Book Review: Win

Synopsis:

New York Times bestselling novelist Harlan Coben shows what happens when a dead man’s secrets fall into the hands of a vigilante antihero —- drawing him down a dangerous road.

Over twenty years ago, heiress Patricia Lockwood’s father was murdered and she was abducted by two unidentified men. She was held captive, locked inside an isolated cabin for months where she was repeatedly assaulted. Patricia escaped, but so did her captors.

During a robbery, priceless items were stolen from her family, but never recovered.

Until now. On the Upper West Side, a reclusive hoarder is found murdered in his penthouse apartment. Discovered in the apartment: 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. The suitcase and recovered painting both point toward 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 with a dead man. But he is determined to find out, especially after his good friend within the FBI tells him that the man who kidnapped his cousin was also behind an act of domestic terrorism. The conspirators may still be at large.

Both cases have baffled the FBI for decades, but Win has three things the FBI doesn’t: a personal connection to the case; more money than he could spend in several lifetimes; and a penchant for delivering his own unique brand of justice.

Review:

Win is the 33rd novel from author Harlan Coben, who says that each book starts with an idea, not a character. Before he starts writing, though, he already knows how the book will end which allows him to better plot the numerous plot twists and surprising revelations he packs into every story. By the time he is concluding the novel, he says the story literally pours out of him because he has carried it in his imagination for so long. Case in point: he wrote the last 40 pages of Win in one day. Fans of Coben’s Myron Bolitar series, launched in 1995, have been anxiously awaiting the return of Windsor Horne Lockwood III, Myron’s best friend. The inspiration for the character was none other than Coben’s own best friend in college — a handsome blond who, according to Coben, belonged to the right golf clubs. And in Win, readers can get to know Myron through Win’s eyes.

Win indeed belongs to the most exclusive clubs because he has a vast fortune that permits him to travel via his own helicopter and private jet, wear the finest clothes, and live in the storied and historic Dakota apartment building on the corner of Seventy-Second Street and Central Park West in New York City (the site of John Lennon’s murder). Win practices many forms of martial arts and meets up with women via an exclusive application that discreetly pairs wealthy partners for no-strings-attached sexual encounters. Win has no interest in a committed relationship, and tenuously embraced the role of father when he learned that he had, as he refers to her, a teenage “biological daughter,” Ema. Win does not want to care about anyone more than himself, and acknowledges that his new role leaves him “teetering and unbalanced.”

Win’s first-person narration is highly effective and entertaining. Readers have “waited a long time for Win” to return, Coben says, and he knew “Win would be able to handle his own book.” He finds himself investigating the murder of a man who might be Ryker Strauss, a member of the infamous Jane Street Six, a radical group that advocated violence. More than forty years ago, a misdirected Molotov cocktail injured dozens and killed seven, including the daughter of a well-known mobster. Only one member of the Jane Street Six was ever accounted for. Two years after the attack, Lake Davies turned herself in but served only eighteen months because she did not actually toss the explosive. Her attorney successfully argued that she was under the spell of Ryker Strauss, a Charles Manson-esque leader. None of the other five were ever found. Remarkably, “Girl at the Piano,” an oil painting by Johannes Vermeer worth around $200 million, was found in the dead man’s apartment. The painting was on loan by Win’s family to Haverford College when it, along with Picasso’s “The Reader,” was stolen. The robbers were never caught and the paintings have been missing for decades. How did it end up in a penthouse apartment in the Beresford building? More disturbing to Win is the fact that a suitcase bearing his initials and family crest, a gift from his aunt, was also found in the apartment. No one knows that he gave the suitcase to his cousin, Patricia, all those years ago.

“Do you really want people to take the law into their own hands?””People? Heavens, no. Me? Yes.””You’re joking, right?””I trust my judgment,” I say. “I don’t trust the common man’s.”

Patricia survived being kidnapped by two men who murdered her father in their home and then held her captive in a cabin in the woods for months before she finally escaped. She was only one of about ten victims held in what the media dubbed the “Hut of Horrors.” After her ordeal, she established the Abeona Shelters for abused and homeless girls, and has been the recipient of numerous awards for her charitable, humanitarian work. Win’s father and his brother, Aldrich, Patricia’s father, had a falling out — Win never knew why — and Patricia has not set foot on the family estate for more than twenty years, although she and Win have stayed in touch.

Win quickly realizes that, given the fact that his family’s painting and his suitcase were both discovered in the dead man’s apartment, he is a suspect. And he has to figure out how the Jane Street Six attack, the theft of the paintings from Haverford College, his uncle’s murder, and his cousin’s kidnapping are all related. Could Ryker Strauss have masterminded each event?

Win is a fascinating and frequently infuriating character. He enjoys violence, and inflicting pain when, in his judgment, it is deserved. He has no problem taking matters into his own hands, literally, if he is convinced that the legal system will not dispense justice and doing so himself, even though, by his own admission, he sometimes fails to consider the long-range consequences. Such a mistake almost costs him his own life, and jeopardizes his relationship with Sadie Fisher of Fisher and Friedman, the victims’ rights law firm that now occupies the space where Myron’s sports agency was located. He answers phone calls by announcing, “Articulate,” and will use any means necessary to get the information he seeks, including bullying and threatening anyone who is reluctant to tell him what they know. He abhors small talk and having his time wasted, putting his finger to his lips and telling anyone who dares to interrupt or argue with him, “Shh,” a tactic that is so disarming, they invariably comply. He readily acknowledges that nothing is fair and, accordingly, wealth and privilege enable him to accomplish his goals, using whatever methods he finds expedient. He is exasperatingly arrogant.

“Life is lived in the grays.”

In the hands of a less-skilled novelist, Win would just be an egotistical, boorish, and amoral vigilante. But Coben manages to make him surprisingly charming, frequently humorous, and always entertaining. He is an anti-hero that readers will find themselves loving to hate, but cheering for. Because, ultimately, Win does have a tender side and a conscience. He is guided by his own, unique moral compass. He is capable of admitting his mistakes, including his failure to forgive his mother until it was too late, explaining, “I think about what she lost and what I lost, how simple forgiveness could have enhanced her short life and mine. Why couldn’t I see that then? I have lived a life of few regrets. This — how I treated my own mother — is my greatest.” Still, he lives by the questionable moral code that underlies and justifies his actions. “Human beings always do what is in their self-interest. Always. That’s the sole motivator. People only do the ‘right thing’ when it suits those interests.”

Coben has tautly constructed a compelling mystery, full of his signature surprises, misdirection, and shocking developments. In fact, he describes it as “the most twisty” book he has ever written. Sure enough, he demonstrates how the various events are intertwined, who was responsible for them, and, perhaps most importantly, why they occurred. But along the way, the action-packed story never slows and keeps readers guessing about how all the loose ends will come together into a cohesive tale of deception and lies. Coben illustrates that Win is right — with great wealth comes the ability to influence, and the perceived need to hide uncomfortable truths that would prove embarrassing and diminish a family’s social standing and power. Because, of course, “families protect their own.” And families like the Lockwoods are complicated, frequently harbor multi-generational secrets, and see the world differently than other people.

Recognizing that “there is collateral damage in everything,” win chooses what to do with the information he gathers, and his choices may not be the ones readers would make. He knows that, explaining, “I warn you now. You’ll disagree with some of the choices I make. Don’t fret about it. I don’t know whether I made the right ones either. If I was certain, per my personal action, I would probably be wrong.”

Win is sure to be another bestseller for beloved author Coben and, hopefully, only the first installment featuring Windsor Horne Lockwood III. Coben confesses that he is still, even after so much success, insecure. He tells himself, as he is writing, “This book sucks, and the one I did before was great How did I lose it?’ and then five minutes later, I’m like, ‘This book is great!'” He says he doesn’t think the insecurity is “ever going to go away. I think when that goes away, it’s probably time to stop.” Win definitely does not suck. It is an intricately-plotted, clever, and thoroughly engrossing mystery from one of America’s premiere storytellers, featuring a fully formed, intriguing lead character.