Seconds Away (Mickey Bolitar #2)

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4.0 (1)

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Author(s)

Harlan Coben

Publisher

Putnam Juvenile

Genre(s)

Mystery

Age Range

12+

Release Date

September 18, 2012

ISBN

9780399256516

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Mickey and his loyal new friends, sharp-witted Ema and adorkably charming Spoon, once again find themselves in over their heads on the hunt for missing pieces to a puzzle they have yet to understand. As the mystery surrounding Mickey’s dad’s death unfolds, he soon learns that they may be in more danger than they could have ever imagined.

Editor reviews

4 reviews

Overall rating

3.8

Plot

3.5(2)

Characters

4.0(2)

Writing Style

4.0(2)

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

N/A(0)

Harlen Corban Engages Both Old and Young

November 18, 2012

Overall rating

4.0

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Mickey Bolitar is only 16, but he is smart and understands more than most people think. He has managed to solve one mystery and is instantly thrown into another in this second novel. In Seconds Away, Mickey Bolitar searches for the truth about his dad, the crazy bat lady and the shooting of a friend. But what if things aren't how you remember them? And how do you face the consequences of your lies?

Seconds Away is even better than the first. The story is well crafted, fast pace, tone and includes many quotable insights. Definitely a page turner that was hard to put down. Cannot wait for the next book in the series!

Joanne Mumley, Twitter Manager Top 50 Reviewer 217 reviews

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Mystery and adventure

September 02, 2012

Overall rating

3.7

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This sequel to Shelter finds Mickey, Ema and Spoon barely recuperated from their adventure when they are plunged into another mystery-- Rachel, with whom Mickey has just become friends, is shot and her mother is killed. When Mickey visits her, he finds an Abeona Shelter butterfly on her door, but also thinks that Chief Taylor is covering up Rachel's father's drug dealing. Spoon's enthusiasm for investigating, as well as his ability to break into the school comes in handy when the group investigates, but things become even more complicated. Mickey, at the suggestion of the Bat Lady, thinks that his father may still be alive, but comes to realize that the EMT he saw at his father's accident was not really a Nazi guard, as the Bat Lady would have him believe. When the Bat Lady's house is burnt down, Mickey finds a variety of pictures there, deepening his confusion and his interest in the Abeona Shelter. He finds out some secrets about Ema's life, and does manage to unravel the mystery surrounding Rachel's shooting. He also makes the basketball team, gets kicked off because he has run afoul of the law, gets back on the team, and is set to head to California with his uncle to make sure that his father is actually interred in his grave. Another sequel sure to be coming.

Good Points

Never, ever dull! Lots of things are happening, but I was still able to follow what was going on. The characters get fleshed out a little more, although Spoon didn't get the attention he deserved. Again, Coben really has a handle on what boys want in a mystery. Can't wait for the next one!

Karen Yingling, Staff Reviewer Top 10 Reviewer 2014 reviews

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User reviews

1 review

Overall rating

4.0

Plot

5.0(1)

Characters

4.0(1)

Writing Style

3.0(1)

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Fast paced and intense sequel

September 30, 2012

Overall rating

4.0

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Spoon, Ema and Mickey are back and caught in the middle of a terrible mystery. Their new friend Rachel has been shot, and something about it seems fishy. Mickey is also still trying to figure out exactly what Bat Lady meant when she said his father was still alive. Also, what is up with the picture of the Butcher of Lodz, could it really be the same person that Mickey thinks it is? Mickey gets into even more trouble and finds himself in plenty of dangerous situations, all to help his friend Rachel figure out what happened when she got shot.

I'll start with something that bugged me, because I noticed it a few pages in. In Seconds Away Harlan Coben repeats a lot of things. Not only doesn't he do mini recaps for people who apparently decided to skip the first book and go right into the second, but he repeated many phrases that he used in the first book. An example:
From Shelter "I love the way you can be exhausted and sweaty and running with nine other guys, and yet, at the risk of sounding overly Zen, you are still so wonderfully alone."
From Seconds Away "I picked up the basketball, lost in the—and, yes, I know how this will sound—Zen-like quality of shooting."
In both of these sentence Mickey talks about being Zen with basketball and about it sounding corny. Maybe this won't bug other people, and maybe if I had waited awhile in between reading the two books I wouldn't have even noticed but I did notice and it did bug me. There were a few more instances like this, and each one made me cringe a little.

Beside that, I really enjoyed this book. The mysteries keep getting deeper and more twisty. On top of all the mysteries left over from the first book, Mickey finds more mysteries including Rachel's shooter. I did not for one second guess who it was. Until I was reading it on the pages I was in the dark about who could've been the shooter.

Spoon and Ema are still great in this book too. We learn a lot more about Ema, some of them surprising some, expected. Spoon is still his fun self, I would love to learn more about him too, hopefully in the next book!

As soon as I finished this book I wanted more. There are still so many mysteries that need to be solved and I am dying to know what happens next. I don't know when the next book will come out, but hopefully soon. I'll be picking it up right away, I just hope I don't have to hear about the Zen of basketball again ;)

First Line:
"There are moments in your life that change everything."

Favorite Line:
"I texted Spoon first and got the following auto-answer. Spoon: I cannot reply at this time. Due to recent events I am grounded until the age of 34. And then, because he was Spoon, he added: Abraham Lincoln's mother died of milk poisoning at age 34."

Good Points

Keeps you totally engaged up to the last page.