Harlan Coben

Twenty of America's best mystery short stories from 2011, selected by a #1 New York Times–bestselling author.
The Best American series is the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction. Each volume's series editor selects notable works from hundreds of magazines, journals, and websites. A special guest editor, a leading writer in the field, then chooses the best twenty or so pieces to publish....

"Sami Kierce, a young college grad backpacking in Spain with friends, wakes up one morning, covered in blood. There's a knife in his hand. Beside him, the body of his girlfriend. Anna. Dead. He doesn't know what happened. His screams drown out his thoughts-and then he runs. Twenty-two years later, Kierce, now a private investigator, is a new father who's working off his debts by doing low level surveillance jobs and teaching wannabe sleuths at a night...

It's a profile, like all the others on the online dating site. But as NYPD Detective Kat Donovan focuses on the accompanying picture, she feels her whole world explode, as emotions she's ignored for decades come crashing down on her. Staring back at her is her ex-fiancé Jeff, the man who shattered her heart -- and who she hasn't seen in 18 years. Kat feels a spark, wondering if this might be the moment when past tragedies recede and a new world opens...

From the Civil War-era south to 1950s New York to the present day's gritty cities and seemingly innocuous suburbs, the eighteen stories in this anthology edited by the award-winning mystery writer Harlan Coben chart the complications-always surprising, sometimes deadly-that arise between lovers, dear friends, and even complete strangers coming together for a single, shocking encounter. In Lee Child's "Safe Enough," a blue-collar city boy takes up...

Sports agent Myron Bolitar works to reunite client Suzze T, a former tennis star, with her rock star husband, Lex, who has walked away from his very pregnant wife and, unbeknownst to her, is troubled over the failing health of his father and the reemergence of his estranged brother.

The boy was born and raised on the tony Main Line. But he vanished on Philadelphia's mean streets. For Myron Bolitar, his client, golf superstar Linda Coldren, comes first--and that means unraveling the mystery of her son's kidnapping. But when Myron goes after the missing boy, he crashes through a crowd of lowlifes, blue bloods, and liars on both sides of the social divide. And as Linda's golf-pro husband suddenly makes a run at the U.S. Open championship,...

Sleuth and sports agent Myron Bolitar investigates death threats against Brenda Slaughter, star player for a New York basketball team. Suspects include gangsters who are starting a competing women's league.

"Twenty years ago, four teenagers at summer camp walked into the woods at night. Two were found murdered, and the others were never seen again. Four families had their lives changed forever. Now, two decades later, they are about to change again. For county prosecutor Paul Copeland, mourning the loss of his sister has only recently begun to subside. Balancing family life and a rapidly ascending career distracts him from his past traumas, but only...

Life isn't going well for Myron Bolitar. His business is struggling, and his father has recently suffered a heart attack when, out of the blue, Myron's college sweetheart, Emily, appears. Her thirteen-year-old son Jeremy is gravely ill and can be saved only by a bone-marrow transplant from a donor who has vanished without a trace. Then Emily reveals even more shocking news: Jeremy is Myron's son, conceived the night before Emily's wedding to another...

Tia and Mike Baye never imagined they'd become spying, overprotective parents. But their sixteen-year-old son Adam has been unusually distant and aloof lately, and after the recent suicide of his classmate, Spencer Hill, they can't help but worry. They install a spy program on Adam's computer and within days they are jolted by a strange message to their son from an unknown correspondent: "Just stay quiet and all safe." Meanwhile, browsing through...