Shelter - Der schwarze Schmetterling

Really enjoying this show. Usually I get lost with Harlen Coben's series but this one I can follow. Maybe because I'm actually watching it and not on my phone. Trust me you DO NOT want to be distracted during this show. Something big happens in every scene, and the series moves very fast. The acting is great, with lots of fun characters. (The nerdy kid with glasses is really funny, and all the main actors are very good.) Can't wait to see what future episodes bring! If you want more, hey, hit pause and Amazon will even sell you the book! I have to write 600 characters so here you go Internet Movie Database.

Interesting plot and characters. I always enjoy the mysteries that have a historical element to them. Cold cases, unsolved disappearances, wrongful convictions. I have to say though - the language in the thing is exaggeratedly foul. Gratuitous use of the f-bomb. Coben didn't write that way. He didn't need to throw in excess bad language in order to make his point or create the mood of the scene. To me - not an informed critic - just an avid reader and viewer - it takes a LOT away from the show. The screenwriters make it sound like they can't write a sentence without using the word f--. Pretty disappointing.

This series, adapted from the book of the same name, sees teenager Mickey Bolatar moving to New Jersey to live with his aunt after his father is killed in a car crash and his mother is institutionalised due to her drinking. On his first day at his new school be befriends Ashley, a new girl, but shortly afterwards she vanishes, he suspects foul play. Things get stranger when the local 'crazy old woman, known as 'The Bat Lady' addresses him by name and tells him that his father is still alive. With new friends Ema, a goth girl, and the somewhat nerdy Arthur 'Spoon' Spindell he starts trying to find what happened to Ashley. Inevitably several old secrets are exposed as well as dangers being encountered.

I read the book some time in the last year so was interested in seeing how it would transfer to the screen. For the most part it is fairly faithful to the source material. There are some obvious changes. The fact that Mickey now lives with his aunt rather than Uncle Myron this is kind of understandable given that Myron is the protagonist in many of Coben's books so he is unlikely to want him introduced on film/television as a secondary character. The second change is less explicable; Coben's books, even the ones aimed adult readers, don't contain much swearing but the amount in this series is somewhat ridiculous; there would scarcely have been more if Quentin Tarantino had been brought in to work on the script! Mickey is a likeable protagonist although his character seems bland whenever Ema or Spoon are around as these characters are so much more fun. The cast is sold although those playing the high school jocks look too big and too old to still be at school... obviously this is hardly the first show to make such casting decisions. The story provides a decent number of twists and there is a nice sense of danger even if we know certain characters are highly unlikely to be harmed. Overall I enjoyed it but wouldn't recommend it as family viewing due to the excessive swearing.

Not sure why people aren't liking it. It's hard to please the masses these days. They expect far too much too soon, some need to have a break from watching anything if that's how they treat new shows. However the show started off well, the mystery is intriguing especially with episode 3. Hope the momentum carries on. I don't see the issues with the profanity, it goes back to not being able to please the masses and the whiney cancel culture that has been nurtured in the last 15 years. Peoples just need to enjoy tv for what it is and if they don't like it, don't watch it because there are plenty of people out there who do and will like it.

Harlan Coben is a fabulous writer with really interesting characters and great stories. I've read all his books about Myron Bolitor and his nephew Micky Bolitor, including the books upon which this series is based but I don't recall any ascerbic aunt! Where's Myron?? What the hell? I am Halfway through episode 1 and I just can't do it. Sigh. I have such high hopes when my favourite authors get their books made into movies or television series and, inevitably, such disappointment when I watch. I'll stick to the books. (I cannot watch Tom Cruise play Jack Reacher either.). It's probably a good show, based on other reviews, but it's not for me.