Win by Harlan Coben

I accessed a review copy of Win, by my own request, via Netgalley. Thank you to the publishers for approving me to read. This review forms my honest opinion.

Blurb

Over twenty years ago, heiress Patricia Lockwood was abducted during a robbery of her family’s estate, then locked inside an isolated cabin for months. Patricia escaped, but so did her captors, and the items stolen from her family were never recovered.

Until now.

On New York’s Upper West Side, a recluse is found murdered in his penthouse apartment, alongside two objects of note: a stolen Vermeer painting and a leather suitcase bearing the initials WHL3. For the first time in years, the authorities have a lead not only on Patricia’s kidnapping but also on another FBI cold case – with the suitcase and painting both pointing them towards one man.

Windsor Horne Lockwood III – or Win as his few friends call him – doesn’t know how his suitcase and his family’s stolen painting ended up in this dead man’s apartment. But he’s interested – especially when the FBI tell him that the man who kidnapped his cousin was also behind an act of domestic terrorism, and that he may still be at large.

The two cases have baffled the FBI for decades. But Win has three things the FBI does not: a personal connection to the case, a large fortune, and his own unique brand of justice…

Review

Windsor Horne Lockwood III (Win for short) has long since being a favourite character of mine featuring in the long-running the Myron Bolitar books and so I was incredibly excited to hear that he was being given his own stand alone book.

Excited though I was, I was also a little apprehensive. As the ‘sidekick’ would Win have the depth to carry his own book? And would the book be lacking without the banter provided by the Myron and Win partnership, which for me has always been a highlight.

And I’m happy to answer a resounding ‘yes’ to both questions!

Win seems to have been given more to do in more recent books than just be the sidekick, and I think that it was timely preparation for this novel. The close first person narrative adds new depth to Win as his inner most feelings are on display in a way they never would be disclosed in a 1:1 conversation with Myron. I can’t even say that I missed Myron too much. He was mentioned throughout as you would expect – to not mention him would just be odd, but he doesn’t make an appearance. Their relationship is a real highlight of the Myron Bolitar novels, their chalk and cheese personalities and fierce loyalty to one another making for a perfect pairing. However, the witty narrative more than made up for his absence to the point that I found I wasn’t even thinking about Myron.

The plot is classic Harlan Coben, with the past and the present colliding with mysteries to be solved and tantalising secrets and lies to be uncovered in the process. Whilst the storyline was compelling enough, I can’t in all honesty say that it was one of my favourites from the author. I did enjoy the way in which it tied into the history of the Lockwood family which allowed the reader to dig a little deeper into the history of Win and his family, which, alongside the deep dive into the mind of Win, helped to make some sort of sense of a character who has long since bordered on the edge of psychopathic tendencies!

A very enjoyable read, and an intriguing new angle on an established series. I really hope that this won’t be the last stand alone novel that Win features in!

Win is due to be released on 18th March 2021