The marriage between beautiful ex-super model Laura Ayers
and handsome basketball star David Baskin seemed like the
perfect union. Between the two of them, there was so much
beauty and love that a light practically shone around them.
Deciding to elope to Australia seemed to be the most
romantic thing they could think of to do. And it was
perfect. They spent their days making love and planning
their future together. Laura had a sudden and unexpected
business meeting with a company that she had been trying to
speak with for ages. She wasn't going to go at first. After
all, she was on her honeymoon. But David knew how important
this was to Laura's company so he insisted that she go.
Little did Laura know that when she left their honeymoon
suite that it would be the last time she saw David.
Something happened during the hours Laura was in her
meeting. When she returned to their hotel, David was nowhere
to be found. He had left her a cryptic note saying that he
would always love her. She waited for hours but David had
simply vanished.
Laura called David's best friend, T.C., and told him what
had happened. He immediately flew from the United States to
Australia so he could aid in finding David. What he found
broke Laura's heart. It seemed that David had drowned. Was
it accidental or suicide? Neither made any sense.
Getting through the days following David's death were
excruciating for Laura. However, the strange things started
happening almost immediately. The break in at the new house
Laura and David had just bought made no sense. Nothing was
taken, but an old photo was torn to shreds in David's
office. Then, there was the missing money that had been
wired overseas the same night that David had vanished. So
many things didn't add up.
Then, at a basketball game, there was a new rookie player
that had caught the attention of all basketball fans
everywhere. He was a dynamo with the ball. As Laura watched
him play, it was like watching David when he was alive. His
movements and a special shot David used to play all seemed
to have been reincarnated in this new player.
Laura's questions into David's death and her curiosity in
this new player set off a deadly chain of events that would
culminate in more than one dead body before it was over.
Would Laura live to see her questions answered?
Harlan Coben is one of my all-time favorite writers.
Sometimes you read a book and just know that this person was
born to write. Mr. Coben is one of those writers. He has a
flair for grabbing you by the throat and not letting you go
until the very last page is read and everything is explained.
PLAY DEAD certainly lives up to the name and reputation of
Mr. Coben. However, it's a bit different in that this was
one of his earliest books. Don't let that put you off,
though, because it just shows you what he was going to
become in the future. PLAY DEAD has a bit of everything in
it. A great love story, romance, loss, heartbreak,
mystery, and more than a few secrets are all wrapped up
together to form a highly entertaining and intriguing book.
Do yourself a favor and curl up by the fire with PLAY DEAD.
Just remember to leave a light or two on.
No sooner had supermodel Laura Ayers and Celtics star David
Baskin said "I do" than tragedy struck. While honeymooning
on Australia's Great Barrier Reed, David went out for a
swim-and never returned. Now widowed and grieving, Laura's
search for the truth will draw her into a web of lies and
deception that stretches back thirty years...