TELL NO ONE - Deus ex machina?

[Brendon Macaraeg]

I watched this the other night and loved it -- right up to the end....

*SPOILER ALERT **** DO NOT READ BELOW THIS LINE IF YOU PLAN TO SEE IT***

...where the father-in-law basically explains away what happened and why to the protagonist.

For those of you who read Harlan Corben's book, does it also end like this with a character tidily explaining away how everything came to be before the ending?

[Daniel Hatadi]

You might want to copy & paste that spoiler alert a couple of times so it doesn't end up on the front page.

Aside from that, I'll really have to check this film out soon!

[Bill Crider]

The Myron books are Harlan's "earlier, funnier" books. I actually prefer them to the standalones.

[mike D]

The Bolitar books are far and away the best of his books. I have all of his works, and easily list the Bolitar books among his best work. And the Tell No One book is not among my list of his best work, not by a long shot.

[Johnny Ostentatious]

I recently read the book, and the Deus ex machina didn't annoy me as much as cliche characters and pedestrian prose. I've read books by Coben before, and I think he's better than that. If I had been editing that book, I would have a good chunk of the beginning of the novel the couple falling in love. Would've made a thicker manuscript, but much more character-driven and pleasurable for this reader.

[Eric Christopherson]

To specifically answer the question, there's a 12 page scene in which the drunk father-in-law, who is armed and may or may not shoot the good doctor protagonist, explains everything. So Coben did what he could to add tension to the explanation.

I suppose it's an old-fashioned technique, sort of like when Agatha Christie has one of her sleuths gather all the suspects in the drawing room to reveal the killer. Yet Coben's plots are so twisty, it's kind of hard not to have such a scene. He's got one such scene in all the stand alones I've read of his, or four books, I think. I like Tell No One the best, and to tell you the truth I was dying to hear what that drunk father-in-law had to say!