Harlan Coben

Harlan Coben studied at Amherst College and Livingston High School. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is literary activity, detective literature and thriller. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are thriller. Works named in the authority record are Myron Bolitar. Distinctions recorded are Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original, Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original, Shamus Award and Barry Award for Best Paperback Original.

• Name — Harlan Coben • Born — 4 January 1962 • Birthplace — Newark, New Jersey, U.S. • Occupation — Author • Education — Amherst College • Period — 1990–present • Genre — Mystery, thriller • Notable Works — Myron Bolitar series of novels • Spouse — Anne Helen Armstrong • Children — 4 • Awards — Anthony Award (1996), Edgar Award and Shamus Award (1997) • Website — harlancoben.com Harlan Coben (born January 4, 1962) is an American writer.

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.

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.

• Work — Year & Award — Category — Result — Ref. • Deal Breaker — 1996 Anthony Awards — Paperback Original • 1996 Edgar Allan Poe Award — Paperback Original • Fade Away — 1997 Anthony Awards — Paperback Original • 1997 Barry Award — Paperback Original • 1997 Dilys Award • 1997 Edgar Allan Poe Award — Paperback Original • 1997 Shamus Award — P.I. Paperback Original • Back Spin — 1998 Barry Award — Paperback Original • 1998 Dilys Award • 1998 Shamus Award — P.I. Paperback Original • "A Simple Philosophy" — 1999 Anthony Awards — Short Story • 1999 Macavity Awards — Mystery Short Story • Tell No One — 2002 Anthony Awards — Novel • 2002 Macavity Awards — Mystery Novel • 2002 Edgar Allan Poe Award — Novel • 2002 Barry Award — Novel • 2002 Audie Awards — Mystery • 2003 Grand prix des lectrices de Elle — Crime Fiction • The Woods — 2007 Crime Writers' Association — Ian Fleming Steel Dagger • Hold Tight — 2009 International Thriller Writers Awards — Thriller of the Year • 2009 Crimefest Awards — Sounds of Crime Award • Long Lost — 2010 International Thriller Writers Awards — Hardcover Novel • Live Wire — 2010 RBA Prize for Crime Writing • 2011 Goodreads Choice Awards — Mystery & Thriller • Shelter — 2011 Agatha Award — Children/Young Adult Fiction • 2012 Edgar Allan Poe Award — Young Adult Novel • 2014 Rhode Island Teen Book Award • Caught — 2011 Edgar Allan Poe Award — Novel • Seconds Away — 2012 Agatha Award — Children/Young Adult Fiction • Stay Close — 2012 Goodreads Choice Awards — Mystery & Thriller • Six Years — 2013 Goodreads Choice Awards — Mystery & Thriller • Found — 2014 Agatha Award — Children/Young Adult Fiction • Missing You — 2014 Goodreads Choice Awards — Mystery & Thriller • 2015 Audie Awards — Mystery • The Stranger — 2015 Goodreads Choice Awards — Mystery & Thriller • 2015 Hammett Prize • Fool Me Once — 2016 Goodreads Choice Awards — Mystery & Thriller • Home — 2017 Audie Awards — Thriller or Suspense • Don't Let Go — 2018 Audie Awards — Thriller or Suspense • Run Away — 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards — Mystery & Thriller • The Boy from the Woods — 2020 Goodreads Choice Awards — Mystery & Thriller • 2021 Barry Award — Novel • Win — 2023 Mystery Writers of Japan Award — Mystery Fiction in Translation/Double Copper Award • I Will Find You — 2024 Audie Awards — Thriller or Suspense • 2009 Crime Thriller Awards — ITV3 Writer's Award for Favourite Crime Genre Author (Public Vote) • 2013 Crime Thriller Awards — ITV3 Crime Thriller Living Legends • 2017 New Jersey Hall of Fame — Arts & Letters — Inducted • 2019 International Thriller Writers Awards — Silver Bullet Award

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.

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.

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. As of 2026 June, 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. A Myron Bolitar English-language television series is also in the works at Netflix.

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.

• Title (English & LOTE) — Country of origin — Language — Episodes — Premiere — Finale — Platform — Ref Reference • No Second Chance — (French: Une chance de trop) — France — French — 6 — October 15, 2015 — October 29, 2015 — TF1 • The Five — United Kingdom — English — 10 — April 15, 2016 — May 13, 2016 — Sky One • Just One Look — (French: Juste un regard) — France — French — 6 — June 7, 2017 — June 29, 2017 — TF1 • Safe — United Kingdom — English — 8 — May 10, 2018 — C8, Netflix • The Stranger — United Kingdom — English — 8 — January 30, 2020 — Netflix • The Woods — (Polish: W głębi lasu) — Poland — Polish — 6 — June 12, 2020 — Netflix • The Innocent — (Spanish: El inocente) — Spain — Spanish — 8 — April 30, 2021 — Netflix • Gone for Good — (French: Disparu à jamais) — France — French — 5 — August 13, 2021 — Netflix • Stay Close — United Kingdom — English — 8 — December 31, 2021 — Netflix • Hold Tight — (Polish: Zachowaj spokój) — Poland — Polish — 6 — April 22, 2022 — Netflix • Shelter — United States — English — 8 — August 18, 2023 — September 22, 2023 — Amazon Prime Video • Fool Me Once — United Kingdom — English — 8 — January 1, 2024 — Netflix • Missing You — United Kingdom — English — 5 — January 1, 2025 — Netflix • Just One Look — (Polish: Tylko jedno spojrzenie) — Poland — Polish — 6 — March 5, 2025 — Netflix • Caught — (Spanish: Atrapados) — Argentina — Spanish — 6 — March 26, 2025 — Netflix • Lazarus — United Kingdom — English — 6 — October 22, 2025 — Amazon Prime Video • Run Away — United Kingdom — English — 8 — January 1, 2026 — Netflix • I Will Find You — United States — English — 8 — June 18, 2026 — Netflix • Harlan Coben's Final Twist — United States — English — 5 — January 4, 2026 — present — CBS • Myron Bolitar — United States — English — Netflix

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.

Harlan Coben is recorded as having received Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original, Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original and Shamus Award. Recognition and collections. Coben received Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original, Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original, Shamus Award, Barry Award for Best Paperback Original and New Jersey Hall of Fame.