Six Years

By: Harlan Coben

Narrated by: Scott Brick

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.

©2013 Harlan Coben (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Stretches credulity but enjoyable nonetheless

I like the way Coben injects a sprinkling of romance into his mystery/thriller novels and this one definitely fits the mold. I had difficulty unraveling the mystery until Coben revealed what was happening. Some of the reason for this was because he wove a complicated tale, but most of it was because the tale was pretty unbelievable. But there are many examples of well-written fiction that strain credulity and I have no problem suspending my belief threshold if the story holds my interest. And this story certainly held my attention. I didn't want to shut my iPod off. There were also some marksmanship issues near the conclusion of the book that put some serious strain on the aforementioned credulity, but to reveal what they were might spoil some of the fun. Coben fans will like this book.

The author tries way too hard to be clever..

Would you try another book from Harlan Coben and/or Scott Brick?

I love Scott Brick, he's one of my favorites, but I'm not sure if he decided to be over the top or the book gave him little to work with. Story and narration come off as trying too hard, especially trying to make clever commentary on story events. Pretty disappointing. Sorry, Scott!

Do you think Six Years needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No. The book ties up all threads and there's nowhere else to go.

Ode to Hitch

I really enjoyed the Hitchcockian beginning to this one - and I'd say that vertiginous spell was carried for roughly 2/3 of the story. Not bad. But at some point, Coben had to show us the hand he held, and, well... it was a bit anticlimactic. Still, a nice read. Scott Brick narrates in his smooth-as-brandy voice, and Coben's prose did nothing to spoil the proceedings. Hugh Jackman will star in the film. He's not 6'4, as is the novel's protagonist, but carries a female fan base that more than makes up for it. They're going to need a fantastically charming actress to play the girl.

Worst narrator ever.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The physical book may be good to read, but don;t under any circumstances get the audio. I'm sure Scott Brick is a nice guy, but he should keep his day job. I couldn;t take it and basically threw my money in the garbage.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Six Years?

Turning off the sound

What didn’t you like about Scott Brick’s performance?

No one in reality speaks the way he did. He speakssssssss sooooooooo slowlyyyyyyyy

I wanted to Believe

At the end it took a minute for me to decide if I loved it or hated it. So I settled on somewhere in the middle. First I loved it for all its twist and turns. Even when I was not listening I was still thinking about what will happen next. It left me thinking...."what's going on"...however, I hated his motives towards the middle, and hated the end even more. I do not want to give it away so I will just leave it at that. Six years had such a strong begging, but much to be desired towards the end.

Long story, good pacing, too many questions

Keeps you on the hook, good character development, but could have been four or five chapters shorter.

Amazing story concept

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, it is full of entertaining twists, characters you can love and hate, and scenery.

What other book might you compare Six Years to and why?

Not sure, Coben's work is unique and it is hard to compare to other works that are equally entertaining for other reasons

Which scene was your favorite?

Held in the van against his will and fighting his way out.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Appreciate your professors - they take a risk to be here.

Any additional comments?

Read it. Enjoy it.

Six hours

Left me in suspense the entire book. Good listen hope you enjoy it as much as I did. It took about six hour to listen to

Great read!

Overall great story. Where was Natalie? The search for his lost love leads the main character through betrayal and danger. I thought the supporting characters could have been developed a bit more, but overall it kept my interest. Scott Brick does a great job reading. As usual Harlan Coben shows us life is rarely as black and white as we woild like to believe.

Worth listening.

I'm a HUGE Harlan Coben fan so I buy all of his books. This one, narrated fabulously by Scott Brick, will definitely hold your interest. Plenty of it is far-fetched, but that's OK. It's fiction.