Skip to main content

Harlan Coben

Biography

Harlan Coben

Harlan Coben is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and one of the world’s leading storytellers. His suspense novels are published in 46 languages and have been number one bestsellers in more than a dozen countries, with 80 million books in print worldwide. His Myron Bolitar series has earned the Edgar, Shamus and Anthony Awards, and several of his books have been developed into Netflix original series, including "The Stranger," "The Innocent," "Gone for Good," "The Woods," "Stay Close" and "Hold Tight," as well as the upcoming Amazon Prime series adaptation of SHELTER. He lives in New Jersey.

Books by Harlan Coben

by Harlan Coben - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

David Burroughs was once a devoted father to his three-year-old son Matthew, living a dream life just a short drive away from the working-class suburb where he and his wife, Cheryl, first fell in love --- until one fateful night when David woke suddenly to discover Matthew had been murdered. Half a decade later, David has been wrongly accused and convicted of the murder, left to serve out his time in a maximum-security prison. Then Cheryl’s younger sister, Rachel, makes a surprise appearance during visiting hours bearing a strange photograph. It’s a vacation shot of a bustling amusement park a friend shared with her, and in the background is a boy bearing an eerie resemblance to David’s son. Even though it can’t be, David just knows: Matthew is still alive.

by Harlan Coben - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

A DNA match on an online ancestry database brings Wilde closer to his past than he’s ever dreamed and finally gives him the opening he needs to track down his father. But meeting the man brings up more questions than answers. So Wilde reaches out to his last, most desperate lead: a second cousin who disappears as quickly as he resurfaces, having experienced an epic fall from grace. Was his cousin’s downfall a long time coming? Or was he the victim of a conspiracy as cunning as it is complex? And how does it all connect to the man once known as The Stranger, a treacherous fugitive with a growing following whose mission and methods have only turned more dangerous with time?

by Harlan Coben - Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller

Over 20 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.

by Harlan Coben - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

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.

by Harlan Coben - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

You've lost your daughter. She's addicted to drugs and to an abusive boyfriend. And she's made it clear that she doesn't want to be found. Then, by chance, you see her playing guitar in Central Park. But she's not the girl you remember. This woman is living on the edge, frightened and clearly in trouble. You don't stop to think. You approach her, beg her to come home. She runs. And you do the only thing a parent can do: you follow her into a dark and dangerous world you never knew existed. Before you know it, both your family and your life are on the line. And in order to protect your daughter from the evils of that world, you must face them head on.

by Harlan Coben - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Suburban New Jersey Detective Napoleon “Nap” Dumas hasn't been the same since senior year of high school, when his twin brother Leo and Leo’s girlfriend Diana were found dead on the railroad tracks --- and Maura, the girl Nap considered the love of his life, broke up with him and disappeared without explanation. For 15 years, Nap has been searching, both for Maura and for the real reason behind his brother's death. And now, it looks as though he may finally find what he's been looking for. When Maura's fingerprints turn up in the rental car of a suspected murderer, Nap embarks on a quest for answers that only leads to more questions --- mostly about Leo and Diana, whose deaths are darker and far more sinister than Nap ever dared imagine.

by Harlan Coben - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

A decade ago, kidnappers grabbed two boys from wealthy families and demanded ransom, then went silent. No trace of the boys ever surfaced. For 10 years their families have been left with nothing but painful memories and a quiet desperation for the day that has finally, miraculously arrived: Myron Bolitar and his friend, Win, believe they have located one of the boys, now a teenager. Where has he been for 10 years, and what does he know about the day, more than half a life ago, when he was taken? And most critically: What can he tell Myron and Win about the fate of his missing friend?

by Harlan Coben - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Lee Stone is a 21st century woman: she kicks butt at her job as a communications director at a women-run electric car company and after work she is “Stoner,” drinking guys under the table and never letting any of them get too comfortable in her bed… That’s because Lee’s learned one big lesson: never trust men. Four major heartbreaks set her straight, from her father cheating on her mom to Ben Laderman in grad school --- who wasn’t actually cheating, but she could have sworn he was. Then Ben shows up five years later as a policy expert for the most liberal governor in Texas history, just as Lee is trying to get a clean energy bill rolling. Things get complicated as Lee and Ben are forced to work together. Tension builds as old sparks reignite, fanning the flames for a romantic dustup the size of Texas.

by Harlan Coben - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

The Stranger appears out of nowhere. His identity is unknown, and his motives are unclear. But his information is undeniable. He whispers a few words in your ear and disappears, leaving you picking up the pieces of your shattered world. Adam Price has a lot to lose: a comfortable marriage to a beautiful woman, two wonderful sons, and all the trappings of the American Dream. Then he runs into the Stranger. When he learns a devastating secret about his wife, he confronts her, and the mirage of perfection disappears as if it never existed at all.

by Harlan Coben - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

On an online dating site, NYPD Detective Kat Donovan finds the profile of her ex-fiancé Jeff, the man who shattered her heart and who she hasn’t seen in 18 years. Kat feels a spark, wondering if this might be the moment when past tragedies recede and a new world opens up to her. But when she reaches out to the man in the profile, her reawakened hope quickly darkens into suspicion and then terror as an unspeakable conspiracy comes to light.

written by Harlan Coben, read by January LaVoy - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

On an online dating site, NYPD Detective Kat Donovan finds the profile of her ex-fiancé Jeff, the man who shattered her heart and who she hasn’t seen in 18 years. Kat feels a spark, wondering if this might be the moment when past tragedies recede and a new world opens up to her. But when she reaches out to the man in the profile, her reawakened hope quickly darkens into suspicion and then terror as an unspeakable conspiracy comes to light.

written by Harlan Coben, read by Scott Brick - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Six years have passed since Jake Fisher watched Natalie, the love of his life, marry another man. When Jake comes across Todd’s obituary, he can’t keep himself away from the funeral. There he gets the glimpse of Todd’s wife he’s hoping for…but she is not Natalie. Whoever the mourning widow is, she’s been married to Todd for almost two decades, and with that fact everything Jake thought he knew about the best time of his life is turned completely inside out.

by Harlan Coben - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Six years have passed since Jake Fisher watched Natalie, the love of his life, marry another man. When Jake comes across Todd’s obituary, he can’t keep himself away from the funeral. There he gets the glimpse of Todd’s wife he’s hoping for…but she is not Natalie. Whoever the mourning widow is, she’s been married to Todd for almost two decades, and with that fact everything Jake thought he knew about the best time of his life is turned completely inside out.

by Harlan Coben - Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Young Adult 12+

When tragedy strikes close to home, Mickey Bolitar and his loyal new friends find themselves at the center of a terrifying mystery involving the shooting of their friend Rachel. Now, not only does Mickey have to continue his quest to uncover the truth about the Abeona Shelter, the Butcher of Lodz and the mysterious death of his father, he needs to figure out who shot Rachel --- no matter what it takes.

by Harlan Coben - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Three people living lives they never wanted, hiding secrets that even those closest to them would never suspect, will find that the past doesn't recede. Even as the terrible consequences of long-ago events crash together in the present and threaten to ruin lives, they will come to the startling realization that they may not want to forget the past at all.

edited by Harlan Coben and Otto Penzler - Fiction, Mystery, Short Stories

Bestselling novelist Harlan Coben, a master of suspense and creator of the critically-acclaimed Myron Bolitar series, edits this latest collection of the must-reads in mysteries from the past year.

by Harlan Coben - Fiction, Mystery, Young Adult 12+

After witnessing his father’s death and sending his mom to rehab, Mickey Bolitar is forced to live with his estranged uncle and move to a new high school. Things start to improve when Mickey gets a new girlfriend, Ashley --- until she disappears. In search of Ashley, Mickey is lured into a seedy underworld that obscures his reality and calls into question everything he once knew.

by Harlan Coben - Fiction, Thriller

When Myron Bolitar gets involved in the family drama of his former tennis star client and her rock star husband, he discovers secrets about his own family, specifically his brother, who abandoned the Bolitars long ago.