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Gone for Good

4.07 of 5 stars 4.07 · rating details · 14,796 ratings · 868 reviews

As a boy, Will Klein had a hero: his older brother, Ken. Then, on a warm suburban night in the Kleins’ affluent New Jersey neighborhood, a young woman—a girl Will had once loved—was found brutally murdered in her family’s basement. The prime suspect: Ken Klein. With the evidence against him overwhelming, Ken simply vanished. And when his shattered family never heard from K...more

Mass Market Paperback, 417 pages

Published December 18th 2007 by Dell (first published 2002)

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Jun 06, 2009 D. Pow rated it 2 of 5 stars

Yes, I did it again. I am addicted. It's like crack. or the crack of an ass. I can feel the damage being done to my brain as I read page after implausible page and I wince at phrase after ham-handed phrase but still I keep going. As McDonalds is to one's arteries so is Coben to ones brain. What is the cranial equivalent of an oxygen tank and an electric wheel chair, and a long day spent drooling through the aisles at Wal-mart? That is what Coben is, what he does to me. God, I hate him. God, I ha...more

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Feb 12, 2008 Sam rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Sam by: Dad

Coben is the King of the Plot Twist. Gone for Good is first of Harlan Coben's many novels that I have read and this one drew me is so much that I read it all in one day. Each chapter ends with a cliff hanger and that makes you want to keep reading. He also does a fantastic job of character development. If you enjoy a good mystery that will keep up on the edge and always guessing...I suggest Gone For Good.

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Sep 08, 2007 Angie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2007

I just finished this book and I feel like I've gone on a hell of a roller coaster ride without even leaving home. WOW! This book was absolutely incredible! Every time I thought I had it figured out, Coben came up with another twist to make me question my theories or spin them into nothing but complete chaos. The man is absolutely genius when it comes to thinking up plot twists and turns to keeping the reader second-guessing.

If you like a book that will keep you guessing all the way to the very...more

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Apr 30, 2010 Deirdre rated it 4 of 5 stars

Gone for Good is a usual mystery novel where one brother who assumes his elder brother is deceased learns just the opposite as event spiral into a net of truths that are laid out to catch the lies that were once told. Fact after fact, and turn after twist after turn, soon Will Klein learns what happened all those years ago when his brother was accused of murder and then disappeared.

Despite the number of pages in this novel. I finished it rather quickly. The story line was interesting and drew m...more

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May 05, 2013 Ed rated it 3 of 5 stars

Generally, my motto is that life is too short to read airport fiction. But every once in a while... I picked up this book in a friends house and read just enough to commit to finishing it. I wish I could say I couldn't put it down, but like most airport fiction, not only was it easy to put down, but sometimes hard to pick up. Predictable plots are ok if the story is well written and the characters well developed. But sadly neither is true in this case. The writing is standard hackneyed airport f...more

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Jan 26, 2013 Priyam Gopani rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Just when you think that there can no longer be books which can really really keep you awake at nights, you stumble upon a masterpiece like Gone for Good. What amazingness!

Its primarily a story of two brothers. All Coben books start like that and then within no time, there are a series of characters introduced making it difficult to single out one main hero(or villain).

Will looks up to his elder brother Ken for everything..he looks up to Ken as his protector. Then one day, Ken is accused of rapi...more Just when you think that there can no longer be books which can really really keep you awake at nights, you stumble upon a masterpiece like Gone for Good. What amazingness!

Its primarily a story of two brothers. All Coben books start like that and then within no time, there are a series of characters introduced making it difficult to single out one main hero(or villain).

Will looks up to his elder brother Ken for everything..he looks up to Ken as his protector. Then one day, Ken is accused of raping and murdering Julie, their neighbor and Will's ex-girlfriend. Ken disappears and is never to be seen. He is gone for good, so everybody assumes because it's been eleven long years since that incident. And then, after all these years, their mother, while on the death bed, whispers to Will, "Your brother is alive".
And Will's seemingly uninteresting world takes a 360 degree turn. Because surprisingly, the next day, the love of Will's life, Sheila, disappears without a trace.

Believe it or not - none of what I said counts as spoilers. Because all of this happens in the first ten pages of the book! Now you tell me, how can one put down a book like this?! I finished the book in two straight days..I had to cut down on sleep because it eluded me. The twists and turns are by the page. All the characters are equally important though they may not seem so on the outside. The ending is amazing. All the loose ends are so wonderfully covered up. Now unless, you really want to just find mistakes with the story, you can go ahead and do that, but Coben has mesmerized me with his imagination.

It is engrossing. The characters are well-sketched - Ken, Will, Sunny (their mother), Squares (Will's best friend and personally my favorite), Sheila and the Ghost (again, my favorite). The relationships are wonderfully defined. You actually feel for the characters, the ones who have disappeared, the ones who have spent a good time of their life threatening and murdering others, and the ones who have been betrayed.

Coben's favorite, Hester Crimstein makes a brief appearance in the book. She is such a delight!

Harlan Coben never disappoints! Mark this as one of the must-reads before you die!(less)

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Sep 18, 2012 Mikaela Olsson rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. *Inleder med att snubbla över boken som ligger på golvet*
Oj! Nu råkade jag visst ramla över en tvättäkta glöm-inte-låsa-dörren-deckare, skriven av självaste mysteriekungen från New Jerseys förorter, Harlan Coben. Och det är inte vilken bok som helst, utan sidvändaren ”Borta för alltid”.

Nej, nu är det nog med de dåliga skämten, för jag ska istället gå in på någonting mer allvarligt. Vad skulle få dig att djupt önska att någon du känner skulle vara död? Det kanske inte är så lätt att komma på någo...more *Inleder med att snubbla över boken som ligger på golvet*
Oj! Nu råkade jag visst ramla över en tvättäkta glöm-inte-låsa-dörren-deckare, skriven av självaste mysteriekungen från New Jerseys förorter, Harlan Coben. Och det är inte vilken bok som helst, utan sidvändaren ”Borta för alltid”.

Nej, nu är det nog med de dåliga skämten, för jag ska istället gå in på någonting mer allvarligt. Vad skulle få dig att djupt önska att någon du känner skulle vara död? Det kanske inte är så lätt att komma på någonting på rak arm bara sådär. Men jag vet att till exempel att min mamma under några få svarta minuter önskade att jag vore lite mindre levande när hon upptäckte att tredje världskriget inträffat på mitt rum.

Men att gå så långt som den huvudkaraktären i den här boken, Will Klein och spendera mer än tio år av sitt liv med att önska död över sin bror kan låta lite överdrivet. Eller kanske rättare sagt hemskt. Men när alternativet är att se brodern som efterlyst för att brutalt våldtäktsmord, så låter nog död ganska okej.

Det är inte nog med att mordet och broderns försvinnande förblir ouppklarat, Will torteras även av sina funderingar kring hur mycket hans nu cancersjuka mamma har vetat och dolt för resten av familjen. Frågorna i Wills huvud blir många och obesvarade, och det hela blir inte bättre när hans flickvän, Shelia, plötsligt försvinner och FBI tvingar sig på. För det räcker tydligen inte med att alla i Wills närhet försvinner, de måste bli anklagade för mord också.

Att läsa den här boken är som att vandra genom buffé av fantastiska lönnmördare, korrupta FBI-agenter, snygga seriemord, grymma maffiabossar, glittriga transvestiter i högklackat, rännstensungar och hämndlystna horor. Och med de skruvar och svängar författaren tillsätter ingredienserna så skulle jag kalla ”Borta För Alltid” för deckarvärldens nöjespark.

Nu kanske du tänker ”Men hur ska jag kunna relatera till det här? Skit på skit är fortfarande smörja.” Men det råkar faktiskt vara så att jag inte presenterat dig ordentligt för bokens huvudkaraktär än. Möt volontären Will Klein, en sympatisk kille som spenderar sina dagar med att jobba för att hjälpa hemlösa ungdomar från ett liv på gatan. Han låter inte som världens gangster, eller hur? Det är nästan som att han också snubblat in i den här boken.

Jag vill inte överanalysera boken efter gömda eller påhittade budskap. För även om författaren vill säga mycket, så ligger hans fokus ändå på att skapa ännu en läsmagnet. Detta är någonting som han helt klart lyckas med genom att leverera en skarp dialog med tillhörande egensnickrade miljö- och karaktärsbeskrivningar.

Fastän Cobens böcker kan vara som gör-det-själv-handböcker för seriemördare, så är det inte det som jag lär mig mest av när jag läser hans verk. Det som tar upp min uppmärksamhet, det som inspirerar mig att skriva själv och får mig att gång på gång plocka upp en av Cobens alster är just det enligt mig så fascinerande sätt han skriver på. Hans sätt att väva ihop orden tycker jag verkligen förtjänar de priser och utmärkelser han fått.

Jag tänker inte rekommendera den här boken, för jag behåller den hellre för mig själv. Men om någon ändå skulle råka öppna en utav Cobens böcker så vet jag att de kommer vara som trollbundna, från den dramatiska början till det huvudtumlande, oväntade slutet. För läsaren kan nämligen inte andas ut förrän sista sidan är vänd.

Så vad säger ni? Vågar ni ge boken en chans eller nöjer ni er med att läsa ”Stolthet och Fördom” ännu en gång?
(less)

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Jun 19, 2012 Best Crime Books rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have read one of Harlan Coben's stand alone novels, albeit some time ago, and am slowly working my way through his back catalogue. In this book we meet Will Klein and I found that it didn't take long for me to like him. What also became apparent pretty quickly was that Will Klein is an ordinary bloke. He isn't somebody who can ruthlessly take down bad guys and he isn't a brooding lead character that has an issue with authority. In other words, a welcome change from the ordinary leading male co...more

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May 19, 2012 Greg Bascom rated it 4 of 5 stars

GONE FOR GOOD is a fast paced thriller with at least 60 plot twists, turns or startling revelations (I catalogued them.) Typical of the genre, it is plot rather than character driven. Even the best characters are a bit shallow, and you will have to accept some improbable ones. Dialogue is written well. Otherwise, the writing is simple - if you got through third grade you won't need a dictionary - although after some stretches of short choppy sentences and dangling phrases you might wish for some...more GONE FOR GOOD is a fast paced thriller with at least 60 plot twists, turns or startling revelations (I catalogued them.) Typical of the genre, it is plot rather than character driven. Even the best characters are a bit shallow, and you will have to accept some improbable ones. Dialogue is written well. Otherwise, the writing is simple - if you got through third grade you won't need a dictionary - although after some stretches of short choppy sentences and dangling phrases you might wish for something more mature. There is unnecessary violence and implausibility both of character and event. Again, that seems typical of the genre.

The story is fast paced not just because the author uses cliff hanging chapter endings and plot twists. He dribbles out information. First there is a limousine, then a man in the back seat, then a man sitting next to him, then a driver, then the relationship suggesting they are hoods, and then finally they are. You have to turn pages to get this. Another technique is to insert a short chapter of a seemingly unrelated event, an incomplete scene, and leave it to be developed later, maybe much later. Also, Coben will interleave chapters with two or more related plot elements as he develops the story.

This is a four star read in the thriller genre - put "thriller genre" in bold italics and underline it. The reviewers who did not like this novel, in general, dislike violent thrillers without well developed characters. A few who do read thrillers found the plot too much like Coben's first thriller, TELL NO ONE. I agree with that.

TELL NO ONE opened with a juxtaposition of love and tragedy that was well done and grabbed me in the gut, as it did many other reviewers. As I read GONE FOR GOOD, I wanted to feel the relationship between Will and Sheila, but it wasn't there. That disappointed. For me, the ending in TELL NO ONE was, to be diplomatic, moronic. As I read the startling ending of GONE FOR GOOD, it seemed too far over the top, but when I got to the one page epilogue, my stomach settled and I smiled(less)

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Jul 14, 2011 Linda rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery-crime

Gone for Good is one the most complicated crime stories I've read in quite a while. Its protagonist is Will Klein, whose older brother Ken vanished eleven years ago, on the night of the brutal murder of Will's former high school sweetheart. Everyone except his family assumes Ken is guilty, and Will has never been able to believe that his brother is probably dead. As the story opens, their mother has just died, and in her final hours, she revealed that Ken is indeed alive. The funeral is barely o...more

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Jun 13, 2011 Angela rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2007, bookcrossed-or-otherwise-set-free

Eleven years ago, Ken fled his family's suburban New Jersey neighborhood after Will's ex-girlfriend, Julie Miller, was raped and strangled. The Kleins eventually convinced themselves that Ken perished on the lam. But as Will discovers, the facts are not so simple. On her deathbed, his mother tells him that Ken is still alive. Then Will's girlfriend and "soul mate" disappears too, only to have her fingerprints turn up at a New Mexico homicide scene. How are these tragedies connected? And what's t...more

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Feb 08, 2011 Tony rated it 5 of 5 stars

Harlan Coben- Gone for Good (Dell Books 2002) 5 Stars

Will Klein’s brother was accused of murdering Will’s ex-girlfriend and quickly disappeared. Everyone assumed he was never coming back, but now eleven years later events are unfolding that have them all revisiting the past. Danger seems to come along with every shocking revelation they discover. Can they figure things out before it is too late?

I really enjoyed this book. It twisted and turned so many times, you just never knew what to expect. T...more

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Nov 29, 2010 M. rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, fiction, audiobook

My parents live 5 hours away. I wanted to give audio books a shot. I work at a library. I thought these three facts would result in me being able to, I don't know, catch up on a classic or something that I'd be too bored to actually read but wouldn't mind listening to, whatever. Of course, there is only a CD player in my car, there is no tape deck. This severely limited my options.

I eventually decided on this because I thought it might be like a cheap thriller movie from the early 90s. I love c...more

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Apr 02, 2013 Nicole rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: People who enjoy a book where not everything is as it first seems, and love mysteries.

Recommended to Nicole by: My Uncle and my Mother

Shelves: mystery, suspense

When I first moved down to Florida, now almost a year ago in a few months, I had only one book in my entire household and it was a Harlan Coben book, Promise Me. I read it, and I don't remember much of the reading process, though I remember the end above every other part of it. I didn't feel like I got much of an impact from his previous book, but that might just be the cushion of time and grand old Life getting in the way again and erasing the past from my recollections. But I have a pile of bo...more
When I first moved down to Florida, now almost a year ago in a few months, I had only one book in my entire household and it was a Harlan Coben book, Promise Me. I read it, and I don't remember much of the reading process, though I remember the end above every other part of it. I didn't feel like I got much of an impact from his previous book, but that might just be the cushion of time and grand old Life getting in the way again and erasing the past from my recollections. But I have a pile of books in a box that we brought down with us, and this was one of the ones stacked in there. So I picked it up and figured I'd give the books I owned a go since I had nothing else, once again. And I didn't remember particularly disliking his other book, even though I didn't remember loving it either.

Picking up Gone for Good, it started off keeping me pretty complacent. I wasn't thrilled, and although I was kept interested, it was a book I was reading merely to have something to read. I'm not sure how Harlan Coben does it, but he has a style where he starts off slow and builds you up to the point where you're ready to break. When his story climaxes, BOY does it CLIMAX. And the closer you are to the end, the better it's getting! This went from a book that I was feeling so-so about, to one I was interested in, to one that I was invested in and knew I was going to read to the end, to one where I didn't even THINK about putting it down, and then in the end it GUTTED ME RIGHT WHERE AND WHEN IT MATTERED!

It.

Was.

BRILLIANT.

That ending! That ENDING! It destroyed me and made me a life-long fan right there at the very end. I finished this book knowing that it was one that I would have bought if I hadn't owned it already, because I wanted it in my collection. And it's one that I'll recommend to my friends, even if they don't normally go for this genre, because the ending made me that much of a fan in the end!

But the praises of the storyline aside, I've noticed again that Coben has a steady and natural talent for writing odd characters into his books that are priceless, genuine, and engaging. From characters that range the gamut like Squares, the Ghost, and even the loveable informants on the streets of NYC or the victims of the darker side of life there-- his characters are refreshingly authentic, and I enjoy reading about every single one of them, no matter who they are, what they're involved in, how they act, or what they sound like. It's rare to find a talent like his that seamlessly interweaves what are classically called "normal" people and characters, and the "freaks," "oddities," and "strange" characters. There's no line drawn in the sand that separates one from another. He treats them all equally, like everyday human beings, and I love him for it. Normally, if a character is distinctive in any way, he gets inflated to fit that distinction. In Coben's case, he takes the characters with their dramatic distinctions from the "everyday men and women" and proves that they are the everyday men and women. Even if his stories need a little bit of patience for the first few chapters, his characters never cease to draw me in.

This is a great book. Reading it as a one-shot, since the first of his works I read was unfortunately the eight in a series, I've really come to terms with the talent he has for weaving stories. He keeps you surprised right up until the last page, and in this case, the last paragraph. This book in particular has stunned and impressed me to the point where I know it'll leave a lasting impression for years to come.

If you're at all interested in suspense, mystery, and thriller novels, definitely give Gone for Good by Harlan Coben a try. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised, even shocked. It'll almost certainly entertain you, and it'll definitely move you, no matter who you are.(less)

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Feb 21, 2013 Brandon Thompson rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is my third Harlan Coben thriller. He definitely knows how to tell a fantastic story.

The key to reading his books is to make sure you absorb the details. Rest assured that every character has meaning. Every chapter, no matter how out of place or obscure it may seem, will come back to relevance.

This book is about a man named Will Klein who, after suffering the loss of his mother, learns that his brother may still be alive. Hell, he probably is. His brother had a troubled past. After 11 years...more

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Apr 04, 2012 Michael Ward rated it 5 of 5 stars

Harlan Coben's new novel, "Gone for Good" is about a man named Will Klein who is incredibly unlucky in love. His first girlfriend, Julie, unceremoniously dumped him eleven years ago. Shortly thereafter, Julie was raped and murdered. The prime suspect is Will's brother, Ken, who may be dead, or else he may be a fugitive from justice. Time passes, and Will finally finds another woman whom he loves, named Sheila. One day, Sheila suddenly takes off, and Will has no idea why she left or where she wen...more

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Feb 11, 2012 Paul rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was an absolutely amazing book.

I say that not because the writing style was phenomenal (it was merely decent), not because the characters were developed so wonderfully (I couldn't wholeheartedly warm up to any of the main characters like I could in other books), and not because it's bound to be a timeless classic (it'll probably just stay a simple mass-market paperback with at most a couple more reprints).

No, this was absolutely amazing simply because the twists and turns of the plot were...more

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Aug 04, 2011 Aaron rated it 2 of 5 stars

This was my first experience with Harlan Coben and I don't think I'm clamoring to read another. I didn't hate this. It was good enough entertainment for a couple of days. But I can't recommend it.

Characters are one-dimensional. But they almost have to be. Revealing too much of each character wouldn't allow Harlan Coben to change what all the characters are and what they stand for and what they'r emotivated by in the last twenty pages. Seriously, this was one of those novels where a new revelatio...more

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Jul 30, 2012 Michael rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, mystery, new-jersey, psychological-thriller

There were so many reversals in this complicated plot, I ended up just feeling numb instead of thrilled. Coben does well to get you invested with the hero, Will, an ordinary, good hearted guy who works in a youth shelter and lives with someone he loves. The shadow over him and his family is the disappearance of his brother Ken nearly a decade before in connection with the murder of Will's ex-girlfriend. Suddenly his current girlfriend splits and violent friends of his brother and the police come...more

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Jul 23, 2012 Ann rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I did not enjoy this book as much as I did Coben's others. Will Klein is our protagonist and we spend far too much time delving into details about his and his brother's pasts, details that could have been cleared up immediately if his main character had actually been paying attention in the first place. I did not have much sympathy for any of the characters really, except for Squares, Klein's partner in business. I figured out the who did what to whom early on in the book and Coben's ending is f...more

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May 02, 2013 Linda Alexander rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've always found Harlan Coben's books to be fabulous, prompting me to want to keep turning the pages to see what would happen next long after I should have given up and called it a night.

Not so with 'Gone For Good'. I had a real struggle in continuing to read the first third of the book because it just seemed to drag on with so many different things being discussed that did not add to the story line at all. I seriously questioned whether/not to simply take it back to the library and find someth...more

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Jul 23, 2011 David rated it 2 of 5 stars

Coben takes a good plot and suspense, but taints it with cardboard characters and too much suspension of belief. The humorous first person which I normally love seems to only work part of the time. Will, the protagonist seems to have only two traits: irrationally angry and hopelessly naive (you know, when another character is trying to explain a formulaic plot twist that you as the reader saw through five minutes earlier, but he just can't wrap his head around it.) The only interesting character...more

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Jul 31, 2012 Barbara rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-literature

Will Klein's brother vanished 11 years before the start of the story, accused of murdering a neighbor. The family assumes he is dead - that is preferable to believing he's guilty and on the lam. The book kicks off with the suggestion that Ken Klein is actually alive, innocent, and reclaimable - and tears off from there.

Short chapters keep the pace moving quickly; one mystery is woven into another, people are not who they appear to be, and real motives are surprising. The characters are complex a...more

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Jan 15, 2012 Caren Rich rated it 4 of 5 stars

Gone for Good is a wonderful distraction and possibly a cure for depression. It is a one-night stand of a book- easy to read and happy to let go of and pass on. This book is for sheer entertainment "TMZ" value, not for deep interpretations of the soul or hidden meanings. Coben dispenses plot twists with a formulaic suspense.

The main character, Will Klein has a hero: his older brother, Ken. Ken Klein is suspected of raping and murdering a girl in a basement. With the evidence against him overwhe...more

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Feb 22, 2013 Karin Coppernoll rated it 3 of 5 stars

I just had to see how this book would end. This book is told in the first person by the brother of a young man wanted for murder. Will's brother, Ken, allegedly raped and murdered Will's girlfriend 11 years ago and went missing. His family presumed him dead. Now, 11 years later, events transpire as Will learns his brother is alive. Will believes Ken is innocent and gets involved in hair-raising episodes. This book has many surprising twists and turns, and is a page turner. Some of the characters...more

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Nov 04, 2011 Corey rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I enjoyed my first Harlan Coben experience. It was exactly what I expected it to be and exactly what I felt like reading on a long airplane flight - fast-paced, CSI-style murder mystery with surprise plot twists and an unpredictable ending. Not surprisingly, the characters were pretty shallow, the first-person narrator was way too omniscient and the story was completely unrealistic (believability rating 3 out of 100). But that's absolutely fine. Now I know what all the hype was about and I choos...more

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Jul 31, 2012 Sheila rated it 4 of 5 stars

Will Klein works for an organization who help the underpriviledged on the streets. His girlfriend Sheila, a volunteer with the organization has a secret past she has never wanted to share with Will. She disappears one morning. Will's older brother, Ken was accused of killing a young woman whom Ken was once in love with. Ken disappeared but Will's mother tells Will on her dying bed that Ken is still alive. The story tells the journey Will follows to discover the truth about Ken and his disappeara...more

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Mar 01, 2011 Joe Stamber rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2000s

Harlan Coben (in my experience) writes two kinds of book... there are those featuring Myron Bolitar, which are implausible tales of throwaway readability; and there are those in which something has happened in the past, certain assumptions were made, years later all manner of shennanigans occur which throws a different light on those assumptions; leading to all sorts of twists and turns and a conclusion where everything is turned on it's head. In Gone for Good, something has happened in the past...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Jeff rated it 2 of 5 stars

Not my favorite of Coben's works. I already like the Myron Bolitar series better than his stand alones, but it seems like all of the individual books have the basic elements in common. Someone is shocked out of their normal life by revelations from their past, usually involving the death of a loved one. While there are very few "original" ideas in any media any more, it seems like Mr. Coben keeps recycling his ideas in his own books. Perhaps what worked in books like "The Woods" or "Tell No One"...more

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Nov 26, 2011 Caroline rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

Well I have finally decided after years of dragging myself through books that I prayed would end, that if the lead character is a jack ass and the story puts me to sleep more than 3 times, I can quit with no guilt. So my friends, I quit. I found myself wishing that maybe it would be best if one of the bad guys would put this character out of his misery, but felt it was better just to move on to a more entertaining book. I have read many Coben novels so I should have known what to expect but actu...more

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About Harlan Coben

With over 50 million books in print worldwide, Harlan Coben’s last six consecutive novels, SIX YEARS, STAY CLOSE, LIVE WIRE, CAUGHT, LONG LOST and HOLD TIGHT all debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and lists around the world. His first Young Adult novel SHELTER was just released in paperback, and the second in the Mickey Bolitar series, SECONDS AWAY, was released on September 18th....more With over 50 million books in print worldwide, Harlan Coben’s last six consecutive novels, SIX YEARS, STAY CLOSE, LIVE WIRE, CAUGHT, LONG LOST and HOLD TIGHT all debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and lists around the world. His first Young Adult novel SHELTER was just released in paperback, and the second in the Mickey Bolitar series, SECONDS AWAY, was released on September 18th. His books are published in 41 languages around the globe and have been number one bestsellers in over a dozen countries.

Winner of the Edgar Award, Shamus Award and Anthony Award – the first author to win all three – international bestselling author Harlan Coben’s critically-acclaimed novels have been called “ingenious” (New York Times), “poignant and insightful” (Los Angeles Times), “consistently entertaining” (Houston Chronicle), “superb” (Chicago Tribune) and “must reading” (Philadelphia Inquirer).

Harlan’s novel TELL NO ONE has been turned into the commercial and critical smash hit French film of the same name, starring Francois Cluzet and Kristin Scott Thomas. The movie was the top box office foreign-language film of the year in USA, won the Lumiere (French Golden Globe) for best picture and was nominated for nine Cesars (French Oscar) and won four, including best actor, best director and best music. To see the trailer, click here and for stills and to see Harlan appearing in the film, visit our gallery page. The movie is now available in DVD and Blu-Ray. An American/Hollywood remake is in the works.

In his first books, Coben immersed himself in the exploits of sports agent Myron Bolitar. Critics loved the series, saying, “You race to turn pages…both suspenseful and often surprisingly funny” (People). After seven books Coben wanted to try something different. “I came up with a great idea that simply would not work for Myron,” says Coben. The result was the critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller TELL NO ONE, which became the most decorated thriller of 2001 – nominated for an Edgar, an Anthony, a Macavity, a Nero, and a Barry; winner of the Audie Award for Best Audio Mystery/Suspense Book (read by Steven Weber); and a #1 hardcover book on the Book Sense 76 list. Coben followed the success of TELL NO ONE with the blockbuster New York Times bestsellers GONE FOR GOOD (2002), NO SECOND CHANCE (2003), and JUST ONE LOOK (2004) and THE INNOCENT (2005). Bookspan, recognizing Coben’s broad international appeal, named NO SECOND CHANCE its first ever International Book of the Month in 2003 – the Main Selection in 15 different countries.

Coben was the first writer in more than a decade to be invited to write fiction for the NEW YORK TIMES op-ed page. His Father’s Day short story, THE KEY TO MY FATHER, appeared June 15, 2003. His essays and columns have appeared in many top publications including the New York Times, Parade Magazine and Bloomberg Views.

Since his critically-acclaimed Myron Bolitar series debuted in 1995, Harlan Coben has won the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Allan Poe Award and was nominated for the Edgar two other times. Harlan also won the Anthony Award at the World Mystery Conference, was nominated for another Anthony Award, won the Shamus Award by the Private Eye Writers of America, was nominated for another Shamus, and was twice nominated for the Dilys Award by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association.

In the United Kingdom, his novel ONE FALSE MOVE earned him the prestigious “Fresh Talent Award”, given annually by Great Britain’s largest bookstore chain, W. H. Smith, and GONE FOR GOOD won the W. H. SMITH “Thumping Good Read” Award. In France, TELL NO ONE (NE LE DIS A PERSONE) won Le Grand Prix des Lectrices de Elle for fiction. His novels have been PEOPLE magazine Page-Turners of the Week and a Publishers Weekly Best of the Year pick.

Harlan was born in Newark, New Jersey. After graduating from Amherst College a political science major, Harlan worked in the travel industry. He no(less)

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