In Missing You, Kat, a New York City cop, has a bad relationship past. While trying to deal with a lackluster private life she also tries to deal with the death of her father, who had also been a cop. She believes he was murdered by the mafia. In a Harlan Coben novel you always have two stories that somehow synchronize. How does he do that? How does he turn two different story lines in to one? In this case Kat’s bad relationship story line collides with the story line of her murdered father. Coben does this with skillful ease. The story begins with Kat’s best friend signing her up for an online dating site. Kat is very reluctant and that reluctance bears fruit when she goes on a few bad dates. While she’s surfing the site and having a few toddies, she comes across the bad relationship guy, her ex-fiance who disappeared 18 years earlier. She never really understood why he just left…dropped out of site. Of course seeing him on this site, where it says he had a wife who died and now is a single parent with a child, churns up old memories. One’s she wishes she could get out of her mind. All of the old good times that then get drug down by the bad. 
All of a sudden a chapter is thrown in about a guy who just can’t attract women but low and behold this gorgeous chick falls for him. Before you know it, they’re headed to the Caribbean to get married. But before he can get there, he finds himself knocked out and imprisoned underground. To deepen the muck, while on his death bed, the man who supposedly killed Kat’s father recants his confession of killing her father.
And the story takes off. A frightened, morose teenager gets in touch with Kat about the so called disappearance of his mother. Does Kat’s ex-fiance have anything to do with? All of a sudden more than enough people are being stuffed into underground vegetable boxes. Does Kat’s ex have anything to do with that? At first you don’t know. But then other characters are added and you begin to understand how Coben has maneuvered you into this corner. I’m claustrophobic so the underground box scenes got to me. And the ending is straight out of a zombie movie. But all and all, it will keep your interest and heart racing. The big question is can you figure out ahead of time who killed Kat’s dad. A great thriller that my husband and I both enjoyed.
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