Just One Look (novel)

Infobox Book |
name = Just One Look
title_orig =
translator =




author = Harlan Coben
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Crime novel, Mystery
publisher = E. P. Dutton
pub_date = April 2004
media_type = Print (Hardcover)
pages = 370 pp (first edition, hardback)
isbn = ISBN 0525947914 (first edition, hardback)
oclc =
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Just One Look" is a novel by Harlan Coben. It is a stand-alone novel but does contain at least one reference to his Myron Bolitar novels.

Plot summary

Grace Lawson's whole life changed one day, starting with a visit to the Photomart to pick up a roll of family pictures. Inside was a picture that didn't belong. It was a noticeably older picture of four people, two men and two women. There is an "X" over the face of one of the women. And one of the men looked like a younger version of her husband Jack. That evening she shows the picture to her husband Jack and he denies the young man in the photo is him. But shortly after, he leaves the house without telling his wife why. When her husband hasn't returned by the next morning, Grace phones the police. However, there is no evidence of any crime or foul-play, so the police can do nothing.

Meanwhile, a woman named Charlaine Swain is putting on lingerie to show herself to her voyeuristic next-door neighbor, Freddy Sykes, as she does every weekday at 10:30. But she doesn't see Freddy at his bedroom window. She is disappointed but notices movement in Freddy's house and sees an Asian man (Eric Wu) leaving the residence in a blue minivan. She finds this to be curious, as she had called Freddy Sykes' work and he was not there. Charlaine waits for Eric Wu to return and then calls the police to report suspicious activity at her neighbor's house. A policeman soon arrives but is incapacitated by Eric Wu, who then leaves the Sykes' house with Jack Lawson, whom he has kidnapped. Charlaine and her husband Mike call the police to report an officer down and then follow Eric Wu by car. In an attempt to evade them, Eric Wu fires a gun at their car in a suburban mall parking lot, hitting Mike in the throat, but Charlaine manages to drive to safety.

Grace Lawson has been searching for clues and discovers the last call her husband made before he left was to a law office. She calls the number and speaks to Sandra Koval, who ends up being the little-talked about sister of her husband. Since the police are not being helpful, Grace reaches out to Carl Vespa, a local mobster. Grace's connection to Carl Vespa is through his deceased son. Grace was seriously injured and Carl's son killed during the so-called "Boston Massacre" fifteen years previous. During a Jimmy X concert there was a panic after a gun was fired and numerous people died. Grace's injuries resulted in her being in a coma for a time and, as a result, she has no memories of the days leading up to, and including, the "massacre". The man who was criminally held responsible for firing the gun was Wade Larue, who was now up for parole. Grace meets up with Carl Vespa and he takes her to a local church, where a Christian rock group, Rapture, is rehearsing. The man playing drums for Rapture is none other than Jimmy X, who dropped from public life after the "Boston Massacre".

Grace is visited by Scott Duncan, who works with the US Attorneys Office. The woman from the photograph who had an X over her face was his sister. And she was murdered almost fifteen years ago. Scott wants Grace's help to discover who would have wanted his sister dead, and he feels Grace's husband Jack might be connected somehow. They combine their efforts in order to find Jack. Scott had his sister's body exhumed and discovers that his sister was pregnant at the time of her death. They then go to visit the mother of the other young man in the photograph, Shane Allworth. His mother says that he is living in Mexico, helping the poor. Grace returns home and does some internet searching for clues and discovers that the four people played in a band named Allaw around the time the picture was taken. And she later discovers that Allaw had played with Jimmy X's band, Still Night, at one point

Grace learns that Sandra Koval is representing Wade Larue, who is being paroled that very day. Grace and Carl Vespa go to press conference that Wade Larue holds following his release. Grace leaves the press conference to go pick up her children from school, where Eric Wu appears and tells her that he has her husband. He say he will kill Jack if she does not go with him. Charlaine Swain is at the same school to pick up her children and recognizes Eric Wu and manages to alert the police that Grace has gone with him. Eric Wu takes Grace to where he has been keeping Jack and then puts them both together in a vehicle to take them to an unknown location. Jack manages to attack Wu and Grace ends up shooting and killing him. Jack Lawson is taken to hospital but succumbs to his injuries a few days later. While she is at the hospital with her husband, Grace is visited by Jimmy X who relates the true events of the night of the Boston Massacre. Jack Lawson and Shane Allworth had confronted Jimmy X backstage over their claims that he stole the song "Pale Ink" from them. During the confrontation, a security guard had discharged his gun attempting to protect Jimmy X, shooting Jack Lawson in the chest. This gunshot probably caused Wade Larue to fire his gun in response. As he leaves the hospital, Jimmy X is killed in a drive-by shooting.

In the aftermath of all this, Grace deduces that Jack Lawson died the night of the Boston Massacre but his death was covered up by his sister. And Shane Allworth assumed Jack's identity.