I Will Find You by Harlan Coben

 

David Burroughs is five years into his sentence for the brutal murder of his three year old son Matthew. Although David is adamant he didn't kill Matthew he feels he's exactly where he should be because he didn't protect his son. When his sister-in-law turns up with a photograph of a boy who looks exactly like Matthew, David begins to wonder how he can escape so he can track down his son.

Author Harlan Coben is the master of taking everyday situations and turning them completely on their head, I Will Find You is no exception. Lead character David Burroughs is a man who has given up on life, he's simply living one day at a time in prison. Guilt is eating him up. The period around the murder of his son remains a blur but David is insistent that he wouldn't do anything to hurt Matthew. Unfortunately all the evidence points to him having committed the crime. 

The pace really picks up when David is shown a photograph and in the background is a boy who looks remarkably like Matthew. Deciding to break out of prison isn't to prove his innocence but to rescue Matthew and find out why he was framed for the murder. Escaping a maximum security prison is made easier by the fact that the warden is also his godfather, a lifelong friend of the family.

Once out of prison David is helped by his sister-in-law, Rachel, as they try to evade the police and track down witnesses who gave evidence against David at trial. Throughout the story are those little niggling questions; if David is telling the truth then how did the crime take place, why did someone frame him for murder and who is responsible? Slowly the pieces fall into place, not without a couple of twists.

Hot on the trail of David and Rachel are a couple of FBI agents, Max Bernstein and Sarah Jablonski. These characters make a fantastic double act and truly deserve a series of their own. The interaction between them swings from hilarious to alarming.

It was lovely to see a nod to some of the characters we know and love from Harlan Coben's other novels. Win Lockwood gets a brief mention, while Hester Crimstein plays a part in helping David and Rachel evade law enforcement.

Yes there are a lot of coincidences that help the story along but this is pure escapism so they can be easily overlooked. 

I Will Find You by Harlan Coben will be published on 16th March 2023 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for a review copy.