Hold Tight

The #1 New York Times Bestseller Mike and Tia Baye decide to spy on their son Adam, who has become moody and withdrawn since his friends suicide. The software they install on his computer exposes every website visited, every e-mail and instant message sent or received. But each keystroke draws them deeper into a maze of mayhem and violence that could destroy them all. From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. Parents will find this compulsive page-turner from Edgar-winner Coben ( The Woods ) particularly unnerving. A sadistic killer is at play in suburban Glen Rock, N.J., outside New York City, but somehow he's less frightening than the more mundane problems that send ordinary lives into chaos. How do you weigh a child's privacy against a parent's right to know? How do you differentiate normal teenage rebelliousness from out-of-control behavior? When and how do you intervene if suicidal signs appear? Other issues include single parenting; career versus family; marital honesty; and how much information you should share with a child at what age. Coben plucks each of these strings like a virtuoso as Mike and Tia Baye try to deal with the increasing withdrawal of their 16-year-old son, Adam, after a friend's suicide. A pair of brutal, seemingly senseless killings, punctuate the unfolding domestic troubles that ratchet up the tension and engulf the Baye family, their friends and neighbors in a web of increasing tragedy. The this could be me factor lends poignancy to the thrills and chills. (Apr.) Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review Praise for *The Woods * The Woods might just be the best thing Coben has written. . . . A gripping story, filled with fine characters and dark secrets. Chicago Sun-Times Gripping. . . . The characters are authentic, the writing spare, and the courtroom drama so riveting. Boston Sunday Globe Harlan Coben has been keeping me awake at night. . . . I devoured his latest bestseller The Woods . . . . Fortunately you wont have to worry about navigating impenetrable woods. Coben is the perfect guide, clearing all the hurdles with maximum speed and efficiency. The Orlando Sentinel