Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced electronic copy Nobody’s Fool. All opinions are my own.

Harlan Coben has a way of bringing a thriller to life with sarcasm and humor like no other author I read. Nobody’s Fool is no different with the first-person perspective of the main character, Sami Kierce. He is flawed, unlucky, and caught between the past and moving on with his family. Kierce first appeared in Fool Me Once, but this novel can easily stand alone. The book moves very fast from beginning to end but the ending was FAST and wrapped up very quickly, if not a little too quickly.

Years ago, in his college days, Sami Kierce wakes up in bed, in Spain, with a bloody knife and the dead body of his summer fling next to him. Years later, the former detective, now investigator, sees the same woman alive and well in New York. What follows is a crazy, twisty hunt for answers. The overall premise is bizarre (in the best possible way). The reader will have to come to terms with several ideas in this story: What is family? Should you let sleeping dogs lie? What promises should you keep?

Harlen Coben at his finest! Whether you’re a long time enthusiast or a first time reader of his, if you enjoy crime fiction, you will really enjoy this one. Packed with lots of suspense, this twisty page turner will keep you reading and guessing til the very last page.

Disgraced and removed from the NYPD, Detective Sami Kierce is facing demons from his college days when he and several friends traveled to the Costa Del Sol, Spain and Sami ditched his friends for a beautiful young woman, Anna. Upon awakening one morning, Sami is covered in blood, holding a knife and Anna is dead beside him. Years later as he’s teaching a night class on how to solve crimes, a familiar female face enters the classroom for a brief minute, which sets Sami off on a quest to find this woman and solve the mysterious crime that has preyed upon his mind for twenty-five years. If you love fast paced thrillers that engage you as an armchair detective, this one will not disappoint! As an author of 37 books with over 80 million copies in print, Harlen Coben still has the magic formula!

Thank you NetGalley, Grand Central Publishing and Harlen Coben for giving this amateur sleuth many hours of reading enjoyment in exchange for my honest opinion. Publication date - Match 25

Nobody's Fool by Harlan Coben
Publishing Date: March 25, 2025
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the e-ARC of this book. This was an interesting read from the start. I’ve read several books by Harlan and have always been a fan of his thriller page turners. Can definitely see this one being made into a Netflix show. Highly recommend it.

Nobody's Fool by Harlan Coben
(P.I. Sami Pierce, Book #2)
Genre: Thriller
Pub Date: March 25, 2025
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the e-ARC of this book. Loved this one! Although I didn’t read book 1 it was very easy to follow along. Such a page turner. Now I must read book 1.

Book 2 in the Detective Sammi Kierce Series takes place over two timelines. One being 2000 in Malaga and the other current day in New York City. First introduced to Sammi in Fool Me Once where he had a low profile, here he takes centre stage as his past comes back to haunt him.

What follows is in engaging story that came with the usual Harlan Cohen style in terms of red herrings, twists, unreliable characters and an interesting plot. Though it did take me a little bit to get captivated with the story once I did I was thoroughly entertained as I tried to decipher the clues and figure out what was actually taking place. There were many layers that wove together to an ending I really didn't see coming - that's why Harlan Coben is one of my auto-read author, he keeps me guessing.

My thanks to Grand Central Publishing for a digital arc in exchange for a honest review. You can find Nobody’s Fool on sale March 25

In his second page-turning outing, former police detective and now private investigator Sami Kierce is haunted by a passionate very brief relationship he had right after college on a trip abroad with his friends. He spends four days immersed in fun partying and drugs with Anna, only to wake up next to her one morning with a knife in his hand and a bloodied body beside him in bed.

Fast forward 25 years later, Sami has been kicked off the New York police detective force yet is happily married to a wonderful wife with a one-year-old son. A a woman who Sami instinctively believes to be Anna appears in the back of a night class on detective work he’s teaching. He pursues her to Connecticut to a property blurred out on Google maps. Compounding all of this, the convicted killer of Sami’s former fiancé Nicole has just been released from prison based on Sami’s role in the investigation. Coincidental or something more?

Sami, who’s been haunted by what he believed to be Anna’s death and his possible involvement in it, enlists his novice detective students and his old police partner Marty to uncover the truth of what’s going on.

Sami, despite his considerable flaws, has emerged decades after the Spain incident with a strong moral compass, compassion, impeccable detective skills, and a fierce determination.

Sami’s quest for self-redemption forms the raw and powerful emotional core of the story, amidst the intense plot twists and ratcheting up of psychological tension amidst deceptions.

Thanks to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

🤯 Nobody's Fool by Harlan Coben 🤯
(P.I. Sami Pierce, Book #2)
Genre: Thriller
Length: 352 pages
Pub Date: March 25, 2025
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟‼️

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the e-ARC of this book. The opinions stated are solely my own.

Synopsis:
22 years ago: college student, Sami Pierce goes on a European vacation with friends and ends up in Spain immediately falling for fellow American, Anna. After a five-day whirlwind romance, he awakens next to her, covered in her blood as she lays dead (stabbed) next to him. He tells the police, no body is found, and he flees back to the U.S., changing the path of his life forever.

Current day: now a former policeman and current P.I. Sami is married with a 1 year-old son, trying to make ends meet. While teaching a 'sleuthing' class to the general public, he is sure he sees Anna in the back of the room and runs out to pursue her. Is it really her? Is this a coincidence or linked to a mysterious case of a missing daughter on his current docket? Join Sami on a CRAZY thrill ride as he tries to solve the case, while also solving the one of his murdered fiancée from many years ago.

Opinion:
This was my very first Harlan Coben physical book. I have watched almost all of the Netflix limited series that are based off previous novels and I am definitely going to be reading his backlist after getting a real feel for his writing style! I absolutely loved the blend of intrigue, excitement, a dab of humor built into Sami's character, and all of the excellent plots going on at once that intertwined! You do not have to read book 1 (Fool Me Once) to get instantly hooked on this one. My favorite part of this story were the quirky 'regular folks' who took Sami's sleuthing class and ended up being fantastic side characters along the way. This was easily a 5-star read for me and if you like a fast pace and great writing, look no further than Nobody's Fool.

As usual with Harlan Coben books, I loved this one. New main character and a great crew recruited from his class. Lots of twists and some laughs in this one.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

edge of your seat, very twisty, with so many twists at points that they almost loop back around, thriller. 5 stars. tysm for the arc. would recommend

I enjoyed this read; was an excellent mystery and did not have it figured out. Lots of good red herrings as this author does

As always Harlan Coben has written an amazing thriller. It starts out with great character development and then goes on to give nail biting suspense. I liked all the characters and the ending left me satisfied. A huge thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy!!

Another great one from Coben. Plenty of twists and intrigue along with a good deal of humor. I hope we see Sami's team of amateur sleuths in the future.

Thank you, NetGalley for this ARC.

Nobody’s Fool by Harlan Coben is a suspenseful, story of Sami Kierce, who was a police officer and now teaches adult “wannabe sleuths” at a local New York City school at night. Sami has been living with the pain of what happened to him 22 years ago when he was taking a backpacking trip with friends in Spain before starting medical school. He was hanging out with a girl named Anna that he met when right before he was to return home, he woke up to find her bloody next to him in bed with a knife in his hands.

Harlan keeps the suspense going as one night, while teaching, he sees her outside the room. He takes off after her and chases her – this leads to his adventure to find out what happened in Spain. Sami’s class and his friends join in to help him solve the mystery.

I love Harlan’s books normally flying through them in a day, but I found Nobody’s Fool a bit slow to start. Also, there were so many twists and turns that it was hard to stay focused during the first part of the book. The second half was good, and the ending was different & fun to see how everything would be answered. I really liked his relationship with his wife. It really tied the book together.

I thank Grand Central Publishing, and NetGalley for this copy. My comments and thoughts are my own.

Harlan Coben once again proves why he’s a master of suspense in Nobody’s Fool, a gripping thriller that seamlessly blends mystery, psychological tension, and a haunting past that refuses to stay buried.

The story follows Sami, a man whose life took a dark and unexpected turn twenty years ago. What was supposed to be a carefree trip to Europe before med school turned into a nightmare when he woke up in Spain covered in blood—next to a dead girl. Fast forward to the present, Sami is no longer on the path to becoming a doctor. Instead, he’s teaching an investigative course to a ragtag group of students, having left his career as a police officer behind. But when he spots a woman in his class who looks eerily familiar—someone he knows should be dead—his past comes rushing back in the worst way possible.

Coben masterfully crafts a story filled with twists, moral dilemmas, and the dangers of digging too deep into the past. As Sami embarks on a desperate search for the truth, readers are pulled into a web of secrets, regret, and the lingering question: is it better to seek answers or let the past remain undisturbed?

With sharp dialogue, well-developed characters, and a fast-paced plot, Nobody’s Fool keeps readers hooked until the very last page. If you enjoy thrillers that keep you guessing and stories that explore how past mistakes shape the present, this is definitely a book worth reading.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It's been several years since I read Fool Me Once (where Detective Sami Kierce first makes an appearance), and you definitely don't need to read or re-read that one to enjoy Nobody's Fool. It reads great as a stand-alone, although there are some characters from that book that make an appearance here.

Harlan Coben knocked another missing person mystery-thriller out of the ballpark. I loved the twists in this one and could hardly put it down. Coben also adds some of his usual wit and humor to lighten the book a bit and make it an even more entertaining read.

The book starts 25 years prior when Sami Kierce and his friends are backpacking in Spain. He meets beautiful Anna in a club, and they quickly develop a relationship over a few days until Sami wakes up one morning with a knife in his hand, covered in blood with Anna dead next to him.

Now Sami is married to Molly with a baby boy. He's also a disgraced cop teaching night classes to an eclectic group of people. Until one night Anna steps through the door, she runs, and Sami chases. He's like a dog with a bone and the need to uncover everything. Who is Anna? How is she linked to another missing person case? And is his fiancé's killer he put away 20 years ago and now being released coming after him and his family? So many pieces to the puzzle that is Nobody's Fool.

A fast-paced read that keeps you entertained and guessing. Harlan Coben does such a great job with not only his characters, but a well put together plot that somehow connects the dots perfectly at the end with a little opening for another Sami Kierce book....

A great read, a real thriller that keeps the reader turning pages to find out where ex-cop Sammi Kierce will find himself. This one finds Kierce looking back to his after college days when he backpacked with friends in Spain. He leaves his group to spend time with a girl he meets on the dance floor. He wakes up to find a bloody knife and a body. Now years later, a disgraced cop, he finds himself teaching a group of wanna be detectives--one night a woman appears in his classroom--it's the girl from the past. Kierece's whole world is upended as he searches for the woman and the truth. Lots of twists and turns but Kierece's personality and relationship to his family keep this grounded. Thanks to Net Galley!

📚 E-ARC BOOK TOUR BOOK REVIEW 📚

Nobody's Fool By Harlan Coben
Publication Date: March 25, 2025
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

📚MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for this #gifted e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

📚MY REVIEW:

After much scientific research (which included only reading a lot of books), I have reached the conclusion that it's a statistical impossibility for Harlan Coben to write anything other than a five star captivating thriller. Okay, it's not a scientific conclusion, but that doesn't make the statement any less true. Don't believe me? Read Coben's books -- you'll see.

It is absolutely befuddling to me how this man can create twist after mind-blowing twist in every single one of his books! There's a magic that happens in every one of Coben's reads, where I am pulled into this fast-paced and action-packed storyline and I can't fight it -- I have to read the entire book in one sitting. His stories simply must be crafted with some sort of masterful thriller dust, because I find myself lost in the story every single time and perched on the edge of my seat to find out what happens next. And the stories are so perfectly detailed, with humor and sarcasm and realistic dialogue between genuine characters, that it's as if I'm watching them on a movie screen in my head. This happens for me with each and every one of Coben's books, so I know it's a talent he has with his writing style and not just a fluke.

Interestingly, this book took a little more time than a typical Coben read to pull me in. It was just over 20% into the book before the hook got its claws in me. So if you're a die-hard Coben fan like I am, be prepared for this one to start off with a slight slow burn feel. But don't worry - once it starts taking off, it's twisty revelations will have your heart pounding, per usual.

This is book two in the Sami Kierce series, but you can 100% pick this one up as a standalone if you want to. If you're a fan of intelligent plot twists, sarcastic dialogue, and brilliant whodunnit-style plotlines that'll keep you guessing till the very end -- Harlan Coben should already be an auto-buy author on your list. If he isn't, be sure you pick up Nobody's Fool when it publishes in March. Once you read it, I promise you'll understand why he's such a revered name in the world of thrillers -- and in Netflix limited series.

#NobodysFool #HarlanCoben #GrandCentralPublishing #ARC #NetGalley #NetGalleyReviews #bookreviews #bookrecs #thrillerreads #thrilleraddict #thrillerlover #bookaddict

I enjoy reading Harlan Coben's books. I must have first the first Sami Kierce book. Sami is a somewhat down on his luck former NYPD detective who cannot always control his mouth and/or actions which is why he was dismissed his job.

With a wife and young child, he takes on jobs for a high powered law firm to help pay off his debts. This bring him to investigate a murder of a high powered couple's daughter that took place year's ago and intersected with and changed Sami's life.

I enjoyed Nobody's Fool though it was a bit slow in places. It is rememberable, not really. Instant gratifications? Yes.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC.

Nobody's Fool is Harlan Coben's latest novel. I really enjoy his books but this one took a bit of time to get interested in so if you are like me hang in there, after about 50 pages it picks up and becomes more interesting. The main character, Sami, is not a particularly likable guy, but what happens to him in the past might explain why he is not a very likable. Victoria’s family’s actions, particularly the father and brother, were just reprehensible, and I was shocked by the ending. Overall I recommend this book, because Harlan Coben is such a good author. Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for my review copy of this book.

Harlem Coben never fails to deliver a suspenseful read. I finished this book in two days!
I did not read the first book in this series (but I will now), and I could still follow along with the storyline. The connection between the narrator and the “missing girl” was fascinating, and Coben kept the surprises coming.