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Hold Tight
Written by Harlan Coben
Narrated by Scott Brick
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Mike held his son's hand and told him to "hold tight," and he could feel the little hand dig into his but the crush got bigger and the little hand slipped from his and Mike felt that horrible panic, as if a wave hit them at the beach and it was washing his baby out with the tide.
The separation lasted only a few seconds, ten at the most, but Mike would never forget the spike in his blood and the terror of those brief few moments.
Tia and Mike Baye never imagined they'd become the type of overprotective parents who spy on their kids. But their sixteen-year-old son Adam has been unusually distant lately, and after the suicide of his classmate Spencer Hill - the latest in a string of issues at school - they can't help but worry. They install a sophisticated spy program on Adam's computer, and within days they are jolted by a message from an unknown correspondent addressed to their son: "Just stay quiet and all safe."
Meanwhile, browsing through an online memorial for Spencer put together by his classmates, Betsy Hill is struck by a photo that appears to have been taken on the night of her son's death…and he wasn't alone. She thinks it is Adam Baye standing just outside the camera's range; but when Adam goes missing, it soon becomes clear that something deep and sinister has infected their community. For Tia and Mike Baye, the question they must answer is this: When it comes to your kids, is it possible to know too much?
The separation lasted only a few seconds, ten at the most, but Mike would never forget the spike in his blood and the terror of those brief few moments.
Tia and Mike Baye never imagined they'd become the type of overprotective parents who spy on their kids. But their sixteen-year-old son Adam has been unusually distant lately, and after the suicide of his classmate Spencer Hill - the latest in a string of issues at school - they can't help but worry. They install a sophisticated spy program on Adam's computer, and within days they are jolted by a message from an unknown correspondent addressed to their son: "Just stay quiet and all safe."
Meanwhile, browsing through an online memorial for Spencer put together by his classmates, Betsy Hill is struck by a photo that appears to have been taken on the night of her son's death…and he wasn't alone. She thinks it is Adam Baye standing just outside the camera's range; but when Adam goes missing, it soon becomes clear that something deep and sinister has infected their community. For Tia and Mike Baye, the question they must answer is this: When it comes to your kids, is it possible to know too much?
Book Actions
Start ListeningBook Information
Hold Tight
Written by Harlan Coben
Narrated by Scott Brick
Description
Mike held his son's hand and told him to "hold tight," and he could feel the little hand dig into his but the crush got bigger and the little hand slipped from his and Mike felt that horrible panic, as if a wave hit them at the beach and it was washing his baby out with the tide.
The separation lasted only a few seconds, ten at the most, but Mike would never forget the spike in his blood and the terror of those brief few moments.
Tia and Mike Baye never imagined they'd become the type of overprotective parents who spy on their kids. But their sixteen-year-old son Adam has been unusually distant lately, and after the suicide of his classmate Spencer Hill - the latest in a string of issues at school - they can't help but worry. They install a sophisticated spy program on Adam's computer, and within days they are jolted by a message from an unknown correspondent addressed to their son: "Just stay quiet and all safe."
Meanwhile, browsing through an online memorial for Spencer put together by his classmates, Betsy Hill is struck by a photo that appears to have been taken on the night of her son's death…and he wasn't alone. She thinks it is Adam Baye standing just outside the camera's range; but when Adam goes missing, it soon becomes clear that something deep and sinister has infected their community. For Tia and Mike Baye, the question they must answer is this: When it comes to your kids, is it possible to know too much?
The separation lasted only a few seconds, ten at the most, but Mike would never forget the spike in his blood and the terror of those brief few moments.
Tia and Mike Baye never imagined they'd become the type of overprotective parents who spy on their kids. But their sixteen-year-old son Adam has been unusually distant lately, and after the suicide of his classmate Spencer Hill - the latest in a string of issues at school - they can't help but worry. They install a sophisticated spy program on Adam's computer, and within days they are jolted by a message from an unknown correspondent addressed to their son: "Just stay quiet and all safe."
Meanwhile, browsing through an online memorial for Spencer put together by his classmates, Betsy Hill is struck by a photo that appears to have been taken on the night of her son's death…and he wasn't alone. She thinks it is Adam Baye standing just outside the camera's range; but when Adam goes missing, it soon becomes clear that something deep and sinister has infected their community. For Tia and Mike Baye, the question they must answer is this: When it comes to your kids, is it possible to know too much?
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Reviews
Another classic Harlan Coben book, trying to work out exactly what is going on, who is involved, etc. Like all his books there are so many sub-plots and the twists keep coming! And as is often the case there is a twist at the end that you most definitely didn't see coming. Yet another very enjoyable book and I cannot recommend this author enough, he is surely the Master of Mystery!
Rating: 5I always enjoy Harlan's thrillers, the twists and turns just keep coming. In fact, the book could have ended at several points during the listen and it would be a good book. Scott Brick as always does a great job at narrating.
Rating: 3Mike and Tia Baye, of Glen Rock, New Jersey (just outside of New York), struggle with their 16-year-old son who is withdrawing after the suicide of a friend. What do they do? Do they intervene? Do they let his grieving emotions take their course? Concurrently, the city is struggling with their discoveries of tortured, then murdered woman adding even more angst to the Baye's life.Hold Tight reminded me of a flow chart of life: if you do this, then life goes down this path - if not, then life takes the other path. But then, you have to add in the randomness that appears and it can change your life onto yet another path. Decisions we make do affect our life, of course, but we truly never know what would have happened if we did the opposite of our original choice. This book does a fabulous job of exploring those type of issues amongst family and city events that slowly merge together by the end. Even with the many subplots, much of this book was extremely realistic and very relatable, especially if you are a parent.I don't think there's been a book by Harlan Coben that I haven't liked. He is definitely a solid, dependable author for me. I've never been disappointed. Do you have any authors like that?Originally posted on: Thoughts of Joy
Rating: 44.25 starsMike and Tia decide to put spy software on their 16-year old son's (Adam's) computer after he starts acting oddly, a few months after one of his best friends committed suicide. Adam appears to have some kind of secret... a big one. In the meantime, women are disappearing and being murdered. And much more...Another very good book by Coben, although I didn't like it nearly as much as The Woods. He brought back a few of the characters from The Woods. As a Canadian, I did like the hockey references. Coben does a very good job of bringing together all the characters and various storylines going on in the book.
Rating: 4Great action packed!
Rating: 4great book
Rating: 3A page turner.
Rating: 4Mike and Tia Baye always had the "ideal" family...until six months ago, when their son's best friend committed suicide. Now, their son, Adam, is a different person. Mike and Tia find themselves doing things they never dreamed of, installing spyware on Adam's computer, to protect their son...who's life is spiraling dangerously out of control.
Meanwhile, their daughter Jill's best friend, Yasmin Novak's school-life has been turned upside down by an unfortunate choice of words by their teacher. Yasmin's father is now faced with moving in order to bring back his daughter's smile.
Tragedy continues as Yasmin's mother, Marianne is murdered. And, Marianne's friend Reba has gone missing, and presumed dead...
The innocent are presumed guilty...and no one gets out unscathed.
Rating: 5Meanwhile, their daughter Jill's best friend, Yasmin Novak's school-life has been turned upside down by an unfortunate choice of words by their teacher. Yasmin's father is now faced with moving in order to bring back his daughter's smile.
Tragedy continues as Yasmin's mother, Marianne is murdered. And, Marianne's friend Reba has gone missing, and presumed dead...
The innocent are presumed guilty...and no one gets out unscathed.
A pageturner - as I expected. My second book by Harlan Coben - and not the last, that's for sure.
Harlan Coben mixes various plots in this thriller. A couple decides to spy on their son after the suicide of one of his friends. A killer is on the loose, beating women to death, a teacher's life becomes miserable after he makes an unfair remark towards a girl in class, leading to mobbing from her classmates.
The author did a good job portraying the kids and teens. They were believable, their problems were understandable. The ethical question if it is ok to spy on your children in order to keep them out of trouble was especially interesting - and the author offers no easy solution, just food for thoughts.
I did not like the plot concerning the killer that much. I found that part of the book a little exaggerated - that's the reason why I give four instead of five stars.
Rating: 4Harlan Coben mixes various plots in this thriller. A couple decides to spy on their son after the suicide of one of his friends. A killer is on the loose, beating women to death, a teacher's life becomes miserable after he makes an unfair remark towards a girl in class, leading to mobbing from her classmates.
The author did a good job portraying the kids and teens. They were believable, their problems were understandable. The ethical question if it is ok to spy on your children in order to keep them out of trouble was especially interesting - and the author offers no easy solution, just food for thoughts.
I did not like the plot concerning the killer that much. I found that part of the book a little exaggerated - that's the reason why I give four instead of five stars.
Overall a good story. So many main characters in this book, I felt I needed notes to keep track of who each person was and what their troubling story was - - - and in the end, there were links between them. There's the aftermath of a suicide, a crazed murderer, parents spying on their teen son's computer & cell phone, and a kid who needs a transplant.
Rating: 4"Almost" funny when you consider that what Coben was writing about in 2008 as just a tiny bit futuristic has been so outdone in today's world of spy technology, etc., etc.
Rating: 5I'm a huge fan of Harlan Coben, but at the same time I don't usually enjoy books with too many characters in (short attention span I guess, I lose track...)
I did really enjoy this book though, and found it very interesting. I say 'interesting' because Harlan Coben explores aspects of human nature and behaviour through these characters in a very effective way, while still writing an entertaining and enjoyable story.
I felt the ending tied the various characters and stories together very well, and I was left wondering how on earth Harlan Coben managed to keep track of everybody and the various lies they had told to each other. (As a writer myself, I actually found it amazing that he was able to keep track so effectively and not miss anything!)
There seemed to be less humour in this book than in his other books, although given the fact that parts of the story do get quite dark I guess this isn't all that of a surprise.
Geeky as it sounds, I also liked the references to characters from other Harlan Coben books, specifically the Myron Bolitar series.
I'd definitely recommend this one, even if it'll make you doubt the truth of what other people tell you, forever...!
Rating: 3I did really enjoy this book though, and found it very interesting. I say 'interesting' because Harlan Coben explores aspects of human nature and behaviour through these characters in a very effective way, while still writing an entertaining and enjoyable story.
I felt the ending tied the various characters and stories together very well, and I was left wondering how on earth Harlan Coben managed to keep track of everybody and the various lies they had told to each other. (As a writer myself, I actually found it amazing that he was able to keep track so effectively and not miss anything!)
There seemed to be less humour in this book than in his other books, although given the fact that parts of the story do get quite dark I guess this isn't all that of a surprise.
Geeky as it sounds, I also liked the references to characters from other Harlan Coben books, specifically the Myron Bolitar series.
I'd definitely recommend this one, even if it'll make you doubt the truth of what other people tell you, forever...!
Kinda makes you think about trust and what happens when it breaks.
Rating: 3So many interwoven stories in this book but also a very good read. Amazingly they all seem to tie in toghether in the end.
Rating: 5"Hold tight" is, of course, the phrase that every parent uses to a small child in a crowded or disorienting situation: keep a tight hold of my hand and don't stray away. It's also the thing that many parents find it difficult to stop doing when their children are a bit older and want to assert their independence, lead their own lives. This novel is really about both senses of the term. Mike and Tia Baye are concerned for their adolescent son Adam in the wake of the suicide of his best friend Spencer. Convincing themselves the invasion of his privacy is their duty as his parents, they install surveillance software on his computer so they can follow all his internet activities. Meanwhile, Spencer's grieving mother discovers evidence that Adam may know far more than he's prepared to let on about the events leading up to her son's death . . . which may not, in this new light, have been suicide. As a seemingly unconnected backdrop, there's a serial killer terrorizing the neighbourhood.
Of course, this being a Harlan Coben novel, these and other plot strands are not unrelated at all, and the latter part of the book is spent drawing them all together to show how really they're each a part of a single, complex story. There were times, I confess, when I had to focus hard to make sure I was keeping proper track of everything; it was at such times that I mused on the fact that the only movie so far made from his work has been French (Guillaume Canet's 2006 movie Ne le Dis à Personne, based on Coben's novel Tell No One) -- there are few Hollywood concessions to simplisticism in Hold Tight.
The twist at the end!! It was a great book. Very interesting how everything came full circle.
Rating: 4Fairly standard Harlan Coben fare, although this one didn't seem to quite grab me and hurl me forward through the story like others have. Still, a good read, and manages to work in some serious issues without getting too serious.
Rating: 3I really enjoyed this one. Harlan broke away from his typical back story of someone missing a former lover from several years ago and laid out a solid story with some nice plot points. The narrator Scott Brick is an excellent reader and has a very warm voice.
Rating: 5'Hold Tight' is an OK book, as these things go. Harlan Coben belongs to the class of authors I consider the 'crank-'em-out' variety. They have decent plot ideas, they can string sentences together, and they have giant catalogs because they're constantly publishing. Unfortunately, as is the case with many of these guys, the content is produced at an 8th grade reading level, the dialogue is awful, and the plot is contrived. But you keep reading because it's a decent story and it gets its hooks in you. Hold Tight begins with concerned parents making a decision to spy on their teen-aged son, who's been acting strangely since the suicide death of his friend. They discover some disturbing plans he's made and are determined to stop his behavior. In the meantime, a psycho and his 'girlfriend' are wreaking physical havoc on certain women in the community. Are these story lines connected? Keep reading....As you get into the story the layers begin to peel away and nothing is really as it seems. If you're a parent, you'll empathize with the main character's struggle to make sense of his kid's actions. There's always the desire to continue to influence your children as they grow into adulthood, but you also know you need to let go at some point. There are situations, though, when direct action is needed by the parents and that's part of what drives this story. Some of the action sequences are a little out there, the psycho killer's connection to the plot is a bit tenuous, and the ending is unbelievable, but it's readable. Just don't pick it up thinking you'll be wowed by the writing.
Rating: 3I must admit this wasn’t my favorite Coben book; it had too many stories going on all at once that didn’t really connected to each other well sort of but only the fact that they are all happening at the same time. If this had just been the story Spenser’s suicide and what went on with Adam and his parents afterwards it still would have been a good book about when do you spy on your children? Is it right? Should you or shouldn’t you? But then we also have a story of women being killed and a teacher who shames a girl in class that sets off some massive bullying by her peers. All these stories at once was confusing to me.Scott Brick as always does a great job at narrating; I love the combination of this author and narrator.This won’t stop me from reading Coben he is one of my favorite Mystery/Thriller writers but this one just wasn’t a favorite.3 Stars
Rating: 3This is a step down from his top notch thrillers like Tell No One and . It is as gripping as any of his work, but he has too many threads in this one, and they all spin together way too neatly at the end. He has some good ideas and reminded me a bit of Andrew Vachss with how he's warning us about something the media is ignoring, but I'd suggest more focus next time. A good airplane book.
Rating: 3BLURB........ Tia and Mike Baye never imagined they’d spy on their kids. But their sixteen-year-old son Adam has been unusually distant lately, and after the suicide of his best friend Spencer Hill, they can’t help but worry. Within days of installing a sophisticated spy program on Adam’s computer they are jolted by a cryptic message from an unknown correspondent that shakes them to their core: “Just stay quiet and all safe.”As if Mike Baye isn’t dealing with enough, he also learns that Lucas Loriman, the sweet kid who grew up next door, is in urgent need of a kidney transplant. As the boy’s doctor, Mike suddenly finds himself in possession of an explosive secret that threatens to rip the Loriman family apart at the seams.Nearby, while browsing through an online memorial for Spencer, Betsy Hill discovers a surprising detail about the night of her son’s death. Before she can find out more, Adam disappears, taking the truth with him and sending shockwaves through the neighborhood.As the lives of these families collide in tragic, unexpected, and violent ways, long-hidden connections in their small suburb begin to work their way to the surface. And when an unidentified Jane Doe is beaten to death not far away, those connections threaten to turn this quiet community upside down—and force these desperate parents to decide whether there is any line they won’t cross to protect those they love most in the world.My thoughts......I haven't picked up a Coben book for a fair few years, before last month, a bit like buses you wait for ages then 2 come along together.Enjoyable but it didn't rock my world. I haven't read enough of Coben to judge whether it is one of his better books or not,but it passed the time easily enough, the story flowed, the characters were likeable.More 4 than 3 out of 5, would read more from him, which is just as well as there's about 15 of his other books sat on the shelf at home.
Rating: 4Two good stories. Not well connected. I miss Myron.
Rating: 3First class standalone thriller from the master of twists and turns. A few recurring characters make walk-on appearances but can be read alone. First class, as usual.
Rating: 4Mike and Tia Baye wanted to find out why their 16yr old son was drawing away from the family and other parents have to find out how to deal with their own problems. I really like this book.
Rating: 5Tia and Mike Baye begin to spy on their son Adam after the already distant teen suffers through the apparent suicide of his friend Spencer Hill. As they find a cryptic message intended for their, Spencer's mother begins to believe that Adam had a larger role in her son's death. Adam soon disappears, leading to fears of something more sinister happening in town.
Rating: 4This might be one of the best books I have EVER read in my ENTIRE LIFE! This story interweaves many different stories together by the end of the book. I loved how every chapter twisted you in your seat, and every time you thought you knew what would happen, you found out you were wrong! Harlan Coben is a master of suspense, and this novel will not let you down!
Rating: 5Phenomenal. This book has multiple stories that eventually all come together to create one, but that doesn't happen until the very end. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, trying to figure out the characters, and my views of them kept changing as I learned a little more about each story. This is a definite keeper. Absolutley stunning!
Rating: 5Coben kind of dropped the ball on this one - doesn't hold together well!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.
Rating: 3This is a tour de force by the talented Harlan Coben. The best book from him I read so far. It is a thriller, but everything in it is motivated and explained by the psychology of people. It is fascinating and very well done. I never read anything like it. The story is about a neighborhood where ordinary families have trouble with their teens: there is a little girl who is mocked at school, and a teenager who has become moody, and a friend of his who just committed suicide. The thrilling part comes from the violent murderer in the neighborhood, with a secret link to all these stories. What is remarkable is the description of how people react differently to loss and anxiety. The feelings of each character sound true: we know people exactly like that, sometimes they are exactly like us. And it is their feelings, their reactions that drive the story.Not only an excellent thriller, also a great book.
Rating: 5