Copyright 2005 by Harlan Coben, published by Signet, an imprint of New American Library, New York.
This is the 8th book by Harlan Coben that I have reviewed here. I think I may have read this book before, many years ago, as it seems familiar. But I didn’t review it then so I will do so now.
The story begins with the conviction and incarceration of a young man, Matt Hunter, who tried to break up a brawl but got tangled up with another young man who suffocated. Accident? The jury felt it was manslaughter. Hunter became a convicted felon rather than a promising college graduate.
Fast forward. Hunter is released and finds a woman, Olivia, that accepts his past. They marry and she becomes pregnant. They are planning on buying a house in Matt’s childhood town, Livingston NJ. Life is good. Until he gets a video, from Olivia, in which she is dressed like a prostitute in a hotel room with another man. While she is supposedly on a “business trip.” The good life for Matt is suddenly not so good.
Meanwhile, a nun in NJ dies. Her death is initially treated as natural but the Mother Superior is suspicious as she learned that the nun had breast implants. Not many nuns have breast implants. What is her story? And how is her death related to Matt and Olivia Hunter?
A good question. Some other deaths follow the nun’s death and the detective has good reason to believe that Matt Hunter is the killer. But we, the readers, know that he is The Innocent (hence the title). The book is all about finding out how these deaths are related and how Matt can prove his innocence.
There are some good plot twists at the end which help tie up all the loose ends. This is a well-crafted mystery, which is true of every Coben book I have read.
8 out of 10.