Known for his bestselling books and edge-of-your-seat TV thrillers, Harlan Coben is a master at creating mysteries. Popular worldwide, he has sold over 80 million books and his shows often bag the number one spot. There's no doubt you've probably come across some of his work at one point or another, but in case you want to learn more about this American author's work, here's everything you need to know.
Harlan Coben Netflix
Thanks to a fruitful partnership with Netflix, there are plenty of Harlan Coben series... The only problem you'll have is deciding which one to binge-watch first!
New Harlan Coben TV series
In January 2024, Netflix announced that they're making two more TV shows with Harlan Coben called Missing You and Run Away. Not much has been announced about these limited series, but we'll be sure to keep you updated.
Run Away (Date TBA)
Here's the synopsis from Netflix: 'Simon had the perfect life: loving wife and kids, great job, beautiful home. But then his eldest daughter Paige ran away and everything fell apart. So now when he finds her, vulnerable and strung out on drugs in a city park, he finally has the chance to bring his little girl home. But it turns out she’s not alone and an argument escalates into shocking violence that will shatter Simon’s life all over again. His search for his daughter will take him into a dangerous underworld, revealing deep secrets that could tear his family apart forever.'
AmazonMissing You (Date TBA)
Missing you will start production in Spring 2024. This is what the show will be about, according to Netflix: 'Eleven years ago Detective Kat Donovan's fiancé Josh – the love of her life – disappeared and she's never heard from him since. Now, swiping profiles on a dating app, she suddenly sees his face and her world explodes all over again. Josh's reappearance will force her to dive back into the mystery surrounding her father’s murder and uncover long-buried secrets from her past.'
AmazonFool Me Once (2024)
The latest addition to the cannon, Fool Me Once was adapted from one of Harlan Coben's bestselling books. Released on New Years Day, it stars Michelle Keegan (Our Girl, Coronation Street, Brassic) as Maya, a widow who finds her husband Joe (Richard Armitage - The Hobbit, Obsession, North and South) to be seemingly alive on a nanny cam after he was brutally murdered in front of her.
Fool Me Once also stars Adeel Akhtar (Sherwood, Stranger Things, Four Lions), Joanna Lumley (Absolutely Fabulous, Finding Alice) Dino Fetscher (Paranoid, Years and Years) and Emmet J. Scanlan (Hollyoaks, The Tower).
Not long after it was made available to stream, the show went to number one in the UK and was in the top ten in 91 countries.
Hold Tight (2022)
Another book adaptation and this time it's a Polish drama (which can be watched with subtitles or dubbing). A young man goes missing from his home in an affluent Warsaw neighbourhood. The cast includes Magdalena Boczarsk, Krzysztof Oleksyn, Grzegorz Damięcki and Leszek Lichota.
Stay Close (2021)
Three people living seemingly separate lives become linked by past drama and crimes as a man goes missing 17 years to the night that another man did. The star-studded cast includes Cush Jumbo (The Good Wife, Criminal Record) Richard Armitage, James Nesbitt (Cold Feet, The Missing), Sarah Parish (Bancroft, W1A), Jo Joyner (EastEnders, Shakespeare and Hathaway) and comedian Eddie Izzard.
The Woods (2020)
Lockdown brought us The Woods, another Harlan Coben show set in Poland. A prosecutor is given hope when evidence found on the body of a murder victim is potentially linked to his sister that went missing 25 years ago. Grzegorz Damięcki, Ewa Skibińska and Wiktoria Filus are part of the cast.
The Stranger (2020)
2020 may not have a been a great year thanks to the pandemic, but it did give us time to watch lots of television and along with Normal People and Tiger King, The Stranger became the show that everyone was talking about.
Released in January 2020, it stars Richard Armitage (there seems to be a theme with Armitage and Coben dramas, as he has currently starred in a hattrick of them), Hannah John-Karmen (Ant-Man and the Wasp), Siobhan Finneran (Happy Valley, Benidorm), Jacob Dudman and Jennifer Saunders (Absolutely Fabulous, French and Saunders) in her very first dramatic/non-comedic role.
It centres around a family man trying to get to the truth after a stranger makes a shocking claim about his wife.
Safe (2018)
Safe was one of the first Harlan Coben Netflix shows to be produced. It follows a widowed surgeon who unearths secrets hidden by those close to him as his daughter goes missing.
Michael C. Hall (Dexter), Amanda Abbington (Sherlock, Mr Selfridge), Emmett J. Scanlan (Kin, The Deceived), Marc Warren (Mad Dogs, Van Der Valk) and Hannah Arterton (also in The Five by Harlan Coben) are some of the actors who make up the cast.
Harlan Coben series
As well as Netflix shows, Harlan Coben has created movies and limited series for other channels including Prime Video and Sky.
Shelter (2023)
Harlan Coben's Shelter is a young adult crime fiction show that has been adapted from the first Mickey Bolitar book of the same name. It was produced by Amazon Studios.
The cast of Harlan Coben's Shelter (as pictured above) include Jaden Michael as Mickey, Brian Altemus as Troy, Brandon Curry as Agent, Samantha Bugliaro as Ashley, Alexa Mareca as Whitney and Antonio Cipriano as Buck.
The Five (2016)
Written by Harlan Coben, The Five is a police procedural show that was made for Sky One. It's not based on any of his books.
Four friends were tasked with looking after a child who subsequently went missing, Decades later, they must face ghosts from their past as the DNA of the missing child turns up at a crime scene.
The cast of The Five includes Lee Ingleby (The A Word, Innocent, Inspector George Gently), Sarah Solemani (Him & Her, Bad Education), O.T Fagbenle (The Handmaid's Tale, The First Lady) and Tom Cullen (My Son, The Gold).
Harlan Coben books
Whether you're more of a bibliophile than a boxset binger, or you love the shows so much you want to read the stories that they were adapted from, there are plenty of books by Harlan Coben to sink your teeth into; his first book was published in 1995 and he's still writing now.
Similarly to his shows, there are several book series to enjoy, as well as standalone books. Here are the Harlan Coben books in order (by series). We have also noted if they have been adapted and what collection they're from.
Harlan Coben standalone books:
•Play Dead
•Miracle Cure
•Tell No One
•Gone For Good
**•**No Second Chance (adapted by VAB)
•Just One Look
•The Innocent
•The Woods (adapted for Netflix)
•Hold Tight (adapted for Netflix)
•Caught
•Stay Close (adapted for Netflix)
•Six Years
•Missing You
•The Stranger
•The Magical Fantastical Fridge
•Fool Me Once (adapted for Netflix)
•Don't Let Go
•Run Away
•I Will Find You
Harlan Coben Myron Bolitar series:
•Deal Breaker
•Drop Shot
•Fade Away
•Back Spin
•One False Move
•The Final Detail
•Darkest Fear
•Promise Me
•Long Lost
•Live Wire
•Home
Harlan Coben Mickey Bolitar series:
•Shelter (adapted for Prime Video)
•Seconds Away
•Found
This is the first Myron Bolitar spin-off series.
Harlan Coben Wilde series:
•The Boy from the Woods
•The Match
Harlan Coben Windsor Horne Lockwood III series:
•Win
This is the second Myron Bolitar spin-off series.
Harlan Coben new books
Think Twice will be the latest story to join the Harlan Coben book collection.
Harlan Coben social media
For all of the latest news on Harlan Coben movies, TV shows and books, as well as behind the scenes posts, you can follow his Instagram page @harlancoben.
Arabella Horspool is a Commercial Content Writer for Yours at Bauer Media. She's a bookworm who enjoys cooking and spending time with her many pets.