Harlan Coben is the author behind the highly successful Myron Bolitar thrillers. This Buzzle article brings you a list of Harlan Coben books in the order of their release.
Did You Know?
• Harlan Coben’s next release is Found, the third book in the Mickey Bolitar series aimed at young adults. The book is due for release on September 9, 2014.
• His previous release has been 2014’s Missing You, a New York Times bestselling thriller.
Harlan Coben has written close to 30 books, in about as many years, all of which roughly belong to the crime fiction genre. By now, his plot twists have become something of a legend within literary circles, appreciated by fans and critics alike.
No wonder then, that Coben has won an Edgar Award, a Shamus Award (both for Fade Away) and an Anthony Award (for Deal Breaker ), and was the first writer to have received all three.
Novels by Harlan Coben
Myron Bolitar Series
The character of Myron Bolitar is a former basketball player whose playing career was cut short as a result of an injury. He runs a sports agency, and doubles up as a detective investigating murders involving his celebrity clients. The character is good-looking and charismatic, and does have a penchant for trouble. His crime-fighting escapades find the company of his best friend, Windsor Horne Lockwood III or “Win”, and Esperanza Diaz, Bolitar’s assistant.
The series has brought recognition and acclaim for Coben, and all of his three major awards have gone to books from the Myron Bolitar series.
Deal Breaker
1995
Tough nut sports agent, Myron Bolitar makes his debut in this novel. The storyline centers around him and his prized client, Christian Steele, who happens to be a rookie quarterback. Things go awry when Christian receives a phone call from a presumed-to-be-dead former girlfriend, stirring up a hornet’s nest full of intrigue and deceit. It is up to Bolitar to run through this mess and bring out the truth.
Drop Shot
1996
A young female tennis star, Valerie Simpson who’s making a comeback is murdered in broad daylight at the U.S. Open. The prime suspect? Duane Richwood, another hotshot player who also happens to be Myron Bolitar’s client. Investigations get murky when Bolitar realizes that Valerie’s past reveals connections with politicos, a brutal murder, and some shocking cover-ups. Things get edgier as Bolitar realizes that someone powerful does not want him to get to the bottom of it all, and will stop at nothing to keep his secrets hidden.
Fade Away
1996
This racy thriller has Myron looking for a missing player and former rival. The hunt for the absent player turns up way too many complications that include a dead body, blackmail, out-of-control gambling and thugs intent on revenge. Myron finds himself being dragged deeper in it than expected, as the case brings up unresolved issues from his own past.
Back Spin
1997
A superstar golfer, Linda Coldren’s son gets kidnapped right in the middle of the U.S. Open tournament, and Myron is summoned to his rescue. The investigation takes him 23 years back in time, to another golf tournament which ended on a surprisingly dubious note.
One False Move
1998
Brenda Slaughter is a rising talent in basketball, and Myron’s interest in her is purely professional―to begin with. As he gets closer to her, things do not seem as they really are, and Myron wants to help Brenda come to terms with her tragic past. As always, this is not so easy, as Brenda’s meteoric rise on the professional front seems to have a connection with the complete mess that is her personal life.
The Final Detail
1999
Myron wants to get away from everything after his latest adventure left him drained and a lot lonelier. He does succeed, escaping to the Caribbean, but a murder charge on his business partner, Esperanza Diaz, brings him back to the Big Apple. And the victim? New York Yankees’ pitcher Clu Haid, who also happenes to be one of Myron’s clients.
Darkest Fear
2000
The seventh book of the series has Myron trying to help his former girlfriend find a bone marrow donor for her 13-year old son―that is until she drops the bomb that her son is the result of their last torrid fling the night before she got married to someone else. This is all it takes to make the investigation an extremely personal one for Myron, and he draws strength and takes all the help he can from his friends to track that rather elusive donor.
Promise Me
2006
At the end of the school year, Myron takes a promise from two neighborhood teens―the daughters of his friends that if they are ever in a bind but are afraid to call their parents, they will call him. Soon enough, a call signaling distress arrives and the girl making it disappears the very next day. It is now up to Myron to find the missing girl before it gets too late.
Long Lost
2009
Myron travels to Paris to help an old friend solve the case of her daughter’s mysterious death, ten years ago. With a decade gone by, the trail has gone cold, until the information surfaces that the daughter may still be alive―with her staged death being tied to a sinister plot with shocking global implications.
Live Wire
2011
Myron’s personal life gets tangled in his latest case as he sets out to find Lex, his client Suzze’s husband. As Myron zeros in on Lex, he comes face to face with his sister-in-law, Kitty, who along with Myron’s brother abandoned the Bolitar family long ago. Myron now has to find his missing brother well in time while their father desperately clings to life, and comes to terms with the reasons that caused the rift within the family in the first place.
Mickey Bolitar Series
The Mickey Bolitar series is aimed at young adults, with the protagonist Mickey being the nephew of Myron Bolitar, the star of Coben’s well-known detective thrillers.
Two novels have been released in this series, with the third one due to come out in September, 2014.
Shelter
2011
Mickey was introduced in the tenth Myron Bolitar novel called Live Wire, as the latter’s quick-witted nephew. This book, aimed at young adult readers traces Mickey’s journey right from his father’s death to his mother being sent to rehab, while he ends up living with his estranged uncle, Myron. And then enters Ashley, a girl who enters his life like a breath of fresh air, only to vanish when things start to get a little better in Mickey’s life. The action begins as Mickey’s search for Ashley takes him to places he’s never been to before, revealing startling truths about his own loved ones.
Seconds Away
2012
In the second novel of the series, Mickey continues to get to the bottom of the mystery of his father’s death. At the same time, a tragic shooting of a classmate has Mickey and his friends fearing for their own safety, as well as rallying together to find the killers.
Found
2014
Fans of the series are eagerly awaiting the release of the third installment of the series, due in September, 2014. The previews tell us that Mickey’s sophomore year is going to be one long adventure, as his social circle is in a complete disarray. It all culminates in a shocking climax, where Mickey finally comes face-to-face with the truth about his father.
Stand-alone Novels
Harlan Coben’s first novel was Play Dead, released in 1990. It was an intricate mystery centered around a beautiful female protagonist searching for her missing husband. He soon followed it up with the medical thriller, Miracle Cure. This was followed by seven Myron Bolitar novels, which garnered humongous fanfare for the author.
His next stand-alone novel, Tell No One came out in 2001, and was his first to appear on The New York Times Best Seller List. It was later adapted into a French film titled Ne le dis à personne.
Coben’s latest stand-alone offering, Missing You has all the ingredients of a classic page-turner.
Play Dead
1990
Laura Ayers is a gorgeous supermodel, recently married to the equally dishy basketball player, David Baskin. The intrigue begins when David mysteriously disappears as the couple is honeymooning. Laura refuses to accept that David is dead and is determined to know what really happened to him. But doing this is not as easy as she gets stonewalled at every step, with no one around her she can actually trust.
Miracle Cure
1991
A deeply intriguing medical drama, Miracle Cure was Coben’s second offering. The story is as believable as it is bizarre, and takes the readers through the upper echelons of Washington politics, to the seedy alleys of Bangkok, all in the search of a miracle cure for AIDS.
Tell No One
2001
Tell No One is a fast-paced thriller about the brutal murder of the protagonist, Dr. David Beck’s wife, Elizabeth. She is the victim of a serial killer, who admits to all his crimes, except the murder of Elizabeth. On the eighth anniversary of Elizabeth’s death, David receives a strange email comprising details of their relationship privy only to the couple. Furthermore, David also encounters solid evidence that his wife may not be actually dead after all.
Gone for Good
2002
Will Klein idolizes his older brother Ken. But when Ken gets implicated in the murder of a young woman, Will is left shattered disillusioned. Ken has disappeared, and the family believes he’s gone for good. Years go by, with Will’s mother on her deathbed―her dying words? “He’s alive.” This is just the beginning, with Will unearthing many more shocking revelations about his brother and his entire family which includes him as well.
No Second Chance
2003
Dr. Marc Seidman is shot, his wife murdered, and his baby girl is kidnapped. With no one to turn to for help, Marc knows that he must race against time to save his daughter before it gets too late.
Just One Look
2004
It just takes one photograph to turn Grace Lawson’s world upside down. Her husband abandons her without any explanation as she is pushed into finding the truth, dealing with her tragic past, and protecting her young children, all at once.
The Innocent
2005
Matt Hunter is an innocent bystander who attempts to break up a fight, but ends up being a killer himself. Now, as he comes out of jail trying to make a new start with his wife, he becomes the unwitting suspect in a string of crimes happening all around him.
The Woods
2007
Twenty years ago, four teenagers at summer camp walked into the woods at night. Two were found murdered, and the others were never seen again. Paul Copeland’s sister happens to be one of them. As he struggles to come to terms with this tragedy, he also has to be a single father to his daughter. Until a homicide victim turns up―she could be one of the campers who disappeared along with his sister all those years ago.
Hold Tight
2008
Tia and Mike Baye have the usual concerns of raising their teenager, Adam. Things get complicated when a classmate of Adam’s commits suicide, and the protective parents begin to monitor their son’s online activities. Adam goes missing in a few days’ time, just as evidence turns up that he may have something to do with the death of his classmate.
Caught
2010
17-year-old Haley McWaid is the proverbial good girl―she is the pride and joy of her tight-knit community as well. So when she doesn’t come home one night, and for the next three months, only the worst can be assumed. Reporter Wendy Tynes is on a mission to bring down sexual predators via elaborate sting operations, and she soon stumbles upon the one who may have taken Haley.
Stay Close
2012
Three characters are living a seemingly cherished existence, but upon deeper examination it is clear that these were not the lives they imagined to be living. Each of them individually faces the downside of the American dream as their perfect facade begins to crumble.
Six Years
2013
It’s been six years since Jake watched the love of his life Natalie get married to someone else. It’s been six years since he’s completely severed ties with her―but that is about to change as he reads her husband’s obituary. He attends the funeral to reach out to Natalie, only to see that the widow isn’t her, and their mutual friends either can’t be found, or don’t seem to remember them both at all.
Missing You
2014
Kat Donovan is an NYPD detective who is suddenly taken back in time when she joins an online dating site, only to encounter her ex-fiancé, Jeff while browsing through it. Things have changed drastically since they broke up 18 years ago only to take a rather sinister turn.
Harlan Coben’s official website has details of his upcoming releases, free preview chapters, book tours, and insider information on plots. Do check it out to know your favorite author even better.