NEW HARLAN COBEN BOOK FOR 2025 – NOBODY’S FOOL – AND LOOKING BACK AT MISSING YOU BEFORE ITS RELEASE ON NETFLIX!
Harlan Coben is one of the most popular authors in the world today and his books are always a ‘must read’. In recent years the success of his twisty, unpredictable novels has been enhanced by a well produced succession of Netflix mini-series based on his books, which have ramped up interest and cemented his standing as a leading international storyteller.
Harlan’s books are always a highlight of the year and his new one for 2025 sounds great. Nobody’s Fool (Century, 25 March 2025) features Detective Sami Kierce who we last saw in Fool Me Once (2016). Kierce only had a relatively minor role in Fool Me Once, although it was enhanced and expanded in the Netflix adaption which screened in early 2024. Adeel Akhtar played the part of Kierce in the Netflix adaption and gave the character more depth than he had in the book. Apparently watching Akhtar’s performance and the extra scenes written for the character, inspired Coben to go back and revisit the character, and give Kierce his own book. The result is Nobody’s Fool.
The publishers have provided the following information on the plot of Nobody’s Fool (Century, 25 March 2025):
“A year after the devastating events that took place in Fool Me Once, a secret from former Detective Sami Kierce’s college days comes back to haunt him. Present day is hard enough for Kierce, but his past isn’t through with him yet.
Sami Kierce, a young college grad backpacking in Spain with friends, wakes up one morning, covered in blood. There’s a knife in his hand. Beside him, the body of his girlfriend. Anna. Dead. He begins to scream – and then he runs.
Twenty two years later, Kierce, now a private investigator, is a new father who’s working off his debts by teaching wannabe sleuths at a night school in New York City. One evening, he recognizes a familiar face at the back of the classroom. Anna. It’s unmistakably her. But as soon as he makes eye contact with her, she bolts.
For Kierce there is no choice. He knows he must find this woman and solve the impossible mystery that has haunted his every waking moment since that terrible day.
His investigation will bring him face-to-face with his past. Soon he discovers that some secrets should stay buried.”
Like all of Coben’s books, it sounds intriguing and I am very much looking forward to reading it in the New Year.
Before the arrival of Nobody’s Fool, however, we have a new Netflix adaption of Coben’s Missing You, starring the very talented Rosalind Eleazar from Slow Horses, and popular actors Richard Armitage and Ashley Walters, among others.
Missing You is based on Coben’s novel of the same name from 2014, and is one of his best books. The story revolves around the impulsive decision by a New York Detective, Kat Donovan, to look up an old flame with disastrous results. Missing You came in the middle of a golden streak for Coben. It followed the gripping Six Years and preceded The Stranger, which had a great set-up and a very unexpected final twist.
I had the pleasure of reviewing Missing You in 2014 for the Canberra Times and this is what I said at the time:
“Coben is the master of the intricate, tricky thriller. His latest opens with New York Detective Kat Donovan finding the photo of her ex-fiancé, Jeff, on a dating site. It has been 18 years since she has seen Jeff and in a drunken, lonely moment she tries to make contact. This simple action, however, sets in train a string of events that involve her in a dark conspiracy. This fast-moving novel grabs attention from the opening page and does not let go until the final surprise. Gripping, suspenseful and occasionally poignant, this is a great read.”
Canberra Times, 27 April 2014
I really enjoyed it and I have high hopes for the Netflix series. These British based adaptions of Coben’s books have worked really well, mainly due to the terrific casts and the flawless scripts. Missing You is very likely to maintain the same standards and is one of the first things I will be watching in 2025.
Finally, one last bit of Coben news. He also another book due out in 2025, a yet untitled collaboration with Reese Witherspoon. I always a little suspicious of celebrity collaborations, but I am certainly willing to give it a go when it is released in October 2025.