On My Nightstand

Welcome to the first edition of "On My Nightstand."  I read a lot and love it when people tell me about good books that they have read so I wanted to do the same for others. I do most of my reading at night before I go to sleep and my book always stays on my nightstand so that's how I came up with the name for my book review segments.

Now, just fair warning, I am in no way claiming to be a great book critique and I must also warn you that I read a lot of (as my husband calls them) "trash" books. Not "trash" as in "trashy romance novels"…I mean "trash" as in, "not necessarily going to make you grow intellectually" kind of book.  The reason I read a lot of these books is because my brain has to work hard all day at my job, and I like to read for entertainment….I don't always want to lay down in bed, and snuggle up with a book that is going to make me question everything about myself and cause me to have "I Can't Turn My Brain Off Insomnia."  I read to relax and wind down….therefore, most of the books I read are just for fun.

The first book I chose to tell you guys about is Caught by Harlan Coben.

"Caught"

I read my first Harlan Coben book back in college and was a little surprised by the book. It had a sci-fi twist to it, but I absolutely could not put it down. I am so far from being a sci-fi loving girl that it's not even funny, so I was shocked that I enjoyed the book as much as I did. Well, over the years I have read a few more of his books (no more sci-fi, and they were all good….you can't go wrong with any of his books, check him out!), but none of them, in my opinion, hold a candle to Caught. Mr. Coben is known for this edge-of-your seat, can't-put-it-down, gotta-read-one-more-page kind of stories and he does not let you down with this one. If you like a good mystery novel, this one is for you. Your head will be spinning until you turn the last page.

Below is the summary of the book on his official website (www.harlancoben.com):

"17 year-old Haley McWaid is a good girl, the pride of her suburban New Jersey family, captain of the lacrosse team, headed off to college next year with all the hopes and dreams her doting parents can pin on her. Which is why, when her mother wakes one morning to find that Haley never came home the night before, and three months quickly pass without word from the girl, the community assumes the worst.

Wendy Tynes is a reporter on a mission, to identify and bring down sexual predators via elaborate—and nationally televised—sting operations. Working with local police on her news program Caught in the Act, Wendy and her team have publicly shamed dozens of men by the time she encounters her latest target. Dan Mercer is a social worker known as a friend to troubled teens, but his story soon becomes more complicated than Wendy could have imagined.

In a novel that challenges as much as it thrills, filled with the astonishing tension and unseen suburban machinations that have become Coben’s trademark, Caught tells the story of a missing girl, the community stunned by her loss, the predator who may have taken her, and the reporter who suddenly realizes she can’t trust her own instincts about this case—or the motives of the people around her."

Well, I hope you enjoyed the first edition of "On my Nightstand." Until next time…..

Toodles,

Erin