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Nobody's Fool is a new mystery, a thriller with as many twists as you would expect from author Harlan Coben.

Sami Kierce finds his past come rushing back as he unexpectedly meets someone from many, many years before. A woman who he will choose to pursue, even though it may be dangerous, as she was supposed to be dead, her body last seen lying next to him twenty-two years ago on a backpacking trip to Spain with blood everywhere and the knife in his hands.

Now a private investigator, Kierce must follow every lead to uncover the truth about what happened that day, a mystery that has haunted him ever since. He won't be alone on this new quest, he'll have his bunch of PI trainees to help him along the way, each of whom brought a humour touch to an otherwise serious story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for the e-ARC.

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Coben does it again - Nobody’s Fool is another tangled, pacey thriller packed with secrets, buried pasts, and characters you can’t quite trust. This time we’re following Sami Kierce, a private investigator (and former detective) who’s now teaching amateur sleuths in an evening class. During one session, he spots someone in the back of the room who looks uncannily like a woman from his past… the same woman he thought he accidentally killed over twenty years ago.

From that premise alone, I was hooked. It’s a slow burn at first, but once things start to unravel, the twists come at speed - and the stakes start to feel very personal. The book revisits some characters from Fool Me Once, but you don’t need to have read it to enjoy this one. (That said, fans of that story will enjoy the added layers and references.)

The standout element for me was the dynamic between Sami and the quirky, slightly unhinged group of students in his detective class. They added some welcome levity and gave the book that signature Coben energy - unexpected humour amid the chaos. I’d honestly read a spin-off just featuring them solving low-stakes mysteries.

Some parts of the plot required a bit of suspension of disbelief, and I felt the side mystery wasn’t as fleshed out as it could’ve been. But it didn’t stop me from turning the pages. This is the kind of thriller that reads like a Netflix adaptation waiting to happen (and likely will be). Fast-paced, cleverly layered, and satisfying without being too tidy.

Definitely recommended for fans of his previous work or anyone who loves a psychological mystery with just the right amount of drama.

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Some Harlan Cobden I adore and then others I’m not so keen on. Unfortunately this fell into the latter camp. It will be a huge success regardless as he’s such a well loved author.

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This whole book centres around Sami who is a private investigator running evening classes attended by amateur detectives. During one of these classes he sees someone at the back of the room who looks just like a girl he used to know well, Anna,, who then runs quickly away.

What ensues is Sami’s hunt for this mysterious classroom visitor - with the help of some of his class.

A typical, twisty tale from Mr Coben, slightly lacking in his particular brand of humour. Can I also say that at times the book was too amarican?

It will do well on Netflix though as long as the Anna character is explained.

Thanks to Net Galley and Random House UK/Cornerstone for the chance to read and review.

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Harlan Coben does it again!

Another crime thriller that kept me hooked from page 1.

Loved the lead character Sami Kierce, a former Detective who is now a Private Investigator.

When his past comes back to haunt him, he embarks on an enthralling mystery with plot twists and turns abound.

A brilliant thriller with great characters and backstory to keep you wanting more.

Absolute 5 ⭐️

Thanks you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.

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I adore Harlen Coben's book but this was a bit of a slow burn for me. But once it got going, it was worth the wait. It was good reconnecting with Sami Kierce following the tragic ending of his last outing.

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Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I really enjoyed this one, and I like the main character. I'd love to read more of him and what he gets up to next.

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This is a really engaging, witty novel that I enjoyed every bit of. I haven't yet read a Harlan Coben novel that I haven't been impressed with, and this is no exception.

As usual, the plot is very well developed and full of twists, and the characters are completely relatable. There are mysteries within mysteries. We begin with Sami, an ex-cop who has been forced to leave his job after an 'error of judgement' led to someone's death. It's clear that he enjoyed being a cop, but we also start to discover that his entire life has been shaped by events that took place while he was young and backpacking around Europe.

In Spain, he met a woman called Anna and fell in love/lust. But a gruesome turn of events led him to believe that she was dead - and that he was possibly the one who had killed her. Having lived with this trauma for years, Sami regularly hallucinates and thinks he sees Anna. So when he actually does see her, he isn't immediately sure that he can trust his senses.

The discovery of 'Anna' ties in with a long-ago kidnapping of a rich, young woman, and also with the recent release of the man Sami thinks killed his ex partner, Nicole. Coben weaves all of these threads together as the novel progresses, and seemingly separate events turn out to be linked.

I found Sami to be an extremely likeable character. He regularly thinks things that he isn't sure about, but is honest enough to voice them anyway (for instance, realising that if certain people hadn't died then he wouldn't have his son today). His relationship with his partner, Molly, is well written and she's a good character, with Coben refusing to fall into stereotypes with her.

The most attention seeking characters however have to be Sami's class of students, who are supposedly learning about detecting crime but are in fact being enlisted to investiate real life events. They are utterly brilliant and made me laugh out loud in places. They are a disparate bunch with some definite eccentrics in there, but the writing isn't ever sneery or patronising.

If you are looking for a riveting read full of humour and humanity, then read this book - and then start reading Harlan Coben's previous novels. Thanks very much to Netgalley for the preview.

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Yet again another 5* read from Harlan Coben, a best selling author consistently at the top of his game. Imperative no spoilers, clues or indicators are leaked to spoil the trajectory of this convoluted thriller. The chief protagonist is now an ex detective (ex is explained in time) with a predictable career path in medicine destroyed before it could start. A tragic situation occurs which had shaped his youth and subsequent life. Now happily married with a career in criminology he recognises a face giving him a blast from the past that must be followed up. A mixture of memories, ex colleagues and current students from his criminology classes all assist in a slow, often torturous in depth investigation into two decades of secrets, lies and deceit that could result in several families lives including his own put in mortal danger. The pace never gives up as the relentless quest for answers reaches a worthy and realistic conclusion with yet another final sting in the tail. A class read on every level.

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As you'd expect from a Harlan Coben novel, Nobody's Fool is filled with misdirection, tension, threat and complex storylines involving very human emotions and actions.

I loved particularly the little team of amateur detectives, disgraced detective, now PI and Tutor, Sami Kierce has enlisted around him.

Following on from Fool Me Once, Sami, now a lecturer and married with a baby, is compelled to investigate a complex mystery spanning over two decades and it's really personal to him.

This was a dream to read - the pages kept turning themselves and I was engrossed throughout.
The final dénouement was a complete surprise to me and the characters were brilliantly drawn.
As always, Coben is the master of surprise and I loved it

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As always with Harlan Coben I felt immersed in the story and the secrets, lies and danger that kept me hooked.

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A slow burner of a story which became very intriguing. Another brilliant story from Harlan.Second in this series.

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I think it would be amazing to spend a day in the mind of Harlan Coben - it must be teeming with ideas and characters waiting for a story!
I hadn't read "fool me once" but it didn't seem to matter as Sami's character and those of his friends and enemies were well rounded with back stories that were touched on and gave clarity to their actions.
As always in one of his books there are plenty of plot twists and red herrings which makes this reader stay up to read "just one more chapter". far too often.
I'm looking forward to finding out what happens to Sami in the next book!
Thank you to netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.

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Another brilliant book! Harlan has an amazing knack of sucking you into the story from the get go. From the very beginning I was curious as to what would happen next, and what had gone on in the past. I definitely recommend this one. Thank you #netgalley

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This is a bother great read from Harlen Coben. I enjoyed the dual timelines and the clever way that the story unfolded. A story of family, first love and the lengths people would go to to protect the ones they love.

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Another great thriller by Harlan Coben. In this novel, Sami Kierce, recently departed from the police and making ends meet by teaching wannabe private investigators the arts of detective work, has his evening class interrupted by the appearance of 'Anna' a girl who he thought he'd killed in Spain 22 years previously. With the assistance of former police colleagues as well as his class of PI hopefuls he discovers that Anna appears to be living in the home of reclusive millionaires whose daughter disappeared only to miraculously reappear several years late. Lots to keep you engaged and an interesting twist at the end. Thanks to NetGalley for offering me the opportunity to read an ARC, I'd thoroughly recommend this book which is part police procedural and part psychological thriller.

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This is apparently the second in a series, following on from Fool Me Once. I will definitely be reading the first book in the near future. This was a real page turner - I started it yesterday and finished it today.
The story visits Sami Kierce's past. On a trip to Spain with friends Sami meets Anna and falls in love. He leaves his friends, moves in with Emma and wakes on morning to find her dead, and a knife in his hand. Then, on his father's advice, he runs and returns to the US. His guilt defines his life. After much angst in his life he is now happily married with a one-year old son and suddenly he sees the girl he killed in his criminology class. He recognises her and chases after her and that leads to a complex search for the truth.
A solid 4 star read.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Harlan Coben/Random House UK for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

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If you’ve read Fool Me Once – or seen it on Netflix – you may recall Sami’s character (although if you’ve only seen the Netflix series, you should know that he’s distinctly less British in the books). I certainly don’t recall him mentioning the two dead women in his past but I suppose it’s not the sort of thing that you bring up without reason. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure why the lead character needed to be Sami when a new character could have worked just as well. Who knows, maybe the rights have already been sold to Netflix and they’ve already signed Adeel Akhtar to return…

Sami is a good focal character for the story, as the whole book focuses on him. I particularly liked the relationship with his wife, Molly, and the twists and turns around Anna’s story are extremely well-crafted, with the reader constantly having their expectations undermined.

I didn’t think the other story really had the page-space to breathe though, and it very much plays second fiddle to the main story, and is resolved very quickly. It felt in hindsight that it was only there to crank up the tension and provide a certain development in the other story, as while it is very intriguing, there isn’t much threat involved in the Anna story.

All in all, I enjoyed the book a lot, but it’s not up there with my favourite books by the author. Still well worth your time though.

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I’ll be honest this started off a little slow and I was ready to give up but once I got the half way mark it really got going and there was no giving up!

This picks up a year or so after Fool Me Once (excluding the epilogue) and there are a few returning characters but you would be fine to pick this up as a standalone or having watched the TV series on Netflix.

Sami Kierce is a likeable main character but since the events at Farnwood his life spiralled for a while before settling down with marriage and a young child. That is until he sees what he thinks should be ghost. He follows the clues and ends up with an old kidnap mystery.

As with all Harlan Coben books this is well written and a very easy read. I found it quite moving at times.

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Nobody’s Fool is set a year after Fool Me Once however, as someone who hasn’t read the first book, I had no issues getting into the plot of this one. Enough information was shared to ensure that I didn’t miss out on key foundations for this book.

In his younger days, former Detective Sami Kierce was backpacking in Spain and met the enigmatic Anna however the fun is shattered when he wakes up, finding Anna dead with a knife in his hand and covered in blood…so he runs.

Fast forward twenty-two years later, Sami is a private investigator running evening classes when he sees someone at the back of the room who looks just like Anna, who then bolts. What ensues is Sami’s hunt for the mysterious classroom visitor and for answers.

Nobody’s Fool is full of twists and turns, a great cast of characters, some of whom are helpful to Sami, some that are not!

A thoroughly engaging read and an absolute page turner, wanting to know how all the plot strands tie up together! It did not disappoint.

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