Tell No One, written by Harlan Coben, is a three hundred and seventy page thriller that takes place in the bustling city of New York. It was first published in 2001 by Bantam Dell and is located in the Library of Congress. It’s on the New York Times’ best seller list and is described by Library Journal as: “The book everyone should take to the beach this summer.”
Coben introduces a very different, well rounded bunch of characters. The main character, usually the narrator, is Dr. David Beck, simply called Beck. His wife, Elizabeth Beck, plays a very significant role in the story and may be described as the second most important person in the book. ‘Killroy’ or Elroy Kellerton is never actually seen in the book except in mention from other characters, but he’s nevertheless a key character to the story. Killroy is a serial killer accused of the murder of Elizabeth Beck (as well as fourteen other women….) and spends the duration of the book on death row. Brandon Scope was also never seen in the book (he was dead before it began) but he played perhaps one of the biggest roles in the story. This is because Griffin Scope, his billionaire father, wants revenge for his death. Larry Gandle and Eric Wu, two horrendously violent men, are his ‘hired hands’ in finding out what happened to his son.
They have their own way of doing things…..and it’s seldom pretty. Hoyt Parker is a retired cop and the father of Elizabeth. He plays a significant role in the resolution of the story’s main problem. Shauna is a dear friend of Beck and the glue that holds the story together. She pops up and makes the story happen in different places. She’s also involved romantically with Beck’s sister, Linda. Linda Beck works for the Brandon Scope Memorial Charity, which is kind of ironic since the person Griffin Scope believes murdered his son was Elizabeth. Tyrese is a seemingly unimportant character until the end of chapter 25. He’s introduced a few times before then, but it isn’t until then that he starts majorly helping out in the story. Brutus is Tyrese’s bodyguard and loyal friend. He provides a bunch of help too. Rebecca Schayes plays a minor role that has a major effect on where the story goes. She gets murdered by Gandle and Wu and the FBI pins the murder on Beck. Two FBI agents, Tom Stone and Nick Carlton, re-opened Elizabeth’s murder case, trying this time to pin it on Beck. Linda immediately gets Beck the best lawyer there is: Hester Crimstein. A minor role is played by Jeremiah Renway, a man hiding for over thirty years from society. He only pops up twice in the book, but it’s still to some avail.
The book has many, many settings, but the most important is the murder scene of Elizabeth Beck: Lake Charmaine. It’s the setting at the start of the book as well as the site of Beck and Elizabeth’s first kiss. Elizabeth is killed on her 13th anniversary with Beck. The majority of the story plays out all over New York City, but Beck goes to the lake twice in the book.
The book’s plot has many twists, but mainly it’s that eight years after the supposed death of Beck’s wife, he starts getting mysterious messages that only he and his wife would understand. He’s very interested in where these messages came from, but he isn’t the only one. The murder case gets re-opened soon after he gets the first message (though he’s told no one about the message) and the FBI is trying to pin his wife’s murder on him. Another murder is committed after he visits an old family friend for the first time in over eight years, and the murders set it up to look like he did it, all the while keeping a very close watch on Beck and everyone he loves.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is able to read. I thought it was simply amazing, especially the way it was written. I hope to see it one day turned into a movie.
