"Seconds Away" - A Mickey Bolitar Novel

"Seconds Away" - a Mickey Bolitary Novel - is the second in this series by Harlan Coben.  It has been some time since I read the first book, "Shelter" but Coban spent the first part of this book recapping enough of what happened in the first book to refresh my memory and bring me up to speed.  Although these books are aimed at a teen audience, I enjoy them and plan to continue to read this series.  There is another series about Mickey's Uncle Myron that is also on my "to read" list.

Mickey Bolitar is an only child and like his uncle Myron he loves basketball.  When Mickey reaches the time for him to start high school, his world traveling parents decide it is time to settle in one place and give him the opportunity to experience being on a basketball team and having a group of friends that will be stable.  They move back to his father's home town but then Mickey's father is killed in an accident and his mother is so devastated that she ends up using drugs.  While she is in rehab, Mickey is living with his Uncle Myron but it's not an easy relationship.

Mickey has made some close friends since starting high school but he really doesn't know them well.  There is Ema who will not allow him to know anything about her home life -- even where she lives.  There is Rachel who comes from a very wealthy family and lives in a home that is gated.  Last but not least, there is "Spoon" (a nickname Mickey gave him) who is the janitor's son.  Together they form a formidable team when they come up against some very bad guys in "Shelter." 

Mickey is also learning some family secrets about the work that had his parents traveling the world and in "Seconds Away" he begins to discover another side of his Uncle Myron.  In the first book he meets "Bat Lady" - a woman who lives in what the locals seem to think is a haunted house but Mickey's interactions with her reveal more secrets as well as wisdom she imparts to him.

In this book, Rachel's mother has been killed and Rachel herself has suffered a slight gunshot wound at the same time.  Mickey and his friends are out to discover what happened but it appears they have put all their lives in danger again and Uncle Myron and the detective father of one of Mickey's basketball pickup game friends come to the rescue. 

Throughout the book Mickey is beginning to doubt that his father is really dead and at the end he has convinced his Uncle Myron to have the grave opened so he can see if it really is his father who is buried there.  He's beginning to be less antagonistic towards his Uncle Myron and I suspect the next book in the series, "Found," will be about an adventure with Uncle Myron.  Unfortunately, "Found" is not due to be released until 9/9/2014.  pazt