Nobody's Fool by Harlan Coben

A year after the devastating events that took place in Fool Me Once, Harlan Coben’s bestselling thriller and #1 Netflix series, a secret from former Detective Sami Kierce's college days comes back to haunt him. Present day is hard enough for the disgraced Kierce, but his past isn’t through with him yet…

MALAGA – 2000
Sami Kierce, a young man backpacking in Spain with friends, wakes up one morning. He is covered in blood. There’s a knife in his hand. Beside him, the body of a woman. Anna. Dead. He doesn’t know what happened. He begins to scream.

NEW YORK CITY – 2025
Kierce, now a disgraced detective, is teaching night classes when he recognizes a familiar face in the crowd. Anna. It’s unmistakably her. As soon as Kierce makes eye contact with her, she runs. 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 day.

His investigation will bring him face-to-face with his past. Soon he discovers that some secrets should stay buried . . .

Kindle Edition, 352 pages

Expected publication March 25, 2025

 by Grand Central Publishing

4/5 stars

Book 2 in the Detective Sammi Kierce Series takes place over two timelines. One being 2000 in Malaga  and the other current day in New York City. First introduced to Sammi in Fool Me Once where he had a low profile, here he takes centre stage as his past comes back to haunt him. 

What follows is in engaging story that came with the usual Harlan Cohen style in terms of red herrings, twists, unreliable characters and an interesting plot. Though it did take me a little bit to get captivated with the story once I did I was thoroughly entertained as I tried to decipher the clues and figure out what was actually taking place. There were many layers that wove together to an ending I really didn't see coming - that's why Harlan Coben is one of my auto-read author, he keeps me guessing.

My thanks to Grand Central Publishing for a digital arc in exchange for a honest review.  You can find Nobody’s Fool on sale March 25

Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben

Former special ops pilot Maya, home from the war, sees an unthinkable image captured by her nanny cam while she is at work: her two-year-old daughter playing with Maya’s husband, Joe—who had been brutally murdered two weeks earlier. The provocative question at the heart of the mystery: can you believe everything you see with your own eyes, even when you desperately want to? To find the answer, Maya must finally come to terms with deep secrets and deceit in her own past before she can face the unbelievable truth about her husband—and herself.

Hardcover, 387 pages

Published March 22, 2016

 by Dutton

4.5/5 stars

Recently I received an arc for book 2 in the Sami Kierce Series, Nobody's Fool so it only stands for a reason that I need to read book 1 which is Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben.

I’ve yet to be disappointed in any books I’ve read of his so I was pretty excited to hunker down with this one. The book opened with Maya at the funeral for my husband who was murdered two weeks prior. 

A former special ops pilot, Maya is back in the States with her two year-old daughter. She starts to obsess about what happened with her husband when a nanny cam shows her dead husband in the house. What follows is a fast paced suspense story that kept me glued to the pages. Actually, I did a combo read and listen to the audiobook. The audio was excellent. 

 Along with the baggage of her husband, there are parts of Maya's life that she is dealing with, and as she digs deeper, many secrets that are uncovered, until the ending which I did not seeing coming at all.

Harlan Coben has again delivered an addicting read that was suspenseful. Though the series is named for Detective Sammy Kierce he does not play a predominant role like I thought he would. Book 2 in the series entitled, Nobody’s Fool releases on March 25 and from the blurb he takes center stage.

My copy of this book was obtained through CloudLibrary and the audio through Everand. Well browsing through my bookshelf at home I found have a physical copy so it fits into my 2025 reading off my shelf challenge.

Shelter, Seconds Away and Found by Harlan Coben

Mickey Bolitar's year can't get much worse. After witnessing his father's death and sending his mom to rehab, he's forced to live with his estranged uncle Myron and switch high schools.

A new school comes with new friends and new enemies, and lucky for Mickey, it also comes with a great new girlfriend, Ashley. For a while, it seems like Mickey's train-wreck of a life is finally improving - until Ashley vanishes without a trace. Unwilling to let another person walk out of his life, Mickey follows Ashley's trail into a seedy underworld that reveals that this seemingly sweet, shy girl isn't who she claimed to be. And neither was Mickey's father. Soon, Mickey learns about a conspiracy so shocking that it makes high school drama seem like a luxury - and leaves him questioning everything about the life he thought he knew.

First introduced to readers in Harlan Coben's latest adult novel, Live Wire, Mickey Bolitar is as quick-witted and clever as his uncle Myron, and eager to go to any length to save the people he cares about. With this new series, Coben introduces an entirely new generation of fans to the masterful plotting and wry humor that have made him an award-winning, internationally bestselling, and beloved author.

Hardcover, 288 pages

Published September 15, 2011

 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

4/5 stars

This review is for the whole series not just the first in this YA trilogy.  Not only did I want to read this because of the author but I pushed it to the top of my reading pile so that I was prepared for the Amazon Prime Series.  I made it in time.

Still a new Coben reader I'm still learning the who is who in the world of the Bolitar's.  Plus I only included the blurb for the 1st book, Shelter to avoid spoilers.

Shelter begins as Mickey is still mourning the loss of his father and the subsequence addiction issues his mothers faces in her grief. Living with his estranged uncle, in a new town, is new for Mickey.  It's when the town crazy lady, aka The Bat Lady, tells Mickey his father is still alive that sets this book in motion.  There are strange happenings, disappearances and unfriendly classmates.  But there is also Spoons and Ema, who turn into reluctant and unexpected friends. 

This series is about loss, mystery, family, friendships and much more. As each book has its own drama, ultimately it is about Mickey and his family and the friendships that develop. As to what happened with Bat Lady and her statement, well you will have to read the book to find out.

As for the Prime Series, yes there were changes made and as usual I enjoyed the books more - which really isn't unusual for me.

My print copies of this series was obtained through my public library as well as audiobooks via Scribd.

I Will Find You by Harlan Coben

An innocent father serving life for the murder of his own son receives evidence that his child may still be alive, and must break out of prison to find out the truth in #1 New York Times bestselling author Harlan Coben’s latest breathtaking thriller.

David and Cheryl Burroughs were living the dream life when tragedy struck. Now, five years after that terrible night, Cheryl is remarried. And David is serving a life sentence in a maximum-security prison for the brutal murder of their son.

Then Cheryl’s sister, Rachel, arrives unexpectedly during visiting hours and drops a bombshell. She’s come with a photograph that a friend took on vacation at a theme park with a boy in the background who has a familiar, distinctive birthmark … and even though David and Rachel realize it can’t be, they both just know. It's David’s son, Matthew, and he's still alive.

David plans a harrowing escape from prison, determined to do what seems impossible–save his son, clear his own name, and discover the real story of what happened that devastating night.

Kindle Edition, 400 pages

Expected publication: March 14, 2023

 by Grand Central Publishing

4/5 stars

Harlan Coben's highly anticipated new book is set to release next week, and it promised to be a gripping read. The story revolves around a parent's worst nightmare - the loss of a child. David, the father of three-year-old Matthew, is accused and convicted of his son's murder, and is now serving time in prison. Despite his claims of innocence, David accepts his punishment, because the way he sees it, he is at fault because he didn't protect Matthew.

"I Will Find You" is a heart-wrenching tale, especially when David is given a glimmer of hope that his son may still be alive. What follows is a thrilling game of cat and mouse as he evades law enforcement to unravel the mystery of that fateful night. With nice sized chapters it was easy to say, JustOneMoreChapter (pun intended), in fact I read this in a matter of days.  There were parts of the book I needed to see how the author was going to pull it off and he did (as usual). 

 A well written suspenseful story that would be a perfect fit for anyone who loves a good mystery.

My thanks to Grand Central Publishing for a digital arc in exchange for a honest review.

Win (Windsor Horne Lockwood III #1) by Harlan Coben

From a #1 New York Times bestselling author comes this thrilling story that shows what happens when a dead man's secrets fall into the hands of vigilante antihero—drawing him down a dangerous road.

Over twenty years ago, the heiress Patricia Lockwood was abducted during a robbery of her family's estate, then locked inside an isolated cabin for months. Patricia escaped, but so did her captors — and the items stolen from her family were never recovered.

Until now. On the Upper West Side, a recluse is found murdered in his penthouse apartment, alongside two objects of note: a stolen Vermeer painting and a leather suitcase bearing the initials WHL3. For the first time in years, the authorities have a lead — not only on Patricia's kidnapping, but also on another FBI cold case — with the suitcase and painting both pointing them toward one man.

Windsor Horne Lockwood III — or Win, as his few friends call him — doesn't know how his suitcase and his family's stolen painting ended up with a dead man. But his interest is piqued, especially when the FBI tells him that the man who kidnapped his cousin was also behind an act of domestic terrorism — and that the conspirators may still be at large. The two cases have baffled the FBI for decades, but Win has three things the FBI doesn't: a personal connection to the case; an ungodly fortune; and his own unique brand of justice. 

Hardcover, 375 pages

Audiobook, 10 hrs, 35 minutes

Published March 16th 2021 

by Grand Central Publishing

4/5 stars

I am a relatively new Harlan Coban fan, I thoroughly enjoyed his books The Boy From the Woods and  The Match. When I started reading Win there were familiar names and mannerisms from my two previous reads, which has me itching to read more of his books. That being said this is the beginning of a new series.

This ended up being an audio read for me, I did start reading it but felt the narrators voice reflected the character and made for a very enjoyable listen. Steve Weber was the narrator.

Win a.k.a. Windsor Horne Lockwood III, is a mysterious character with loads of money, not much of a conscience and thinks himself smarter than most. What follows is an intriguing story that involves the past that his family would like to forget, with old wounds, old mysteries and family strife. This tightly woven story was suspenseful with some witty banter to relief tension at the opportune moments. 

 I already have a copy of  Deal Breaker, the beginning of the Myron Bolitar Series which also features Win, but in no way do you have to read it first.  

I won this book from Grand Central Publishing back when it was first released.

The Match by Harlan Coben

'At the age of somewhere between 35 and 45 - he didn't know exactly how old he was - Wilde found his father ...'

Wilde has grown up knowing nothing of his family, and even less about his own identity. All he knows is that, as a young child, he was found living a feral existence in the Ramapo mountains of New Jersey.

He became known simply as Wilde, the boy from the woods.

Now Wilde has had a hit on the DNA website he has been researching. A 100% match. His father. They meet up, and Wilde soon realises that his father doesn't even know he had a son and is as mystified as Wilde is by his existence.

Undaunted, Wilde continues his research for his family on DNA websites where he becomes caught up in a community of online doxxers, a secret group committed to exposing anonymous trolls.

Then one by one these doxxers start to die, and it soon becomes clear that a serial killer is targeting this secret community - and that his next victim might be Wilde himself ...

Kindle Edition, 400 pages 

Expected publication March 15, 2022

by Grand Central Publishing

4.5/5 stars

The Match releases today and is the highly sought after sequel to The Boy From the Woods.

The opening lines set the tone, opening the door for intrigue, mystery and some belief suspending.

"At the age of somewhere between forty and forty-two - he didn't know exactly how old he was - Wilde finally found his father.'

What follows is a journey of discovery with some wonderful characters being revisited.  I was gently reminded of things from the previous book in a non-dumping way. It was a twisty story in the sense of lots going on and that feeling of uncertainty with some unreliable characters.  I enjoyed getting to know Wilde better, what makes him tick and the same could be said for Hester, how old wounds needed to heal. (I need to read Coben's backlist to see more of her). 

The Match could be read as a standalone but I feel for the full experience you should read The Boy from the Woods first. It is a well written, intricately woven story with many layers that all mesh together nicely in the end. As for the ending, it was fitting, it explained a lot and figures cross this series will continue.

My thanks to Grand Central Publishing for an advanced digital copy in exchange for a honest review.

The Boy from the Woods by Harlan Coben

Thirty years ago, Wilde was found as a boy living feral in the woods, with no memory of his past. Now an adult, he still doesn't know where he comes from, and another child has gone missing.

No one seems to take Naomi Pine's disappearance seriously, not even her father-with one exception. Hester Crimstein, a television criminal attorney, knows through her grandson that Naomi was relentlessly bullied at school. Hester asks Wilde-with whom she shares a tragic connection-to use his unique skills to help find Naomi.

Wilde can't ignore an outcast in trouble, but in order to find Naomi he must venture back into the community where he has never fit in, a place where the powerful are protected even when they harbor secrets that could destroy the lives of millions . . . secrets that Wilde must uncover before it's too late.

Hardcover ,371 pages 

First published March 17, 2020

by Grand Central Publishing

4.5/5 stars

I'm new to Harlan Coben books.  Grand Central Publishing graciously sent me The Match for review, which happens to be the sequel to this book and releases March 15th.  So here I am.

I wasn't sure what to expect given the title and not reading the blurb. But suffice to say this book grabbed me right from the beginnings.

Told from a couple different view points I got to know Hester, a feisty tv lawyer, grandmother/widow and a hoot.  I loved her, her one liners and bantering made me smile and want to read more about her (apparently she is in a Coben series as well - make room tbr pile.)  Wilde, the little boy lost in the woods is now an adult.  Driven, secretive, a survivalist and caring all at the same time.

Throw in a missing teen or two, some suspicious individuals, political intrigue made this layered story a pleasure to read.  Though political stuff isn't really my thing this one wasn't hard to follow.

The Boy from the Woods is a mystery with family drama, great characters a plot that kept me guessing along with the anticipation of seeing these guys in The Match (review coming tomorrow).

This book was part of my 2022 Reading Off My Shelf Challenge (#9)