Jake Sanders has been living a quiet and lonely life as a college professor for the past six years after the great love of his life suddenly married another man. Natalie invited him to the wedding; then asked him to please leave her alone and never try to contact her again. Jake has respected her wishes all these years, until the day he sees an obituary for her husband in the newspaper. Still deeply in love with her, he cannot resist going to the funeral for a glimpse of Natalie; where he is met with a shocking discovery. The widow of Todd Sanderson is another woman, not Natalie.

So begins Jake's odyssey to find out what happened to Natalie, his Natalie. What he finds is lies, deception, and secrets. Every treasured memory of Natalie begins to unravel under the scrutiny of his search for the truth. No one knows where Natalie is or what happened to her after her wedding; and many people refuse to acknowledge that they even knew him or Natalie. Jake is determined to find her, however; and refuses to take 'no' for an answer. As he begins to dig deeper and collect pieces to the puzzle, he finds his life is in danger. Not only are there people who don't want him to find Natalie; there are players in the game who want to find her for their own reasons, and who are fully prepared to eliminate anyone in their way.

SIX YEARS is told entirely from Jake's point of view, allowing the reader to get into his mind and know what he is thinking and feeling. The protagonist is an everyman, one who never realizes the lies and deceptions bubbling just beneath the surface of his life, until something happens that blows his world apart. Nothing in this story or in Jake's life is as it seems; and every time Jake uncovers a new secret, another key event happens that propels the story in yet another direction. The plot line is wildly imaginative, and the storyline complex and intriguing; with layer upon layer of mystery, secrets, intrigue, and excitement. As soon as readers begin to feel the least bit complacent about where the story is going, Coben throws in a wrench that twists the plot around yet again.

Harlan Coben is at the top of his game with this riveting, suspenseful novel; which is quite possibly the best and most fascinating novel he's ever written. He is the absolute master of the psychological mind games, and that talent is played out here in spades. As with his last few novels, SIX YEARS is a domestic thriller, and a standalone read.

Book Summary

In Six Years, a masterpiece of modern suspense, Harlan Coben explores the depth and passion of lost love…and the secrets and lies at its heart.

Six years have passed since Jake Sanders 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 page-turner that deftly explores the power of past love, and the secrets and lies that such love can hide.