# Harlan Coben

> A New Jersey thriller writer who began with a sports-agent detective, turned to standalone thrillers in 2001, and now produces television adaptations of his books for Netflix.

- Novelist · Tell No One · Fool Me Once · Myron Bolitar
- Known for: Twisting standalone thrillers such as *Tell No One* and *Fool Me Once*, and the Myron Bolitar novels; he was the first author to win the Edgar, Shamus and Anthony Awards.[1][10]
- Born: January 4, 1962
- Last updated: 2026-11-14
- Editorial review: approved 2026-11-14
- Web page: https://authorbackstories.com/authors/harlan-coben/
- Reading list (PDF): https://authorbackstories.com/authors/harlan-coben/reading-list.pdf

## Featured book: Newest book

*Plot Twist: Life, Craft, and the Messy First Draft* (2026). A memoir about his writing life and how he works, published by Grand Central on September 8, 2026.[2][5]

## At a glance

- Born: January 4, 1962, in Newark, New Jersey; raised in Livingston[10][8]
- Education: Amherst College, B.A. in political science, 1984[9][8]
- Before writing: Worked in the travel industry, at a company owned by his grandfather[10]
- First book: *Play Dead* (1990)[8]
- Production company: Final Twist Productions[4]
- Major award: Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original, 1996, for *Deal Breaker*[10]
- Major award: Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original, 1997, for *Fade Away*[10]
- Major award: Shamus Award, 1997, for *Fade Away*[10]
- Major award: RBA Prize for Crime Writing, 2010, for *Live Wire*[10]

## Harlan Coben's Backstory

### Early life

Harlan Coben was born in Newark, New Jersey, on January 4, 1962, and grew up in Livingston, where he graduated from Livingston High School.[10][8] He studied political science at Amherst College, played basketball there, and decided in his senior year that he wanted to be a writer.[8][1][10] After graduating in 1984 he worked in the travel industry, at a company owned by his grandfather.[9][10] His father died in 1988.[10]

### First novels and Myron Bolitar

He wrote his first novel, *Play Dead*, while still working in travel; it was published in 1990 and followed by *Miracle Cure* in 1991.[10][8] In 1995 *Deal Breaker* introduced Myron Bolitar, a sports agent who solves crimes, and won the Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original.[10] The next year's *Fade Away* won the Edgar and Shamus Awards, making Coben, by his own account, the first author to win all three.[10][1]

### Standalone thrillers

After seven Myron Bolitar novels he turned to standalone thrillers with *Tell No One* (2001), a story he has said Myron could not have carried.[1] Since then he has written mostly standalones, among them *No Second Chance*, *Six Years*, *Fool Me Once* and *I Will Find You*, alongside further Bolitar books, the young-adult Mickey Bolitar trilogy about Myron's nephew, and the Wilde novels.[10] His website says he has sold more than 100 million books, published in 46 languages.[1]

### Television

Guillaume Canet's 2006 French film of *Tell No One* won four César Awards.[1] In August 2018 Coben signed a five-year deal with Netflix to develop 14 of his novels as series or films, with himself as executive producer; Netflix extended it in October 2022 and opened the Myron Bolitar books to adaptation.[10] Most of the series have been made outside the United States, in Britain, Poland, Spain, France and Argentina.[10] *Fool Me Once* (2024) drew 61 million views in its first two weeks, and he produces the series through his company, Final Twist Productions.[4] *I Will Find You* (2026) was Netflix's first major U.S.-made adaptation of his work.[6]

### Recent work

In October 2025 Grand Central published *Gone Before Goodbye*, a suspense novel he wrote with the actor and producer Reese Witherspoon.[3] In September 2026 it published *Plot Twist*, a memoir about his writing life.[2] He lives in New Jersey with his wife, a pediatrician; they have four children.[1]

## Fun facts

- At Amherst he was in the Psi Upsilon fraternity with Dan Brown, the author of *The Da Vinci Code*.[10]
- At Livingston High School, a childhood friend was the future New Jersey governor Chris Christie.[8]
- He is in the New England Basketball Hall of Fame from his playing days at Amherst, and Little League Baseball inducted him into its Hall of Excellence in 2013.[1]
- In 2003 the *New York Times* ran his Father's Day short story, "The Key to My Father," on its op-ed page; his website says he was the first writer in more than a decade invited to publish fiction there.[1]
- The Mayor of Paris awarded him the Vermeil Medal of Honor.[1]
- He became a writer in his senior year at Amherst, and *Play Dead* was accepted for publication when he was 26.[10]

## Books

In order of first publication; each series is kept together in reading order.

Titles, series and years from the bibliography in Coben's Wikipedia entry, with his 2025 and 2026 books from his publisher, Grand Central.[10][3][2]

- 1990: *Play Dead* (Novel). ISBN 9780451239136. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780451239136) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780451239136)
- 1991: *Miracle Cure* (Novel). ISBN 9780451239327. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780451239327) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780451239327)
- **Myron Bolitar** (series, 12 books, 1995–2024)
  - 1995: Book 1, *Deal Breaker* (Novel). ISBN 9780593974513. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780593974513) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780593974513)
  - 1996: Book 2, *Drop Shot* (Novel). ISBN 9780345542229. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780345542229) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780345542229)
  - 1996: Book 3, *Fade Away* (Novel). ISBN 9780440246190. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780440246190) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780440246190)
  - 1997: Book 4, *Back Spin* (Novel). ISBN 9780440246084. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780440246084) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780440246084)
  - 1998: Book 5, *One False Move* (Novel). ISBN 9780440246091. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780440246091) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780440246091)
  - 1999: Book 6, *The Final Detail* (Novel). ISBN 9780440246336. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780440246336) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780440246336)
  - 2000: Book 7, *Darkest Fear* (Novel). ISBN 9780440246206. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780440246206) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780440246206)
  - 2006: Book 8, *Promise Me* (Novel). ISBN 9780451235572. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780451235572) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780451235572)
  - 2009: Book 9, *Long Lost* (Novel). ISBN 9780451236982. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780451236982) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780451236982)
  - 2011: Book 10, *Live Wire* (Novel). ISBN 9780451233936. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780451233936) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780451233936)
  - 2016: Book 11, *Home* (Novel). ISBN 9781101986219. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9781101986219) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9781101986219)
  - 2024: Book 12, *Think Twice* (Novel). ISBN 9781538768747. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9781538768747) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9781538768747)
- 2001: *Tell No One* (Novel). His first standalone thriller, after seven Myron Bolitar novels.[1] ISBN 9780593355862. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780593355862) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780593355862)
- 2002: *Gone for Good* (Novel). ISBN 9780593355879. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780593355879) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780593355879)
- 2003: *No Second Chance* (Novel). ISBN 9780451233929. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780451233929) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780451233929)
- 2004: *Just One Look* (Novel). ISBN 9781524744427. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9781524744427) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9781524744427)
- 2005: *The Innocent* (Novel). ISBN 9780593473368. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780593473368) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780593473368)
- 2007: *The Woods* (Novel). ISBN 9781524746841. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9781524746841) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9781524746841)
- 2008: *Hold Tight* (Novel). ISBN 9780451236791. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780451236791) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780451236791)
- 2010: *Caught* (Novel). ISBN 9781524745493. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9781524745493) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9781524745493)
- **Mickey Bolitar** (series, 3 books, 2011–2014). Young-adult novels about Myron's nephew Mickey; the basis for the Prime Video series *Harlan Coben's Shelter*.[1][10]
  - 2011: Book 1, *Shelter* (Novel). [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Shelter%20Harlan%20Coben)
  - 2012: Book 2, *Seconds Away* (Novel). ISBN 9780142426357. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780142426357) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780142426357)
  - 2014: Book 3, *Found* (Novel). ISBN 9780147515742. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780147515742) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780147515742)
- 2012: *Stay Close* (Novel). ISBN 9780593471302. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780593471302) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780593471302)
- 2013: *Six Years* (Novel). ISBN 9780525953487. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780525953487) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780525953487)
- 2014: *Missing You* (Novel). ISBN 9780593187333. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780593187333) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780593187333)
- 2015: *The Stranger* (Novel). ISBN 9780593475201. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780593475201) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780593475201)
- 2016: *Fool Me Once* (Novel). ISBN 9780593475355. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780593475355) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780593475355)
- 2016: *The Magical Fantastical Fridge* (Children's book). ISBN 9780525428039. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780525428039) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780525428039)
- 2017: *Don't Let Go* (Novel). ISBN 9781524742256. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9781524742256) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9781524742256)
- 2019: *Run Away* (Novel). ISBN 9781538774564. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9781538774564) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9781538774564)
- **Wilde** (series, 2 books, 2020–2022)
  - 2020: Book 1, *The Boy from the Woods* (Novel). ISBN 9781538748176. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9781538748176) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9781538748176)
  - 2022: Book 2, *The Match* (Novel). ISBN 9781538748305. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9781538748305) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9781538748305)
- 2021: *Win* (Novel). Its hero is Windsor Horne Lockwood III, Myron Bolitar's friend.[10] ISBN 9781538748244. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9781538748244) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9781538748244)
- 2023: *I Will Find You* (Novel). ISBN 9781538748381. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9781538748381) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9781538748381)
- 2025: *Gone Before Goodbye* (Novel). Written with Reese Witherspoon.[3] [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Gone%20Before%20Goodbye%20Harlan%20Coben)
- 2025: *Nobody's Fool* (Novel). ISBN 9781538756379. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9781538756379) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9781538756379)
- 2026: *Plot Twist: Life, Craft, and the Messy First Draft* (Memoir). A memoir about his writing life.[2] ISBN 9781538784624. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9781538784624) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9781538784624)

## Latest news

- Sept. 8, 2026: Grand Central published *Plot Twist*, a memoir about his writing life that he announced on Instagram in February as "very different and very personal."[2][5]
- June 18, 2026: Netflix released *I Will Find You*, its first major U.S. adaptation of a Coben novel, starring Sam Worthington.[6] *The National* reported that it entered Netflix's list of its ten most popular English-language series of all time.[7]

## Adaptations and other media

### Film

- *Tell No One (Ne le dis à personne)* (2006). Based on *Tell No One*. Guillaume Canet's French film, starring François Cluzet, won four César Awards; Coben's site says it was the top foreign-language film at the U.S. box office that year.[1][10]

### Television

- *The Stranger* (2020). Based on *The Stranger*. The first series under his Netflix deal, made in Britain.[10]
- *The Woods, The Innocent, Gone for Good and Hold Tight* (2020–2022). Based on *The Woods*, *The Innocent*, *Gone for Good*, *Hold Tight*. Netflix series made in Poland (*The Woods*, *Hold Tight*), Spain (*The Innocent*) and France (*Gone for Good*).[10]
- *Stay Close* (2021). Based on *Stay Close*. A British Netflix series released on December 31, 2021.[10]
- *Harlan Coben's Shelter* (2023). Based on *Shelter*, *Seconds Away*, *Found*. A Prime Video series based on the Mickey Bolitar books; Coben created and executive-produced it.[1][10]
- *Fool Me Once* (2024). Based on *Fool Me Once*. A British Netflix series with Michelle Keegan; Netflix reported 61 million views in its first two weeks, in the Top 10 in 91 countries.[4]
- *Missing You* (2025). Based on *Missing You*. A British Netflix series released on January 1, 2025.[10]
- *Caught* (2025). Based on *Caught*. A Netflix series made in Argentina, released on March 26, 2025.[10]
- *I Will Find You* (2026). Based on *I Will Find You*. An eight-episode Netflix series shot in the United States, with Sam Worthington and Britt Lower; Robert Hull was showrunner.[6]

## Timeline

- Jan. 4, 1962: Born in Newark, New Jersey.[10][8]
- 1984: Graduates from Amherst College.[9]
- 1990: Publishes his first novel, *Play Dead*.[8]
- 1995: *Deal Breaker* introduces the sports agent Myron Bolitar.[10]
- 1997: *Fade Away* wins the Edgar and Shamus Awards.[10]
- 2001: *Tell No One*, his first standalone thriller, is published.[1][10]
- 2006: Guillaume Canet's French film of *Tell No One* is released.[10]
- August 2018: Signs a five-year deal with Netflix to adapt 14 of his novels.[10]
- Jan. 1, 2024: Netflix's *Fool Me Once* premieres; Netflix reported 61 million views in its first two weeks.[4]
- Oct. 14, 2025: *Gone Before Goodbye*, written with Reese Witherspoon, is published.[3]
- June 18, 2026: Netflix releases *I Will Find You*.[6]
- Sept. 8, 2026: Publishes the memoir *Plot Twist*.[2]

## What's next

*Plot Twist*, a memoir published in September 2026, is his newest book.[2]

## Sources

1. [Bio](https://www.harlancoben.com/bio/). harlancoben.com (official site). (primary record)
2. [Plot Twist](https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/none/plot-twist/9781538784662/). Hachette Book Group. (primary record)
3. [Gone Before Goodbye by Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben to be published by Grand Central on October 14, 2025](https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/grand-central-publishing/gone-before-goodbye-by-reese-witherspoon-and-harlan-coben-to-be-published-by-grand-central-on-october-14-2025). Hachette Book Group. (primary record)
4. [Two New Harlan Coben Limited Series Adaptations Announced for Netflix](https://about.netflix.com/news/two-new-harlan-coben-limited-series-adaptations-announced-for-netflix). Netflix. (primary record)
5. [Harlan Coben's Upcoming Memoir 'Plot Twist' Offers Insights Into His Writing Journey](https://www.aol.com/articles/harlan-cobens-upcoming-memoir-plot-221120384.html). Parade (via AOL). (news)
6. ['I Will Find You' Netflix Harlan Coben Adaptation Sets June 2026 Release](https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/i-will-find-you-harlan-coben-adapation-series/). What's on Netflix. (news)
7. [Netflix's I Will Find You is now one of its biggest hits](https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/film-tv/2026/07/04/harlan-coben-thrillers-shows-netflix/). The National. (news)
8. [Harlan Coben](https://njhalloffame.org/?p=4224). New Jersey Hall of Fame. (reference)
9. [Coben, Harlan 1962–](https://encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/coben-harlan-1962). Encyclopedia.com (Contemporary Authors). (reference)
10. [Harlan Coben](https://wikiwand.com/en/articles/Harlan_Coben). Wikipedia (via Wikiwand). (reference)