SHELTER: Coben takes on the YA market

Recently I read an advance copy of SHELTER, the first book in the new 'Mickey Bolitar' young adult suspense series from bestselling Harlan Coben. The book has now been released in New Zealand this week - and I'd recommend it to any teens (or adults) interested in a well-told suspense tale. I've read a few young adult crime/thriller novels in the past couple of years, and this is arguably the best of them - it doesn't 'talk down' to its readers, and over-simplify things - and instead is just a good, solid suspense novel that just happens to be told through the eyes of a teenage protagonist.

It's also very interesting to see Myron Bolitar - Mickey's uncle - in a different light from Coben's adult novels. To Mickey, Myron is an annoying uncle, someone who gets in the way of what he wants to do.

You can see a trailer about the book here:



I've got to say, that's one of the most professionally shot book trailers I've seen so far - it's almost as if it's a trailer for a TV or film adaptation of the novel. The book is well worth a read - it introduces some interesting new characters, has a page-turning plot, and I think it nicely captures the attitudes and viewpoints of teenagers who are coping with high school and everything that that brings, along with the events in the book.

I recently interviewed Coben about his foray into the world of young adult fiction - keep an eye out for my New Zealand Listener feature article, which I will of course link to here, once it becomes available online. In the meantime, here's the official publisher blurb about the book:

Description

Harlan's fresh new series will link in with the storylines of his hugely popular existing thrillers as Myron Bolitar discovers that his mysterious tearaway younger brother, Brad, has a son - now teenaged. When our series hero's father, Brad, dies in a mysterious accident in South America, Myron is his closest relative left, albeit estranged, and is assigned to be his legal guardian. Will uncle and nephew be able to live with one another and will our hero be able to resist getting involved in solving a mystery disappearance at his new high school?

Author Bio
Harlan Coben was the first ever author to win all three major crime awards in the US. He is now global bestseller with his mix of powerful stand-alone thrillers and Myron Bolitar crime novels. He has appeared in the bestseller lists of The Times, the New York Times, Le Monde, Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times. His books are published in over forty languages and there are more than 47 million of his novels in print worldwide. Harlan lives in New Jersey with his family.