It is set over multiple time lines. When books show what has happened in the past and what is happening in the present I find it really helps the reader (if it is well done) understand why things are happening and what has lead to the present activities and decisions. It also shows the bigger picture. Harlan Coben rarely writes a believable story. And The Match is anything but. Yet…I found myself totally engaged in this crazy story and couldn’t wait to see how it would play out.

At the age of somewhere between 35 and 45 - he didn't know exactly how old he was - Wilde found his father ...' Jake had his moments. I just felt that he should’ve been a little more mature and he had a lot of trust issues but i get that because his ex-wife left him after 9 years. In terms of his relationship with his daughter, he was frkn fabulous!! I loved the relationship he had with our lil’ Samantha aka Sam. He was so sweet with her and i was like ugh there goes my heartt😩✨Hogan and Nelson had played at the Clambake many times, but in 1956, they were on the downside. Nelson had retired about 8 years earlier (when he was the best golfer in the world) to become a rancher in Texas, and he came to the Clambake as one of his few golf events of the year. Hogan was in his last year of competitive play, as hip and leg problems stemming from a car accident were taking their toll. Arguably, he or Sam Snead were the best player in the world at the time. Along come top amateurs Venturi and Ward -- and their employer, an aggressive car dealer on the West Coast, bets his buddy that they can "beat any two men alive." After all, they hadn't lost a best-ball competition in four years, beating hundreds of opponents in match play. So the car dealer's buddy calls up Hogan, who says, "I'll play if Byron plays," and he calls up Nelson who says, "I'll play if Ben plays," and that was it. Match on, see you tomorrow morning at Cypress Creek. It may be hard to understand the significance of a golf exhibition between four friends who happen to be professional and amateur golfers, some of the best of the world. If anything, a friendly round with some small wagers on the side should be less significant than any official tournament they played in. I must praise Frost for his descriptive commentary especially on the actual match, which was almost like being there in the flesh, revelling in every shot.

Byron Nelson (1912-2006), also 43 years old, had already retired from competition on the pro golf circuit. His last professional win had been in 1951, in the Bing Crosby Pro-Am. Nelson was also a Texas boy, from the Fort Worth area, whose parents were middle class and very religious. He’d almost been killed by typhoid fever at the age of eleven. This also lead me to believe less what she was convinced of hence I was always more keen Now the biggest and my favourite characters in the books are without any doubt the dogs Charlie and Daisy (tho we didn’t see much of her) and the cutest kid ever who deserves the world Sam.The characterisation is excellent, with a few deft strokes the author seems to be able to paint a personality picture. Wilde is fascinatingly complex and very likeable and its great to see Hester Crimstein cropping up again too. Q: Without giving away the book, why do you think this particular game had such an impact on the sport of golf? Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Harvie Ward, and Ken Venturi get their story told by Mark Frost - the wonderful author of the Greatest Game Ever Played. The book reads like a novel, focusing the central theme around one fateful day in golf's history. For the game of golf, it marked the end of a tradition. That of the amateur golfer. Pleased to see “hot” 70 something, defense attorney Hester Crimsten is once again staying connected. She, of course, has been in other Coben novels. Coben’s wit comes through in Hester.