Shelter by Harlan Coben

Shelter: A Mickey Bolitar Novel
G.P. Putnam's Sons
A Division of Penguin Young Reader's Group
Available Now

ISBN-10: 0399256504
ISBN-13: 978-0399256509
Reading level: Ages 12 and up
Hardcover: 288 pages

Harlan Coben spins off from his successful Myron Bolitar series to reach out to young adults with his Mickey Bolitar series.  Mickey is Myron's nephew.  Mickey has come to live with Myron after witnessing his father's death and his mother ends up in rehab.

Mickey has spent his life traveling around the world with his parents and they do mission work with The Abeona Shelter. They had returned to the states so Mickey could attend a regular high school and college.

New schools are always tough but Mickey makes two new friends at orientation day.  One is the beautiful Ashley and the other is Ema, a plus size girl who thinks Mickey is only being nice to her out of pity. But when Ashley mysteriously disappears right after school starts he teams up with Ema and another new friend, "Spoon," to try to find her.  

As they follow a trail to find Ashley they walk in to a world that leads Mickey to question everything he thought he knew about his life.  It also puts him and his friends in danger they only thought happenned in the movies.  Hang on tight, this is a wild ride.

My Thoughts

I am a huge Harlan Coben fan and was really intrigued when I heard he was venturing into the Young Adult reader genre and taking his star character Myron Bolitar with him.  The set up for this book started when we were introduced to Mickey in Coben's  Live Wire  in March.  I was very interested to read Shelter to see how the author completed this transition.

I loved this book and while featuring high school kids as the leading characters they took on some very adult problems.  I am sure teenagers will enjoy this action packed thriller. Coben does an excellent job of explaining Mickey's life before Shelter so that the new generation of readers understands the history. I only question if I followed everything so easily because I have read the entire Myron Bolitar series. 

Like all books written by Harlan Coben the story is masterfully plotted, full of twists and turns while adding the perfect amount of humor.  All the things that makes him a great author and his novels must reads.  

All fans of Coben will love this book and then pass it on to their teenagers to enjoy.  My son is waiting for me to finish this review so he can read this book because he has heard my husband and I talking about it.  Hopefully as a new reader of this author he will be able to answer my one question above.  I will keep you posted. 

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the G.P. Putnam's Sons, A Division of Penguin Publishing. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”