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“They both stopped as though they sensed it. When things are going this well, you sort of hold your breath because you want it to last. You don’t want to stop or even slow down time as much as you just want to stay safe in your little bubble.”

In this section, Myron and Terese are blissfully happy in each other’s company. However, they have both experienced significant trauma that makes them wary of appreciating special moments because they know that they are not going to last, a phenomenon Harlan Coben explains with the metaphor of a bubble: fragile and temporary. Coben examines The Impact of Trauma on Individuals and Families but uses Myron and Terese as an example of what can be achieved with communication and a proactive desire to improve the other person’s life.

“It was still daylight, but only the naive believe this sort of trade goes on solely under the blanket of darkness. Still, as Myron arrived at the lookout spot Win had used yesterday, he looked down and saw that this would not be easy. The police were here.”

Myron contemplates the prostitution ring and the impact of the internet on crime. Traditionally “bad” areas have been gentrified, and places (and times) that were once considered safe spaces can be easily corrupted. With Myron’s reflection, Coben again highlights how “bad” (crimes) can happen in any space, regardless of how safe and innocent it appears, and that contrary to stereotype, crime doesn’t only happen in “darkness,” foreshadowing the solution to this mystery.

“Dog Collar spun toward Myron, trying his best to look tough. There is a certain cringe behind false bravado. Myron saw that here. It usually derives from a person who, one, has been beaten too many times, hence the cringe, and two, has discovered the hard way that showing weakness makes the beatings even worse, hence the false bravado. The damage—and there was a lot of it—came off the boy in waves.”

As Myron considers the boy who is likely a captive in a sex ring, he reflects on the pattern of abuse that this boy has likely endured. He uses the name “Dog Collar” to identify the boy but also to reinforce that his manner is like a dog that has been abused. Myron’s empathy and emotional intelligence are displayed here, as he sees past the façade the boy has constructed to protect himself.

“The Collision filmmakers must have shown the ‘horrific’ replay two dozen times from a variety of angles. They showed it at regular speed. They showed it in slow motion. They showed it from Myron’s vantage point, from above, from courtside. Didn’t matter. The result was always the same.”

As Myron watches the documentary in the room where he is essentially being held against his will, he acknowledges the strangeness of the situation. The documentary that depicts the end of his basketball career emphasizes the drama of the injury, and watching it is oddly less painful than his captives anticipate. The repetition of “they showed it” emphasizes how many angles Myron had to witness one of the most painful moments of his life.

“If you want to experience love, then you have to be ready for pain. One doesn’t come without the other. If I didn’t love you, I wouldn’t have to worry about losing you. If you want laughter, expect tears.”

Terese lost her daughter, and she reminds Myron that she understands that loving someone means being vulnerable. She juxtaposes laughter and tears, presenting them as inextricable. However, she also acknowledges that the very threat of the pain of losing him shows that she truly loves him.

“You rip off the bandage all at once versus slowly peeling it away…I could also add the cliche about being thrown into the deep end. The suddenness forced me to act. It made me go to law school. It made me become a sports agent.”

Myron tells Win that he is at peace with the path that his life took as a result of his injury. He uses cliches like “rip[ping] off the bandage” and “being thrown into the deep end” both to illustrate their truth in his own life and to acknowledge the universality of his experience. Although his former peers continued to play, they are now retired as well and didn’t have the opportunity to find a new career, as he did. From a long-range perspective, Myron can see the advantages of his injury, as painful as the repercussions were at the time.

“Der mentsh trakht un got lakht. Translation: Man plans and God laughs. Man, it was good to be back with Win.”

Myron and Win repeat this phrase to remind themselves of the chaotic nature of existence: nothing can be completely planned out. Myron also uses this phrase when he first encounters Fat Gandhi, and this repetition emphasizes the closeness of Myron and Win. Their close friendship and long history together are illustrated through these inside jokes throughout the novel.

“The smell had been awful, but after a game or practice when it was something as pure as previously clean boys playing basketball, there had been an underlying sweetness that made the smell, if not pleasant, tolerable. That wasn’t the case here.”

Basketball created so many core memories for Myron that it became his metric for every comparison. Normally, he associates homosocial male spaces with positive camaraderie. In the space of Fat Gandhi’s quasi-prison, the initial similarities to sporting spaces are jarring, underscoring for Myron how much evil has taken place here.

“Elementary school, middle school, most of high school. That’s what shapes us. That’s what makes us everything we are.”

When Myron corners Nancy at the coffee shop across the street from the hospital, she impresses upon him that she missed out on her child’s most formative years. Nancy’s observation initially creates sympathy in Myron, but later this will be shown to be one of her many attempts at misdirection. Throughout the novel, Coben seeds the narrative with moments like these, which reveal different meanings after the crime has been solved.

“‘There aren’t many he loves,’ she said. ‘But when he does love you, it’s both ferocious and comforting.’”

Myron and Brooke bond over their competitive quest for the truth and their mutual love of Win. They both worry about him, and they both feel privileged to be included in the small circle of people that he genuinely cares about. The dichotomy of “ferocious” and “comforting” emphasizes Win’s complex nature.

“Sports were supposed to be a reflection on life, a life lesson, a test of endurance and strength, a great preparation for the real world. That was what they always told you. But that wasn’t the case for Myron.”

As Myron watches Mickey’s game, he reflects on how basketball has shaped his life. While he did learn many lessons from the sport, he was also inadequately prepared for real life in that sports more often reward hard work and dedication. In this passage, Coben highlights all of the lessons that sports are lauded for teaching, before stating that this wasn’t Myron’s experience, with a blunt, short sentence that emphasizes the point.

“He had been through a lot for someone so young—his unstable upbringing, his mother’s drug addiction, his father’s bizarre return from the grave. Mickey had also, it seemed, inherited the Bolitar ‘hero complex’ gene. He had done a lot of good in a very short time. That made Myron equal parts proud and worried.”

Myron reflects on his nephew’s difficult upbringing. Mickey’s parents’ personalities and addictions did not create a stable environment for their son, but the influence of Myron, Al, and Ellen has turned Mickey into an admirable young adult. Myron’s awareness that he feels both “proud and worried” foreshadows Mickey’s future vigilante escapades.

“Everyone wondered why we didn’t move away. Why we invite this pain. I’ll tell you why. Because this pain is better. This pain is better than the pain of giving up on him. A mother doesn’t give up on her child. So I can live with the pain. I can’t live with giving up.”

As Brooke explains to Myron, some people found it suspicious that she stayed in the same house where something horrible happened to her child. She feels that moving away would be to symbolically give up on Rhys and not expect that he will return home. Remaining in the house, while emotionally devastating, reinforces her hope in her child’s return, while the pain of living in the environment keeps his memory alive.

“I like sex in its purest form, meaning I do not like strings or attachment other common distractions. Myron believes that what he labels ‘love’ or ‘feelings’ enhances sex. I do not. I believe that those things dilute it. Do not look into that deeply. I do not fear commitment. I just have no interest in it.”

As Win considers his arrangement with the concierge of a luxury hotel in Rome, he explains his preference for prostitutes and one-night stands. Myron and Brooke prefer the comfort of monogamous relationships, but Win is not interested in anything that requires commitment. Win places himself in direct contrast to Myron, his closest friend, while offering an assessment of his actions and motivations that shows his characteristic self-awareness and direct, no-nonsense commentary.

“Scratch a guy who always talks about what a winner he is or how he’s self-made or how he pulled himself up by the bootstraps, and underneath you’ll always find a little boy who had everything handed to him. It was like they ended a blind spot to justify their tremendous luck. Something like: I can’t have all of this because of fate or chance—I must be special.”

As Myron threatens Esperanza’s ex-husband and tries to persuade him to change his mind about the custody battle, he recognizes how Tom’s worldview has been shaped by his privilege. Though Tom’s dreams are funded by his father, he remains stubbornly convinced of his superiority and self-sufficiency.

“You put all that together—the beauty, the blight, the sophisticated cities, the inferiority complex, the tacky, the classy—and you got the indefinable color and texture of the great state of New Jersey. Better to find the definition of New Jersey in Sinatra’s voice, in Tony Soprano’s ride, in a Springsteen song.”

As Myron heads to meet up with Neil Huber, who oversaw Rhys’s case 10 years previously, he considers the complex history of New Jersey. Its proximity to New York generates an inferiority complex, while its residents are proud of its traditions and artistic output. Myron recognizes both the outsider perspective, with acknowledgment of “the tacky” and the “classy,” while using pop culture references to encompass both the state’s contributions and its wide range of personalities, from Tony Soprano to Bruce Springsteen.

“As though humans came in one size and shape. As though we all react the same way to a horrible or stressful situation. We all think we can spot the tell in everyone else, but ironically, no one can spot it in us.”

Myron and Chick watch Anderson Cooper interview Nancy and Hunter. Myron reflects on how people love to consider themselves good judges of truth and lies but often are overconfident in their ability to recognize the truth. This passage also addresses common cliches in mysteries, in which the detective applies stereotypical body language assessments, which Myron contrasts with the real world, in which people are all individuals, and unpredictable.

“They often quoted Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s beloved Sherlock Holmes: It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.”

Myron and Win consider themselves investigators, and like all investigators, they are influenced by Sherlock Holmes. They have to remind themselves to be patient and collect observations. Cherry-picking evidence to suit a preexisting theory will lead them nowhere. The language in this passage is elevated to mimic the language of a Sherlock Holmes novel, even using a Britishism, “capital,” vocabulary that isn’t characteristic of either Myron or Win.

“It had, of course, embarrassed him. And then—equally of course— it pleased him to no end. When you’re young you don’t get how great it is to be loved unconditionally.”

As Myron visits his parents, he reflects on how he used to be embarrassed by their doting affection. As they’ve gotten older and he realizes that his time with them is limited, he is thankful for his childhood and for the privilege of being loved by adoring parents. Their relationship highlights The Power of Childhood Bonds while contrasting with the experiences of some of the other children in the novel, highlighting that Myron’s childhood was fortunate, and looking back, he sees this more clearly than he did at the time.

“I confess that I do all I can to encourage, amplify, and intensify this reputation. I want you to cringe every time I enter a room because you do not know what I might do next. But I am not naive enough to buy my own press, if you will. No matter how good you are, a sniper can take you out.”

As Win and Zorra approach the Dutch farmhouse where Fat Gandhi is hiding, Win is pleased that Fat Gandhi knows of him and his abilities. Win’s moral ambiguity is a feature of his character and the novel—his actions are unpredictable as a result, creating tension and suspense. However, Win somewhat grounds himself by reminding the reader that while it is certainly within his abilities to generate an intimidating reputation, he is not invincible.

“As he said before, he does not want to spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder. This is why I believe in massive and disproportional retaliation. It makes your next enemy think twice.”

Win is pleased that Fat Gandhi is intimidated by him and seeks to use this to his advantage. Coben does not inform the reader how Zorra came into Win’s employ but hints that it transpired because Win used a similarly massive and disproportionate retaliation that terrified and impressed Zorra. Win prefers scorched earth policies to subtlety, using his straightforward manner to undermine his adversary.

“But eventually you have to go back, and when you do, everyone looks at you like you’re some kind of alien. Your friends. Your teachers. Everyone. Then you go home from school, and it’s even worse.”

Clark explains to Myron that he and Francesca have a deep and complex friendship, the result of the disappearance of their brothers and the extreme isolation they felt afterward. This passage reflects a common experience of those who have undergone public trauma—they are observed but not approached. Their parents were emotionally absent, and both children struggled to feel loved within their homes.

“Everyone is their own universe—a life, a dream, a hope, a sorrow, a joy, a surprise, a revelation, a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end—even when they simply walk by you on the street.”

As Myron and Cyndi stalk Patrick, Myron enjoys people-watching and muses about humanity. This passage illustrates Myron’s characteristic ability to find contentment wherever he is. His optimistic outlook is a trait that helps him process difficult situations and face ugly truths, like the one at the core of this mystery.