The man behind Netflix’s most talked about show: How American mystery writer Harlan Coben ran his own travel company before penning his first book aged 26 and went on to become ‘master of the suburban thriller’ with more than 80 million books in print

For fans of Harlan Coben who are looking for more, Netflix has long been the place to go for adaptations of his novels.

The most recent production, Fool Me Once, was released at the start of this month and has left viewers hooked. 

It is just the latest in a total of 14 of Coben’s books that have been or are set to be adapted for screen audiences in countries including Britain, Spain and Poland.

The American thriller writer revealed in a previous interview that he sells ‘more internationally than I do in the US’ – a possible reason for the fact that European audiences are the main focus of the Netflix adaptations.

The 62-year-old author, who published his first novel in 1990, has sold more than 80million books.

He became an international sensation with his 2001 book Tell No One.  

He told Deadline in 2021: ‘They want to do a lot of international stuff and my books sell well overseas. 

‘I sell more internationally than I do in the USA. 

‘I thought it would be a cool opportunity, to do a Netflix Spain show, Netflix France show, Netflix UK show, Netflix U.S. show. It was appealing to me.’ 

Coben was first convinced that his stories could be adapted for foreign audiences by producer Nicola Schindler, who made hit drama It’s A Sin.

The pair’s first project, The Five, was released in 2016 and was set in Britain’s north-west. 

In 2018, Coben signed a five-year mega-deal with Netflix. The project allowed the streaming giant to adapt 14 of his novels into English and foreign-language series. 

Fool Me Once is the fourth English production, coming after Safe (2018), The Stranger (2020) and Stay Close, which was released in 2022.

Polish shows The Woods and Hold Tight premiered on Netflix in 2020 and 2022 respectively, whilst Spanish production The Innocent arrived in 2021. 

French show Gone for Good, again based on Coben’s novel of the same name, was also released in 2021.  

All are based on Coben’s novels but have had characters and locations changed to set them in the countries where they aired. 

The Netflix version of Fool Me Once is, like the three previous English-speaking adaptations, are set in the north-west of England, rather than in New York as in the original novels.

Critics have been divided over the series, whilst some viewers have branded it ‘far fetched’. 

The production is currently sitting top of the viewing charts after being released on New Year’s Day. 

Britain’s Richard Armitage – who previously starred in The Stranger and Stay Close – portrays murdered husband Joe Burkett. 

The series also stars Michelle Keegan and Joanna Lumley. 

As well as his Netflix deal, Coben has partnerships with Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime Video. 

The latter led to the production of the drama Shelter, which was released last year.

Netflix are also set to adapt Coben’s 11-book Myron Bolitar series. 

This time, the novels’ US setting will be kept and the show will be the first American-produced adaptation of any of Coben’s works.

The author told Deadline last year that he would also like to make Netflix shows for audiences in Germany, Italy, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. 

Asked how he stays in the loop when shows are made in languages that he cannot speak, he said: ‘I will talk to actors, I will talk to people who speak the language. For the most part, I have to trust my team. 

‘There are local things that I don’t quite get, which makes it more interesting for me in some ways.’