducted during a robbery of her family's estate, then locked inside an isolated cabin for months. Patricia escaped, but so did her captors, and the items stolen from her family were never recovered.
Until now."

Another slick, well told tale from a master storyteller. For those of Mr Coben's readers who have enjoyed the Myron Bolitar books, they'll know that Win is his best friend and this reads very much as a 'hook' to what I assume will be a new series and I'm sure they'll be massively enjoyed. For me, although this is a multi-faceted thriller with a fast talking lead character in Win and it romps along to a satisfying climax, the plot lacked something. I can't really put my finger on it, just that I've enjoyed many of this author's books more than this one.
Having said that, it's a very well told tale and for that, I'm giving it a 3.5 Stars, rounded up because I'm struggling to articulate (get it)? why it wouldn't be a solid 4.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview.

Patricia Lockwood was abducted from her family home during a robbery and was kept locked up for several months. Her abductors were never caught but Patricia escaped.
Twenty year later some of the stolen items turn up.
Windsor Horne Lockwood III is Patricia's cousin and is determined to solve this case, especially as some of his stolen belongings turn up in a dead mans apartment. Then the FBI tells him that the man behind the kidnapping is a terrorist but they are still unable to solve the case. Can Windsor do it for them?

I have read quite a lot of this author's earlier books and enjoyed them all. Unfortunately this one was not for me, couldn't get into the storyline nor could I gel with the characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book even though for me it was a DNF.

I seem to be in the minority here but I did not enjoy this book at ALL. This was my first Coben read and either it wasn't the best choice, or this author is not for me.

Our first person protagonist Win is INSUFFERABLE. What's the word for an incel who's not celibate?? Like, a dude who behaves like an incel but is good looking enough to get sex anyway? I'll tell you what the word for it is: Win bloody Smarmy McSmarmypants the Third.

This guy is so far up his own butt that when he opens his mouth it's like Win-ception. He likes to go on and on about how terribly rich and well-dressed and good looking he is. He is an absolute SOCIOPATH with the emotional range of a teaspoon. He literally used the word "methinks" - TWICE. He has no empathy and basically doesn't care about other people at all, and yet holds himself up as some kind of moral arbiter above the law - because, I don't know if I've mentioned this yet, but he's really rich. So rich. His family has a big mansion and it's just so ho hum to him when he flies in on the "copter" cos he's like... super rich, you know. Rich.

He answers the phone by saying "articulate" . Seriously. If that makes your blood temperature rise so high you're gonna need a COVID swab before you can go to the shops, I suggest this book may not be for you.

The cover of this makes you think this is going to be a high stakes thriller - but there are no stakes. Or thrills. There is never a sense of threat or adrenaline - in fact, my only stake in this was sincerely wishing someone would smack this guy's smarmy face in to bring him down a peg or two. It's all weirdly emotionless and detached. The story is... boring. It just plods along and he finds a bunch of people and asks them a bunch of questions and then finds out the answer... and that's it. The most potentially exciting part of the story (the threat to his daughter... sorry, his "biological" daughter because again, sociopath) is told in a retrospective throwaway paragraph.

There is also some weird tense switching that needs to be polished.

I honestly wish I had DNF'd this when I wanted to, which was pretty much the entire time I was reading it.

A fast moving read, by Harlan Corben. This was the first of his novels I have read.
I found this a mix of frustration and satisfying. The story moves quickly and only feels forced in one place. Win is on the trail of a killer, a hermit who is found dead in an exclusive apartment, with a stolen Vermeer belonging to Win's family. Win is forced to dig up family history to find the truth.
Alongside this is a side story which ends so casually, I wonder why it was even included.
Whilst I enjoyed the novel, I found the constant references to the labels of his clothes just dull. In addition, Myron is mentioned in every chapter yet never appears and is not even a part of the story.
Thanks for the opportunity to read a preview copy.

A very good read and thoroughly recommended,
I've never read a Harlan Coben book before - my only experience of the author being in 2 Netflix series. Safe was set in the UK and the lead in Dexter played the main part - I really enjoyed this. The Woods was a dubbed Polish thriller which I did not like very much although this was down the acting degradation from dubbed voices rather than the story.
So, what did I make of Win. Very good, clever book with lots of twists and turns leaving you (well me) with never knowing who or why. A tad violent in places but I'm sure this will not deter many readers. The book maintains a very good pace throughout and for once, I'm delighted to say, the ending was not what I always call 'a Hollywood ending' with chase, fight and eventual success,
The book does not have any chapter flashbacks - it is a straight sequenced text with some 'memory' or 'confession' type sections taking you back to key events.

As with all Harlan Corban books this story moves along at a pace. You are 'hooked' from the first chapter. An easy to read detective/thriller that you can't put down. As the story finishes all the loose ends are neatly tied up.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Cornerstone for the advance copy of this book.

This is a disappointing thriller from bestseller Harlan Coben (the Myron Bolitar series), FBI agents ask sports agent Myron’s wealthy blueblood sidekick, Windsor “Win” Horne Lockwood III, to accompany them to the Beresford, “one of the most prestigious buildings in Manhattan,” where an unidentified older man has been found in one of the Beresford’s tower rooms, dead of either strangulation or a slit throat. Win tells the agents he doesn’t know the victim, but the cluttered room includes a Vermeer that was stolen from the Lockwood family 20 years earlier and a suitcase with Win’s initials. The mystery deepens when the body is identified as the leader of a radical left group responsible for the accidental deaths of seven people. A connection to Win’s cousin Patricia Lockwood’s traumatic abduction, abuse, and captivity as a teen raises more questions, but the melodramatic plot developments that follow don’t live up to the tantalizing setup. Readers will struggle to empathize with Coben’s hedonistic lead, who can’t help viewing even his own aunt as a sexual object.

Windsor Horne Lockwood III is picked up by the FBI and taken to a murder scene. He’s not a suspect - items found in the victim’s residence have links to Win’s family - a Vermeer painting that was stolen years ago and a personalised suitcase given to him by his aunt. Win’s FBI mentor PT asks Win to investigate the case behind the scenes. The discoveries he makes leads win to the case of radical students in the Seventies and a family tragedy. Violence Win meted out to someone comes back to haunt him and puts his family in danger.

Win is a huge part of the Myron Bolivar series and I’m thrilled that he now has a series of his own. This was a great book to read and I look forward to the next installment.

Thanks to Netgalley, Random House and Harlan Coben for the ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

You know your never going to be disappointed when you start a Harlan Coben novel. The Myron/Win series is one of my absolute favourites and I was already excited before I even started as it has been a long time since we’ve had a new one. I really loved that this one was a Win novel, we learnt so much about his history and why he is the way he is. There was plenty of action and I love how Win is getting older and maturing.
It was one of those books where you were rushing to get to the end but you don’t really want to finish it either. It really made me want to start the series from the beginning again. Can’t wait for the next one.

4.5★s

“’Do you really want people to take the law into their own hands?’
‘People? Heavens, no. Me? Yes.’
‘You’re joking, right?’
“I trust my judgment,’ I say. ‘I don’t trust the common man’s.’”

Win is the first book in the Windsor Horne Lockwood III series by award-winning best-selling American author, Harlan Coben. When two FBI agents escort Win to an exclusive New York penthouse, he’s already puzzled, but when he enters what is clearly the home of a hoarder, apparently murdered, and is shown a Vermeer painting on a bedroom wall, he is stunned. It is one of two valuable paintings stolen from his family over twenty years ago while on loan to the family’s alma mater.

Even more perplexing is the other item in the bedroom, which ties the scene to the murder, also over twenty years earlier, of his estranged uncle and the abduction of his cousin. Win’s erstwhile FBI handler, PT suggests he investigate because “The FBI will have to play this strictly by the rules… you don’t, (and) you get to stay involved and protect the interest of your family and more specifically your cousin.” Win gets to use FBI resources and his own.

PT reveals that the dead hoarder was one of the Jane Street Six, a notorious group of New York college student whose action with Molotov cocktails, in the early 1970s, unintentionally resulted in a number of deaths. Clearly, finding any survivors of the remaining five should be Win’s first priority. But there are others hunting for them, not the least of these a local mob family.

Win’s investigations lead him on a merry chase, not all of it legal but “I realize that impersonating an officer is breaking the law, but here is the thing about being rich: You don’t go to jail for crimes like this. The rich hire a bunch of attorneys who will twist reality in a thousand different ways until reality is made irrelevant.”

There are plenty of red herrings and diversions for the reader and the final twist is excellent. Readers of Coben’s Myron Bolitar series will be familiar with Win, and perhaps have instant affection for this rather cocky and insanely wealthy man whose arrogance occasionally spurs him into what he prefers to call “preventive offense” rather than vigilantism, although at a certain point he has to admit “Perhaps I was wrong. I’m not infallible” especially when his actions land him in the ICU for a few days.

But “I also have a tremendous ego. I don’t do things that I’m not good at. I’m a very good golfer, a very good financial consultant, a very good fighter, and a very good lover. If I do something, I want to be the best.” Definitely an entertaining read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Random House UK.

This was a good read that I did quite enjoy my problem was I really hated the main character Windsor Horne Lockwood 111 or Win as he better know I haven’t read any of the Myron Bolitar novels also by Harlan Coben so I’m not sure if I had it would have made a difference to my enjoyment of the book as a whole as this was written as a standalone.
I actually don’t think that Win is a character that has been written to like he is arrogant and really obnoxious at times which some readers may enjoy but sadly for me I did not like that aspect of book at all.
It’s a well written and complex thriller that certainly kept me on my toes throughout but overall just not my cup of tea as they say and I’m sure others will like it a lot more than I did.
My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone, Century for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Win is most definitely a character. He finally has his own series, after being Myron Bolitar's sidekick in Myron's own series. Win is old money. He knows it, everybody knows it. He is about to find out the biggest secrets in his family. Some really bad things happened back in the day. His uncle was shot and killed. His father had not spoken to his brother for years before that, and never revealed to Win the reason for that. His cousin was kidnapped and kept in a Hut of Horror. But, not everything is at it seems.

Since money and means of transportation are not problems in Win's life he can smoothly move from place to place. He seeks out people from back in those days to figure out the truth. It all starts with a Vermeer stolen from Win's family, finally found, but so is the thief. He has been murdered.

A great book written by a master storyteller. It's a fast read, because you just have to know what really happened, so you can't let go of the book until you've read the last sentence. There are several twists and turns, and at the beginning I could never ever have figured out the truth. I think this book would work exceptionally well as a film, because that's the way I saw it in my head.

I like Coben's writing style, because you get it all. There are no weird, hidden things the author holds back from you. You don't need to guess. The author tells it as it is. This book is a nice mix of old time glamour, romanticizing the old times, creating a spin around what really happened, with the ways of the world today. Times really have changed, but money still talks. It matters who you know.

I think this is a great start to a new series, ad I'm eagerly waiting for the sequel!

This book starts a new series. Win comes from a wealthy family. He believes in family. This story spends time exploring families and violence.
Win's family has been touched by violence. His uncle was killed and his cousin kidnapped and held captive.
This is the interesting back story which flavours the mystery Win is working to solve.
An excellent start to a new series. I am looking forward to see what else develops for Win and his unlimited resources!

I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest unedited feedback.'

What an you say about Harlan Coben, he is a master of storytelling. This work takes you on a thrilling ride which leaves you on the edge of your seat working out how the story will unwind. You will not be disappointed. Family and shady characters combine for a novel that leaves you feeling happy that justice is done.

Harlan Coben is a great storyteller and this is another great book. Win is hard to like; arrogant, cold and entitled, yet somehow you find yourself rooting for him to succeed in everything he does. This has a superbly complicated plot, that twists and turns satisfyingly before coming to the surprising conclusion. I enjoyed the first person narrative too, which not every writer can pull off. Another hit book for Mr Coben.

This book is a real treat for the fans of the Myron Bolitar series. Win (Windsor Horne Lockwood III) has been Myron's best friend and sidekick for many years and now we finally get to read a book from his POV. If you are not familiar with Win, I bet you'll still enjoy the book. It has the typical Coben wit, great pace, multi layered mystery and unique characters that are impossible not to like.

Windsor is from a white privileged background, he is a martial arts guru, and has more money than he can spend. His moral code often doesn't align to what's legal and illegal and he likes to take justice into his own hands. There are many reasons to hate Win, he is arrogant and often uses money and muscles to get what he wants, however, you can't hate him.

I loved the book! The mystery was well plotted with a number of unexpected twists and at no point did I have any clue what was coming next. The ending was a complete shocker for me. Highly recommended!

Many thanks to the publisher for my review copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a great addition to the Bolitor series. It focuses on Win, Marlons amoral friend. Marlon does not feature in this novel. Its a great thriller set mainly in New York and Philadelphia with stolen paintings, rich families and their secrets and of course a part involving the mob . I love the ending and am looking forward to the next installment.

Thank you Harlan Coben and Netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC.

This man is absolutely loaded with money and he can do or buy almost anything, at any time that he wishes, but he struggles to find a murderer and the movement of his beloved suitcase over the past two decades.

He forces a close relation to relive the events of her kidnap and father’s murder 20 years ago, but his access to money, helicopters and endless fast transport gives him the opportunity to go and do whatever he chooses. This ability also enables him to meet people that can help solve this mystery.

Many will know the style of this writer’s books and this is no different because it keeps you wanting to turn another page as new events are revealed and explained and help drag the story both slowly and quickly towards what you hope is an inevitable end, but you will be lucky to guess the final outcome.

Linking together a wide range of characters he works with and against the FBI in trying to bring closure for a team of potential terrorists from years ago and to find out if they are still committing their skullduggery that may or may not removed an expensive painting and his own personal suitcase, which reveals many secrets.

In the meanwhile, his own acts of vengeance, when he performs justice, in his own style, may bring him down, confuse the FBI or simply bring an end to this case. Which is it to be?

The free copy of this book does not change a single word of my review as this writer continues to bring great action novels alive. As ever ,I look forward to the next and I wonder if the lead character will return to continue his own form of justice against reprobates.