Harlan Coben Books In Order

Publication Order of Myron Bolitar Books

Publication Order of Mickey Bolitar Books

Publication Order of Windsor Horne Lockwood III Books

Publication Order of Wilde Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Picture Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Harlan Coben Biography:

Harlan Coben is an American bestselling thriller author born to a Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey, on January 4, 1962. Harlan attended Amherst College and majored in political science. After graduating, he worked for his father in a company in the travel industry. Harlan is married to Anne Armstrong-Coben, a pediatrician, and has four children. Harlan has over 50 million books printed to his name and published in 40 languages worldwide.

One of the most decorated authors of all time, Harlan was the first writer to win all the three awards: Edgar Award, Shamus Award and Anthony Award. In addition, his works have earned titles such as “ingenious” (New York Times) and “superb” (Chicago Tribune). He has also had the opportunity to write for the New York Times op-ed page. Harlan’s Tell No One was adopted into a highly successful French film going by the same title. The film received the highly coveted Lumiere (French Golden Globe) for best picture.

In addition, the film worn four Cesars (French equivalent of the Oscars), having been nominated for a total of nine. In a nutshell, the novels Harlan Coben has written fall into: Myron Bolitar series (Deal Breaker, Drop Shot, Fade Away, Back Spin, One False Move, and others), Mickey Bolitar series (Shelter and Seconds Away) and Stand-alone such as Play Dead and Miracle Cure (his first and Second, respectively), among others.

A Summary of Fade Away (Myron Bolitar series) by Harlan Coben:

The murder mystery novel revolves around Myron Bolitar (a law graduate from Harvard who works as a sports agent), Greg Dawning (a missing star player of the Dragons basket ball team, Clip Arnstein (the Team’s GM), Win (Myron’s best friend) and Carla (a woman found dead). Myron is hired by Clip to help resolve a murder mystery involving Greg. Greg has gone missing and Clip realizes that no one in the team seems eager to talk to an outsider about it.

Greg is considered crazy by the rest of the team and his disappearance is casually dismissed as such at first. However, Greg has gone missing for far too long and with playoffs approaching, Clip is ill at ease about it. Convinced that Greg’s team mates know something about his disappearance and would easily share it with an insider, Clip brings in Myron to play for the Dragons, earn the team’s trust and find Greg. Clip and Myron share a history.

Earlier, Clip had Myron in his plans to play for the Boston Celtic in the first round. This never materialized as Myron broke his knee in an exhibition game, meaning that he would never play again. Myron is stunned because he has a chance to play in the NBA, although for different reasons altogether. He accepts the case. On the other hand, Win and assistant Esperanza are not excited about what’s at stake here. The two know how an injury destroyed Myron’s career in basket ball and broke his heart.

To Win and Esperanza, Myron is about to enter a charade he might find tricky to handle. Nevertheless, Myron convinces the two to help him resolve the mystery. Myron and Win team up to put pieces together, regarding Greg’s past life.

However, when a body of a dead woman who Greg knew is found in his basement, Myron’s case gathers real momentum. It’s discovered that Carla, the dead woman, had taken part in an Arizona bank robbery. An audio tape taken from a safe deposit is discovered. The tape bears evidence of Greg offering another player $10,000 to intentionally injure Myron. Carla intended to use the tape to blackmail Greg, forcing him to go into hiding. However, Greg’s girlfriend kills Carla to end the blackmail. Eventually, Myron and Win put the pieces together and resolve the case.

A Summary of One False Move (Myron Bolitar series) by Harlan Coben

Again, Myron Bolitar gets embroiled in a 20 year old murder mystery. A detective under the cover of sports agent, Myron is brought in by an old associate Norm Zuckerman to be Brenda Slaughter’s bodyguard. Brenda is quite an item in the women’s basket ball league and has been receiving threatening phone calls lately. Norm picks Myron to protect Brenda because he is aware of his past involvement with the FBI.

There’s also the possibility that Brenda will find Myron a perfect sports agent and hire him. Myron takes the job but cites his old friendship with Brenda’s father, Horace, as his reason as opposed to monetary motivation. Myron and Brenda get to talk and he goes clean about what Norm hired him to do, which Brenda appreciates, but insists she doesn’t need a body guard. Brenda tells him the entire story and he begins to understand what’s at stake.

The mystery has several dots, which Myron must connect to resolve it. Firstly, Brenda’s mother, Anita, discovered the body of Arthur Bradford’s wife 20 years ago and went missing nine months after. Although the death was ruled as an accident, people suspected foul play, considering that, just like the Kennedy’s, the Bradfords had a might financial and political background. Questions linger about what happened to Anita.

Did her disappearance have something to do with finding the truth about what killed Bradford’s wife? Was she abused by her husband to the extent of disappearing? Why did she forsake Brenda and not try to contact her?

To find answers to the above questions, Myron and Win have to piece together facts related to Horace Slaughter’s murder, Arthur Bradford’s race for governor and what exactly transpired in the association involving the Ache brothers, a rival basket ball league and rival candidate. In the end, Myron and Win (best friend) get to the bottom of the murder mystery. However, Myron has to resolve his own love life as well, having fallen for Brenda despite living together with Jessica.

In his usual style, Harlan Coben tells a complicated story and ties everything together to give it a convincing ending. The characters are smart and interesting and the plot will keep you guessing to very end.

7 Responses to “Harlan Coben”

1. S. Nail: 2 months ago

   My sister and I read and love all of your books! Keep them coming please.

   Reply
2. Stephanie Miller: 8 months ago

   These books are amazing! He has my husband and I hooked at the second paragraph! We tell many younger readers (than us) about these books and often hand down to many so they can get hooked as well! Please write more!!

   Reply
3. Jera Diltz: 1 year ago

   Love every book I have read so far! The Myron Bolitar series is my favorite. I instantly fell in love with the characters. Would make a great tv series. I had no idea what to read after that but I just finished reading Caught in two days. Couldn’t put it down.

   Reply
4. Gina Turney: 1 year ago

   I love your books! I have read almost all of them and recently finished reading The Stranger, The Woods, and No Second Chance. I’m currently reading Hold Tight. Thank you so much for your writing and please keep it up!

   I look forward to reading more of your future books.

   Thank you!

   Reply
5. Mary: 2 years ago

   Love all your books especially Win. Hope that will be a series like Myron Bolitar.

   Reply
6. Kate: 2 years ago

   Although I went to Williams instead of Amherst I am a fan of Harlan Coben’s novels. I find them intriguing and have recently enjoyed the series with Mickey Bolitar. I hope other young readers would find them and get into mystery like I have.

   Reply
7. Christine Coudrey: 2 years ago

   just finished reading “home”. Best one yet! Love all of them, feel like I’m there with the characters!

   Reply