Book Review. Gone for Good by Harlan Coben.

Just when you think that there can no longer be books that can really really keep you awake at nights, you stumble upon a masterpiece like 'Gone for Good'. What amazingness!

It's primarily a story of two brothers. All Coben books start like that and then within no time, there are a series of characters introduced making it difficult to single out one main hero (or villain).

Will looks up to his elder brother Ken for everything..he looks up to Ken as his protector. And one day, Ken is accused of raping and murdering Julie, their neighbor and Will's ex-girlfriend. Ken disappears and is never to be seen. He is gone for good - so everybody assumes because it's been eleven long years since that incident. And then, after all these years, their mother, while on the death bed, whispers to Will, "Your brother is alive".

And Will's seemingly uninteresting world takes a 360 degree turn. Because surprisingly, the next day, the love of Will's life, Sheila, disappears without a trace.

Believe it or not - none of what I said counts as spoilers. Because all of this happens in the first ten pages of the book! Now you tell me, how can one put down a book like this?! I finished the book in two straight days..I had to cut down on sleep because it eluded me. The twists and turns are by the page. All the characters are equally important though they may not seem so on the outside. The ending is amazing. All the loose ends are so wonderfully covered up. Now unless, you really want to just find mistakes with the story, you can go ahead and do that, but Coben has mesmerized me with his imagination.

It is engrossing. The characters are well-sketched - Ken, Will, Sunny (their mother), Squares (Will's best friend and personally my favorite), Sheila and the Ghost (again, my favorite). The relationships are wonderfully defined. You actually feel for the characters, the ones who have disappeared, the ones who have spent a good time of their life threatening and murdering others, and the ones who have been betrayed.

Coben's favorite, Hester Crimstein makes a brief appearance in the book. She is such a delight!

Harlan Coben never disappoints! Mark this as one of the must-reads before you die!