Coben, who has written 32 crime novels and won many awards, including the Edgar, the Shamus, and the Anthony, gives readers a propulsive plot that hinges on the discovery of a stolen Vermeer and a reach-back to a kidnapping 24 years earlier. A wealthy hoarder is found murdered in his New York penthouse; a Vermeer, long missing, is found on his wall. The FBI brings the mystery's hero, Windsor Horne Lockwood III (called "Win"), to the scene, where Win's long-lost monogrammed suitcase is found. The Vermeer was owned by Win's grandfather, whose cousin Patricia had the suitcase when she was kidnapped. Win is both too good (handsome, wealthy, adept at martial arts, and FBI-trained) and too bad (he likes violence for violence's sake and is an outsized braggart) to be true. The fact that Win, the kind of long-winded egomaniac you'd avoid at a party, narrates the story may be off-putting for many readers, but the intriguing plot may hold them.

Early in this disappointing thriller from bestseller Coben (the Myron Bolitar series), FBI agents ask sports agent Myron's wealthy blueblood sidekick, Windsor "Win" Horne Lockwood III, to accompany them to the Beresford, "one of the most prestigious buildings in Manhattan," where an unidentified older man has been found in one of the Beresford's tower rooms, dead of either strangulation or a slit throat. Win tells the agents he doesn't know the victim, but the cluttered room includes a Vermeer that was stolen from the Lockwood family 20 years earlier and a suitcase with Win's initials. The mystery deepens when the body is identified as the leader of a radical left group responsible for the accidental deaths of seven people. A connection to Win's cousin Patricia Lockwood's traumatic abduction, abuse, and captivity as a teen raises more questions, but the melodramatic plot developments that follow don't live up to the tantalizing setup. Readers will struggle to empathize with Coben's hedonistic lead, who can't help viewing even his own aunt as a sexual object. Hopefully, Win will return to a supporting role in any future outings. Agent: Lisa Vance, Aaron M. Priest Literary. (Mar.)

Memo to fans who've longed for Windsor Horne Lockwood III, the moneyed, omnicompetent buddy of sports agent Myron Bolitar, to snag a starring role of his own: Beware what you wish for. Nothing would connect privileged Win with the murder of the reclusive tenant of an exclusive Upper West Side building if the police hadn't found a painting inside Ry Strauss' apartment--a Vermeer belonging to Win's family that was stolen long ago while on loan to Haverford College--along with a monogrammed suitcase belonging to Win himself. The two discoveries tie Win not only to the murder, but to the Jane Street Six, a group of student activists Strauss led even longer ago. The Six's most notoriously subversive action, the bombing of an empty building in 1973, left several innocents accidentally dead and the law determined to track down the perps. But except for Vanessa Hogan, whom Billy Rowan tearfully visited soon after the bombing to beg her forgiveness for his role in bringing about the death of her son, no one's seen hide nor hair of the Six ever since. The roots of the outrage go even deeper for Win, whose uncle, Aldrich Powers Lockwood, was killed and whose cousin, Patricia, to whom he'd given that suitcase, was one of 10 women kidnapped, imprisoned, and raped in an unsolved crime. These meaty complications are duly unfolded, and gobs of cash thrown at them, by the ludicrously preening, self-infatuated Win, who announces, "It's good to be me," and "I can be charming when I want to be." As if. Densely plotted and replete with incident if you can overlook the insufferable narrator. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.