"Play Dead"

"Play Dead" by Harlan Coben seemed so familiar as I was reading it -- Have I read it before or was it made into a TV movie?  There were parts of the book that offered more detail than I remembered so, even though it was familiar, I read the whole book.

Celtics star, David Baskin, and supermodel/business owner, Laura Ayers, eloped to Australia but while honeymooning there, David went for a swim and never returned.  Laura is devastated but, with no body for her to view and bury, she has more questions than answers.

The grieving widow returns home and withdraws from life until a good friend gives her some sound advice.  She returns to her business but continues to seek answers.  In the meantime, she has unresolved issues with her mother and David's estranged brother, Stan, arrives for the funeral.  As Stan stays on in Boston, he and Laura's sister, Gloria, fall in love -- a truly unlikely event in Stan's case.  Laura worries because Gloria's sister's past has left her in quite a fragile state.

Eventually, Laura has to come to grips with a complicated web of deceit that started thirty years ago with her mother and aunt and is affecting the present.  A new basketball player arrives on the scene to replace David but his moves remind Laura and others of David's special moves.  As the past and present collide, three deaths occur within a short time of one another and leave Laura searching for answers to solve the puzzle and put a killer out of commission.  This is a great read!  pazt