Harlan Coben’s latest, Run Away, is another reliably entertaining thriller from a prolific author. In this one, Manhattan-based member of the elite Simon Greene lives a privileged life with his wife Ingrid and their 3 children: Sam, Anya and Paige. These kids have always had everything they wanted in terms of material possessions, but once she goes to college, Paige goes off the rails and gets mixed up with drugs, dealers, criminals and an abusive boyfriend. It’s a whole new world to them, but Simon and Ingrid are hoping to interfere and save her, when Paige disappears.

The action really begins in Central Park where Simon sees Paige playing music for money, but she’s barely recognizable: she is so frail she is skeletal. Her drug dealing new boyfriend Aaron shows up, and he and Simon get into a fight, so Paige disappears again. Shortly after this, Aaron is found dead and both Simon and Paige are suspects. Who killed Aaron? In addition to this main storyline, the book has a couple of other subplots going on that add to the intrigue.

Paige’s addiction is a story that is played out in homes everywhere, and the author does a good job showing the absolute desperation of parents who will do anything to get their child back.

Harlan Coben is well . known for his twisty plots, and this book has twists galore, right up until the end. I’m never good as guessing (or figuring out) the plot, so it’s no surprise that the conclusion was a big “wow!” for me. I’m going five stars on this one, as it was great fun.  Thanks to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.