TV journalist Sara Lowell and Michael Silverman, New York’s most blistering basketball star, are the most envied couple on television. Their family, coupled with their far reaching social connections, links them to the very elite in the political, medical, and sports world; a web that will unreservedly tangle them up in a dilemma as controversial as it is destructive.

No one has seen Natalie in years, and mutual friends of the couple either can’t be traced or just don’t remember Jake. Just when it seems as though things can’t possibly get any worse than they already have, Marc receives a ransom note with a chilling message: Reluctant at first, Myron undertakes to help her not just to become her agent, but because he realizes that they have tie from the past that binds them together. Horace, Brenda’s father, coached Myron during his heydays in basketball, although the two lost touch after Myron's career tragically ended following a nasty knee injury. That begs the heart-wrenching question; can you always believe everything you see with your own eyes, even when you hopelessly want to?Hester and Oren are still a couple. Hester states she is much too old to say she has a boyfriend but is fine with Oren being her beau! This book also features some characters from some previous Coben books, which was a lovely surprise. We learn so much more about Wilde and watch him change his thought and habits. He is a great character, so many layers. Never in their wildest dreams did Tia and Mike Baye ever imagine that they would spy on their kids. But they give in to worry and install a sophisticated spy program on Adam’s computer, after their sixteen-year-old son grew mysteriously distance following the suicide of his best friend, Spencer Hill. In addition to Wilde, The Match also features Hester Crimstein as well as some other characters who make appearances in Coben’s novels. My previous encounter with Wilde was in The Boy from the Woods, which was not a favorite. You don’t need to read Coben’s other books before reading this one--it reads well as a standalone.

Born in 1962 in Newark, New Jersey, Coben went to Livingston High School before studying political science at Amherst College where he was a member of Psi Upsilon fraternity-alongside Dan Brown who would similarly go on to become a household name in the writing world. With the school year almost over, and kids making the dangerous mistake of drinking and driving as they await their college acceptances letters, Myron is determined to ensure the safety of his friend’s children. He thus makes two neighborhood girls give their word to call him should they ever find themselves in a dilemma, and are afraid to call their parents. His sister disappeared twenty years earlier when she walked into the woods one night, never to be seen again. But when a homicide victim—a boy who vanished along with Paul's sister—is discovered, the evidence links him to the disappearance. There's a very good reason why I've read a lot of Harlan Coban's books - he writes darned good thrillers! I stayed up very late with this one because its so engrossing and I'd suggest up there with some of his best.Could this be the solution? Please feel free to disagree with me in comments but do NOT make me research cousin relationships anymore. I am assuming Sofia got pregnant with him around age 20 as well, so both she and Daniel would have been born in the early 1960s. So this means Sofia is young in the picture, like ten or twelve. I think that this chart might better reflect Harlan Coben’s explanation. That would mean that Shirley and Sofia are not sisters, but perhaps that Shirley is Sofia’s aunt?

Peter is alive. Wilde proposes to Laila. Silas sends Wilde a photo of some woman who is his (their?) mother. Confused! Spoiler Discussion for The Match

There’s even more to watch.

There's a reason Harlan Coben has second to most books on my shelves (to Matthew Reilly), which thinking about it is funny because I tend to lean toward female authors... anyway, this was - like most his other books - AMAZING. Could. Not. Put. It. Down. Question for others - was Hester in Coben’s Myron Bolitar series? I remember her “articulate” phrase from other books and am thinking it must have been from more than possibly The Boy in the Woods. I couldn't put this book down. It filled the void when I didn’t have WiFi, and that says a lot ! The ending was awesome, but it did leave me with some questions that I hope will be answered in the next book featuring Wilde’s character. Silas and Peter are uncle and nephew. I don’t understand how Silas and Wilde are related. Or who Wilde is related to. Let’s discuss this in the comments. This is the second book with MMC 'Wilde' and whilst I'd read the first, I don't recall it clearly because it was ages ago so this could be read as a standalone for sure.