In Review: The Stranger
The first time I ever saw the name Harlan Coben was on Netflix. Little did I know how chefs kiss his stories can be. The Stranger was the first and most certainly not the last I saw. It’s mysterious and thrilling, and with each episode, you just want to watch more and more. Since it’s a mini-series, there’s a lot of time to develop the story and make a faithful adaptation of the book. And as any “good” reader, I had to pick up the book.
Title: The Stranger Author: Harlan Coben Publication year: 2015 Length: 9 hours 43 minutes Genre: Mystery, Thriller Pace: Medium Story focus: Plot
Adam has the perfect life. A good job, a great house, a beautiful wife, and two wonderful sons. One day, he’s approached by a stranger who confesses Corinne faked her last pregnancy. The seed of mistrust threatens to destroy Adam’s idyllic home life. When he confronts Corinne, she disappears without an explanation. Only leaving a message requesting time away from him. In a mist of mistrust and confusion, Adam is determined to find her and solve the problems in their marriage. Although, he stumbles upon secrets darker than Corinne’s deception. Secrets that can put his life at risk.
I’m not going to beat around the bush. The Netflix mini-series is better than the book. Shocking! How can I say the adaptation is better? I’ve offended the all-mighty reading gods now. I’m going to burn in the 1-star book hell! But seriously, the adaptation expands the story and makes it even better. It’s more complete and rounded. Also, Harlan Coben is one of the producers, which is probably why it helps to create such a great adaptation.
I read the book in two days, and that’s the best way to do it. Just grab the book whenever you can and read, read, read. It’s a story written to be consumed quickly, and I think that’s what failed the first time I tried to read this book. I usually take a few days, a week or even two, to read a book, and that pacing doesn’t work with this one. The more continuous reading you do, the better. The story is still fresh in your mind, and it helps draw you in.
I really liked the small bits of conversation about relationships. How people are so involved in their own lives. How humans react to secrets when finding out or when they are created. The conversations about masculinity were also refreshing to read, and female and male characters are treated equally in the story. And after reading The Casual Vacancy, this is a book about a very nice group of people. They have their problems. They lie. They don’t get along, but at least they aren’t abusive.
One thing that later became very apparent was the resemblance to Dan Brown’s writing. But don’t be alarmed since Coben’s books are shorter. We follow the main character for the majority of the book, which is then interluded with chapters from the “villain” point of view and even other characters. When this started to happen more frequently, I lost interest in the book. I often don’t like to know more than the characters. And those are also the chapters I find less interesting in Robert Langdon’s series. So it’s not necessarily the fault of the book but instead a personal preference.
Towards the middle, the story slows down. The plot is about Corinne’s disappearance and Adam’s journey to find her. Because of that, the story doesn’t have enough room to hold the suspense for the entire book and why other perspectives come in often. Adam’s story reaches a halt while the other characters are filling in details not directly related to his storyline. And when we finally go back to the main plot, the story wraps up quickly. If it wasn’t for the momentum that I set up to read it, I wouldn’t have finished it. The suspense dies a lot, and the chapters don’t pull me in to keep turning. Meanwhile, in the mini-series, there are other sub-plots happening alongside the main plot that populate the story more and directly relate to Adam’s life. So, he’s always preset.
If you’ve seen the adaptation, I would advise you to skip the book. You won’t gain anything from it that the series didn’t deliver. And you’ll have less plot. If you have never seen the mini-series, then do what you’re in the mood for. If you want to do both, read the book and watch the adaptation. But never in the reverse order. It’s not a bad book, but coming from the adaptation, it lacks in comparison.
Since Coben worked directly in the adaptation, it feels like a do-over. A second chance to rewrite the story and make it better. I’ve since seen other adaptations of his books on Netflix. It’s actually a stamp of approval for me. If it has his name on it, I’m watching it. And that also means that for any future Harlan Coben books I might read, they won’t be any of the adapted ones. The man has an extensive list, and if The Strange is a testament to the rest of his books, then I know they are a good quick read.
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