Six Years
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars | 26,841 ratings
Price: 21.88
Last update: 11-14-2024
About this item
Six years have passed since Jake Fisher watched Natalie, the love of his life, marry another man. Six years of hiding a broken heart by throwing himself into his career as a college professor. Six years of keeping his promise to leave Natalie alone, and six years of tortured dreams of her life with her new husband, Todd.
But six years haven’t come close to extinguishing his feelings, and when Jake comes across Todd’s obituary, he can’t keep himself away from the funeral. There he gets the glimpse of Todd’s wife he’s hoping for...but she is not Natalie. Whoever the mourning widow is, she’s been married to Todd for almost two decades, and with that fact, everything Jake thought he knew about the best time of his life - a time he has never gotten over - is turned completely inside out.
As Jake searches for the truth, his picture-perfect memories of Natalie begin to unravel. Mutual friends of the couple either can’t be found or don’t remember Jake. No one has seen Natalie in years. Jake’s search for the woman who broke his heart, who lied to him, soon puts his very life at risk as it dawns on him that the man he has become may be based on a carefully constructed fiction.
Harlan Coben once again delivers a shocking novel that deftly explores the power of past love and the secrets and lies that such love can hide.
Top reviews from the United States
Jake, heartbroken and helpless can do nothing as his dreams of a future with Natalie vaporize into thin air. When she marries Todd shortly after, Jake has to see the wedding for himself still not believing that his Natalie was gone. But as he watched her say "I do", and slip a ring on her finger, there is no denying that she has moved on. Before Natalie leaves the chapel she asks Jake to promise to never look for her, to never try to contact her. And helplessly, he promises.
Now, six years later and working as a College Professor, an obituary he stumbles upon on-line captures his eye. Todd Sanderson has died. Suddenly Jake's promise doesn't seem to hold as he vows to go to the funeral and see his Natalie, one more time. Yet the woman who mourns for the loss of her husband is not Natalie, and crazier yet, this woman has been married to Todd for over 20 years.
As Todd tried to go back to where Natalie and he had met to look for clues as to what has happened and where she went people who they knew together act as they do not know him... and the more bizarre it becomes, the more Todd digs in, letting go of a six-year promise, and trying to find the truth...
Holy smokes.... there is nothing like a good read bu Harlan Coben to put your reading mojo on the right track. When I opened this book a few days ago the plan was to read a few pages just to get the feel for what it was about. That was enough to hook me and have trouble putting it down until I turned that last delicious page.
There are so many wonderful reasons I like Coben's writing. I tell people that Stephen King is hard and dark and sometimes far out there, than Dean Koontz is a mellower version of King, a little funnier, still dark.... then there is Coben. Coben grabs the reader and entangles you in the story before you have a chance to walk away, he is funny and witty, rarely dark, and I love all of that.
The woman at the desk had a helmety beehive hairdo last seen on a senator's wife circa 1964. She hit me with a smile so wooden I could have knocked on it for luck.
~ page 389
Six Years was a delight to read. A great protagonist, a believable storyline... do not hesitate to become a new Harlan Coben devoted fan by reading this book. Just remember you can not be president of his fan club, because I am pretty sure that would be me. :D
On another fun note... Six Years was part of a bidding war for rights to the movie and Paramount won and Hugh Jackman will play Jake. Awesome right?
First Line of Six Years:
“I sat in the back pew and watched the only woman I would ever love marry another man. ”
My Thoughts on Six Years:
I loved it. Harlan Coben is one of my favourite psychological thriller writers and I have read every book that he has written. So it’s pretty safe to say I’m a big fan.
What I am finding is that as I have read so many of his books now though that the characters are becoming very recognisable. You have the nerdy good guy who is fluent in sarcasm and believes in love and family values, the thugs who are fluent in pain techniques and the best friend who is a little on the dodgy side. However even though the characters are familiar, the plot is not.
Every single plot is so original and so hard to guess that I am glued. This plot like so many others is multifaceted. You reach an a-ha moment, swirl it all around in your brain and think ‘I have it’ but there is always more shocks to come. The corkscrew twists are what keep me reading these books; book after book. I just love that the plot is never handed to you on a plate but you need to use your brain to fit it all together, even after the big reveal.
And I love that Harlan’s books terrify me. They are nightmare inducing and for some weird reason I love to scare the pants off myself. The bad guys are literally the guys from your worst nightmares and this book is no different in that respect. Thankfully to offset all the horror is lots of humour. Another favourite thing about this book (and all of Harlan’s books) is the ironic tone and razor sharp wit; it makes me laugh and makes me think.
Overall not my favourite Harlan Coben book but still a really, really good one. If you have never read a book by this author, I would recommend starting with ‘Just One Look’ though as I think that one is streets ahead.
Who should read Six Years:
I’d recommend this one to all fans of psychological thrillers and those who like suspense books that can maintain the suspense. Fans of James Patterson, Tana French and Linwood Barclay should also enjoy this book.
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