This is Harlan Coben at the top of his game. The plot, characters, twists, setting, atmosphere, all come together for a quick paced thriller that kept me hooked from start to finish.

Harlan Coban doesn't disappoint.

A former detective is shocked when a woman he'd known as a teenager and thought dead appears in his class for amateur sleuths. She disappears when she's recognized and, aided by his students, he is determined to find her and the mystery surrounding her.

Excellent!! 10/10. You can't really go wrong with anything from Harlan Coben but this was exceptionally good.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

I love Harlan Coben and have read all of his books, although the Myron Bolitar series is my favorite. He has never disappointed me, and he did not disappoint me with Nobody's Fool.

The main character may be familiar to some readers - disgraced former police officer Sami Kierce, who is incredibly likable, which makes this book a pleasure to read. We go back to Sami's college days when he was backtracking through Spain, connected with and hooked up with a beautiful girl, and woke up next to her one morning to find her dead.

Fast forward decades later and Sami finds who he thinks is the same woman in his everyday life. Even more intriguing, it appears that this woman is a missing heiress.

Sami uses the help of some of his students to investigate (and eventually solve) this case. This book is fast-paced, engrossing, and hard to put down. Yes, the ending is a little far-fetched, but it didn't bother me a bit.

I loved this book the way I love all of Harlan Coben's books. And I think you will too.

I can’t believe that despite this authors name recognition, I have never read any of their books. After reading this one I will definitely be reading more of his work. This is an amazing story, well written and engaging. The book started off slowly but picked up momentum toward the middle of the first third. After that it went full speed through to the end. The characters were dynamic and likable with some snarky and funny dialogue. The timing in the mystery was impeccable and I never saw the resolution coming.

I received an arc of this book and voluntarily provided a review.

This might be hard to believe given his massive popularity, but I have never read a Harlan Coben book before this one. However, I have seen all of the UK-set Netflix series based on his books, so I knew the plot of Fool Me Once and knew the character of Sami Kierce. He was a standout for me in that first story, so I enjoyed getting to know more about him in this sequel but also prequel since we see Sami as a young man. Events from that time help set in motion this new story.

I really liked the structure and how several plots were balanced throughout. I did not guess the outcomes but thought they were pretty clever. This is definitely a page turner, and I'm looking forward to the inevitable Netflix adaptation of this new book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Another fast-paced, creative Harlan Coben book that I couldn’t put down. How does one come up with these stories? Coben is the Steven King of crime drama, but his flair for humor and his fun writing style puts him over the top. While this book does not star my favorite character Myron Bollitar, Sports Agent, there is an equally funny and interesting protagonist and because of Coben’s writing, it is sometimes hard to not picture the tall, athletic Bollitar. And that takes nothing away from the story. Coben is such a great writer and his style is so unique and fun. I highly, highly recommend this as a fun read to make you forget about the real world.
Thank you NetGalley for an ARC.

This detective story is a thrilling ride from start to finish! The pace is relentless, and just when you think you've figured it all out, another twist leaves you reeling. At the heart of it all is a tense mystery-kidnapping, disappearances, and the lengths people will go to protect their loved ones. The stakes are high, and the emotional depth is palpable.
The story plays with social and wealth divides in ways that make every character's choice feel consequential. The dual timeline adds layers of suspense, gradually revealing clues that keep you guessing until the final page. It's a fast-paced, unpredictable, and deeply engaging story that leaves you questioning how far you'd go to protect the ones you love. If you're into tightly woven plots with shocking twists, this one will have you hooked.

I have been a fan of Harlan Coben books since my mom gave them to me to read in high school. If you love him, you will love this! If you haven’t read any by him before, just know you’re getting some real twisty plots, shocking moments and an overall feeling of unsettledness. At times, the writing felt a little forced but overall, I got sucked in and enjoyed the story!

Former police officer, Sami Kierce, who we met in Fool Me Once has had a rough year since the events of that book. Now disgraced and no longer on the force, he’s working PI side gigs and teaching a class called “No Shit, Sherlock” for an interesting group of characters in order to provide for his wife and young son. When a ghost from his past shows up, he gets drawn into investigating a decades old cold case along with having to confront his former fiancée’s killer, he and his misfit group and former partner go on a twisty and thrilling search for the truth in both cases. I could not put this down and flew through it. I found it to be fast paced and thoroughly enjoyable. As with most of his books, you have to suspend some belief and just go with the flow but his storyline here and that final twist was just so good. I would love to see more of his students in future books. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced ebook to review - this one publishes on March 25, 2025 and can be read as a standalone but you’ve got time to also read Fool Me Once and then see some familiar characters! 4.5⭐️

Thriller with interesting twists that kept me guessing until the end. Thank you Netgalley & Harlan Coben for the arc.

Disgraced NYPD detective Sami Kierce’s past comes back to haunt him when a strange woman enters his classroom. He just knows in an instant that she’s Anna, the woman he met in Spain 25 years ago. But how could that be since he killed her???

Another one hard to put down. Just when you think you have things figured out, Coben throws in another twist.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Awesome! This was fantastic! The story kept me constantly guessing and never wanting to put it down. Harlan is always such a dependable good read and this one does not disappoint. One of his best!

“Nobody’s Fool” is marketed as Sami Kierce #2, but it’s more a #2 to Coben’s Netflix series, then to the 2016 book “Fool Me Once.” In the first book, Kierce is a lesser character, the NYPD detective from Jersey investigating a murder (actually named Roger), but he’s not the main protagonist. He has a much bigger part in the episodic series produced by Coben (with a significantly larger backstory from that) and the Netflix Kierce is British of Southeast Asian descent. Here we’re back to an American character (of Pakistani parentage now — it takes awhile to flesh that out in this novel), but Kierce is a now disgraced NYPD cop, working as an investigator for a law firm with a baby genius junior partner named Arthur, and teaching criminology to pay-by-class students. Sami is happily married to Molly and has a one year son Henry, but we know that Sami’s previous cop fiancée Nicole was murdered, presumably by her ex, Tad Grayson. The book starts with a double nightmare for Sami: Nicole’s killer is being freed from prison on a technicality and simultaneously, the twenty-something girl he met on a drug fueled European post-college backpacking trek twenty years ago, Anna, who he also thought was murdered in Spain, shows up in his criminology class as a forty-ish observer who quickly flees.

This novel can be definitely read as a standalone. There are a few crossover characters from events in the first novel, but there are also slight references to a medical condition only shown in the series. Since continuity isn’t paramount, reading this without knowing anything else will still be a complicated, action-packed thriller, typical of a Coben book.

There’s a clever plot, lots of twists, and made-for-cable quirky characters — especially Kierce’s recruited investigators from his eager class: the Pink Panthers, Golfer Guy, the Three Dead Hots influencers, Lenny, Polly, and unhoused Raymond plus ex-partner Marty — all unique people who give Kierce an edge to offbeat surveillance/research as he gets further involved in both cases of the murdered women who he loved. I loved the story and I’m pretty sure there will be a Sami Kierce #3 to fill in more of his backstory. 5 stars!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): Not quite: Sami can’t remember Anna’s eye color, but they turned out to be hazel.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO But Sami does make an observation: do any non-rich people have rooms called conservatories in their homes?

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy!

Disgraced detective Sami Kierce is barely making ends meet teaching a crime class when a woman from his past enters the classroom. Except the last time he saw this woman she was dead and he was holding a bloody knife. Or was she? This was a great, suspenseful read. Loved seeing more of Kierce! And the cliffhanger at the end has me excited for more! Thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Books for the opportunity to read another amazing novel by the great Harlan Coben!

Sami Kierce returns for another enjoyable mystery in Nobody's Fool. To be honest I didn't remember much about his character from the first book, but he's smart and endearing in unexpected ways. Sami is at a low point in his career after losing his job in a grim and public way, and is now reduced to teaching questionable sleuthing classes at night to some peculiar and interesting people. When someone he believed dead suddenly appears in his classroom, he is thrown into a chase through the city and time as he looks for answers and redemption. Plenty of twists and mystery down to the end, and a truly enjoyable read.

Nobody's Fool is a bitingly funny and equally horrifying mystery by the bestselling author Harlan Coben. From the outset, I knew I'd enjoy this book. It was easy reading, amusing despite the terrible things happening, and a great mystery arc. I haven't read Sami Kierce #1 and that wasn't a barrier to entry (although now I do plan to go back and do that).

Sami Kierce is a washed up police officer. He was fired from the force after a sloppy death happens on his watch. Now, Kierce teaches a night course on mystery at the local community college, trying to make ends meet. One night during his lecture, a woman he slept with in his college days, who he thought was dead, shows up. Kierce chases off after her and the mystery begins.

The story isn't easily guessed. It's fast-paced. As I mentioned twice, funny. Great twists and I enjoyed the characters. Highly recommend. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am a huge fan of Harlan Coben and look forward to every new release. This story fell a little short for me compared to his other books,

There were a couple of plots going on and their common denominator was the primary character's students that he teaches and an ex-partner. Sami used to be a cop, but he is off the force due to his behavior. He tries to rebuild his life with his wife and newborn child. The challenge is that the plots span 22 years but do not intersect. Sami is reunited with his past and asked to investigate a disappearance that he only agrees to because he will provide closure for him. He starts to get answers that are too difficult to face, and he needs to decide if he has the courage to face the truth.

By the time you get to the end, you have wrapped up one of the plots, but there are still loose ends that need attention, and the epilogue feels insufficient to do that.

Wow! One of Harlan Coben’s best books in a long time! Very fast paced, and a lot of twists and turns. Sounds like maybe a sequel in the making, and I wouldn’t be disappointed, thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy!

Wow! Harlan has done it again. To be honest I did not know this was a follow up to a book I really a long time ago but I do not think that really matters. This was such an intricate story and I love how the author developed the characters throughout the story. The way I started to feel about one character was shattered by the end. Harlan Coben is one of my favorite authors of all time because of the way he can make me feel as if I am watching a movie unfold and feel such emotions. Another home run!