Harlan Coben (born January 4, 1962) is an American writer.
Coben has won an Edgar Award, a Shamus Award, and an Anthony Award. His books have been translated into 46 languages and sold over 90 million copies.
Early life and education Harlan Coben was born on January 4, 1962, into a Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey, and was raised in Livingston, where he graduated from Livingston High School with future governor Chris Christie. His brother is the businessman Lawrence S. Coben.
He studied political science at Amherst College, where he was a member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity.
Career After graduating in 1984, Coben worked in the travel industry, in a company owned by his grandfather. He wrote his first book, romantic suspense thriller Play Dead, which was accepted and published in 1990. It was followed by Miracle Cure in 1991. He then began writing a series of thrillers featuring a former basketball player turned sports agent, Myron Bolitar, who often investigates murders involving his clients.
Tell No One, a stand-alone thriller, was published in 2001. A French film adaptation was released in 2006. Hold Tight, published on April 15, 2008, was his first book to debut at number 1 on the New York Times Best Seller list.
In 2003, Coben published a short story about his father, who died of a heart attack at the age of 59 in 1988. Titled "The Key to My Father," the story was published in The New York Times on Father's Day, June 15, 2003.
In 2025, Coben published his first co-authored novel, Gone Before Goodbye, with Reese Witherspoon.
Recognition and awards Coben's books have been translated into 46 languages and sold over 90 million copies. He has won an Edgar Award, a Shamus Award, and an Anthony Award.
In 2010, Live Wire won a Spanish crime fiction award, the RBA Prize for Crime Writing, worth €125,000.
In 2023, the Japanese edition of Win, translated by Toshiki Taguchi, was nominated for the Mystery Writers of Japan Award for Mystery Fiction in Translation.
List of nominations and wins Work Year & Award Category Result Ref.Deal Breaker1996 Anthony AwardsPaperback Original1996 Edgar Allan Poe AwardPaperback OriginalFade Away1997 Anthony AwardsPaperback Original1997 Barry AwardPaperback Original1997 Dilys Award1997 Edgar Allan Poe AwardPaperback Original1997 Shamus AwardP.I. Paperback OriginalBack Spin1998 Barry AwardPaperback Original1998 Dilys Award1998 Shamus AwardP.I. Paperback Original"A Simple Philosophy"1999 Anthony AwardsShort Story1999 Macavity AwardsMystery Short StoryTell No One2002 Anthony AwardsNovel2002 Macavity AwardsMystery Novel2002 Edgar Allan Poe AwardNovel2002 Barry AwardNovel2002 Audie AwardsMystery2003 Grand prix des lectrices de ElleCrime FictionThe Woods2007 Crime Writers' AssociationIan Fleming Steel DaggerHold Tight2009 International Thriller Writers AwardsThriller of the Year2009 Crimefest AwardsSounds of Crime AwardLong Lost2010 International Thriller Writers AwardsHardcover NovelLive Wire2010 RBA Prize for Crime Writing2011 Goodreads Choice AwardsMystery & ThrillerShelter2011 Agatha AwardChildren/Young Adult Fiction2012 Edgar Allan Poe AwardYoung Adult Novel2014 Rhode Island Teen Book AwardCaught2011 Edgar Allan Poe AwardNovelSeconds Away2012 Agatha AwardChildren/Young Adult FictionStay Close2012 Goodreads Choice AwardsMystery & ThrillerSix Years2013 Goodreads Choice AwardsMystery & ThrillerFound2014 Agatha AwardChildren/Young Adult FictionMissing You2014 Goodreads Choice AwardsMystery & Thriller2015 Audie AwardsMysteryThe Stranger2015 Goodreads Choice AwardsMystery & Thriller2015 Hammett PrizeFool Me Once2016 Goodreads Choice AwardsMystery & ThrillerHome2017 Audie AwardsThriller or SuspenseDon't Let Go2018 Audie AwardsThriller or SuspenseRun Away2019 Goodreads Choice AwardsMystery & ThrillerThe Boy from the Woods2020 Goodreads Choice AwardsMystery & Thriller2021 Barry AwardNovelWin2023 Mystery Writers of Japan AwardMystery Fiction in Translation/Double Copper AwardI Will Find You2024 Audie AwardsThriller or Suspense2009 Crime Thriller AwardsITV3 Writer's Award for Favourite Crime Genre Author (Public Vote)2013 Crime Thriller AwardsITV3 Crime Thriller Living Legends2017 New Jersey Hall of FameArts & Letters2019 International Thriller Writers AwardsSilver Bullet Award
Adaptations Coben's first book to be adapted for the screen was Tell No One. Director Guillaume Canet made a French-language film, based on the book, titled Ne le dis à personne, in 2006.
Coben's 2003 book No Second Chance became the basis for the 2015 French miniseries of the same name. Two years later the same happened to Just One Look.
Coben is the creator of the British crime drama television show The Five, which first aired in April 2016 on the Sky 1 channel in the United Kingdom. Coben also created the French-British crime drama television show Safe, which premiered on Netflix in 190 countries on May 10, 2018.
Coben often acts as executive producer on his television series, frequently through his company Final Twist Productions and Quay Street Productions.
Several other television adaptations of Coben's work have since been made, in addition to original programming.
Film and TV series Early adaptations The first of Coben's works to receive the screen treatment was his 2001 novel Tell No One, which was adapted into a 2006 French film of the same name. The film was a box office success and was widely praised, being nominated for nine César Awards, and winning four. Two further novels were adapted as miniseries for France's TF1 broadcaster: 2015's No Second Chance and 2017's Just One Look.
The 2016 Sky1 drama The Five was an original series created by Coben, who followed suit with the C8/Netflix show Safe.
Netflix In August 2018, following the success of Safe, Coben signed a multi-million-dollar, five-year contract with Netflix. Under the deal, 14 of his novels would be developed into series or films, with him serving as executive producer on all of them. The first one was The Stranger which premiered in January 2020. In October 2022, Netflix extended the deal for another four years, with the Myron Bolitar novel series now also available for adaptation. On February 20, 2023, Fool Me Once was announced as an upcoming adaptation in production for Netflix. , in addition to the original Safe, 12 series have been released under the Netflix deal; the series have been produced in different countries, with six in English, three in Polish, two in Spanish, and one in French as the original languages. Myron Bolitar and The Woods English-language television series adaptations are also in the works at Netflix.
Others In 2022, Amazon Studios announced plans to produce a series based on the first Mickey Bolitar novel, Shelter. Jaden Michael stars as Mickey, alongside Constance Zimmer, Adrian Greensmith, Abby Corrigan, and Sage Linder. The series, Harlan Coben's Shelter, was released on August 18, 2023. In 2025, Prime Video released the series Lazarus, based on an original concept by Coben.
As of 2026, Coben hosts the true crime documentary series Harlan Coben's Final Twist for CBS.
List of films Title (English & LOTE)Country of originLanguageDirectorReleaseTell No OneFranceFrenchGuillaume CanetNovember 1, 2006
List of TV series Title (English & LOTE)Country of originLanguageEpisodesPremiereFinalePlatformNo Second ChanceFranceFrench6October 15, 2015October 29, 2015TF1The FiveUnited KingdomEnglish10April 15, 2016May 13, 2016Sky OneJust One Look FranceFrench6June 7, 2017June 29, 2017TF1SafeUnited KingdomEnglish8May 10, 2018C8, NetflixThe StrangerUnited KingdomEnglish8January 30, 2020NetflixThe Woods PolandPolish6June 12, 2020NetflixThe InnocentSpainSpanish8April 30, 2021NetflixGone for GoodFranceFrench5August 13, 2021NetflixStay CloseUnited KingdomEnglish8December 31, 2021NetflixHold TightPolandPolish6April 22, 2022NetflixShelterUnited StatesEnglish8August 18, 2023September 22, 2023Amazon Prime VideoFool Me OnceUnited KingdomEnglish8January 1, 2024Netflix Missing YouUnited KingdomEnglish5January 1, 2025Netflix Just One Look PolandPolish6March 5, 2025NetflixCaughtArgentinaSpanish6March 26, 2025NetflixLazarusUnited KingdomEnglish6October 22, 2025Amazon Prime VideoRun AwayUnited KingdomEnglish8January 1, 2026NetflixI Will Find YouUnited StatesEnglish8June 18, 2026NetflixHarlan Coben's Final Twist United StatesEnglish5January 4, 2026presentCBSMyron BolitarUnited StatesEnglishNetflixThe Woods United KingdomEnglish8Netflix
Personal life Coben lives in Ridgewood, New Jersey, with his wife, Anne Armstrong-Coben, a pediatrician, and their four children. His daughter, Charlotte, wrote two episodes of the TV series Run Away, of which he is an executive producer. They have also worked together on Dead Hot, Fool Me Once, and Harlan Coben's Shelter.
Published works Series Year Title Myron Bolitar 1995 Deal Breaker 1996 Drop Shot Fade Away 1997 Back Spin 1998 One False Move 1999 The Final Detail 2000 Darkest Fear 2006 Promise Me 2009 Long Lost 2011 Live Wire 2016 Home 2024 Think Twice Mickey Bolitar(1st Myron Bolitar spin-off series) 2011 Shelter 2012 Seconds Away 2014 Found Sami Kierce 2016 Fool Me Once 2025 Nobody's Fool Wilde 2020 The Boy from the Woods 2022 The Match Windsor Horne Lockwood III(2nd Myron Bolitar spin-off series) 2021 Win Standalone novels 1990 Play Dead 1991 Miracle Cure 2001 Tell No One 2002 Gone for Good 2003 No Second Chance 2004 Just One Look 2005 The Innocent 2007 The Woods 2008 Hold Tight 2010 Caught 2012 Stay Close 2013 Six Years 2014 Missing You 2015 The Stranger 2016 The Magical Fantastical Fridge 2017 Don't Let Go 2019 Run Away 2023 I Will Find You2025Gone Before Goodbye
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