Harlan Coben Books In Order – Complete List of Novels

Reading the Harlan Coben books in order entails picking up the author’s popular Myron Bolitar starting with Deal Breaker, and the young adult Mickey Bolitar series, followed by Win’s own story in a new series titled Windsor Horne Lockwood, focusing on Myron’s best friend, Win. The author also started the Wilde series and has several standalone books, which can be read in any order you choose.

Here are the Harlan Coben books in reading order for his popular two series, and his chilling standalone thrillers. The books are listed in publication order and chronological order.

Latest Harlan Coben Books

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Myron Bolitar Books In Order of Reading and Publication

1. Deal Breaker, 1995
2. Drop Shot, 1996
3. Fade Away, 1996
4. Back Spin, 1997
5. One False Move, 1998
6. The Final Detail, 1999
7. Darkest Fear, 2000
8. Promise Me, 2006
9. Long Lost, 2009
10. Live Wire, 2011
11. Home, 2016
12. Think Twice, 2024

Mickey Bolitar Series In Order of Reading and Publication

1. Shelter, 2011
2. Seconds Away, 2012
3. Found, 2014

Windsor Horne Lockwood III Series In Order of Reading and Publication

1. Win, 2021

Wilde Series In Order of Reading and Publication

1. The Boy From the Woods, 2020
2. The Match, 2022

Standalone Harlan Coben Books

• Play Dead, 1990
• Miracle Cure, 1991
• Tell No One, 2001
• Gone for Good, 2002
• No Second Chance, 2003
• Just One Look, 2004
• The Innocent, 2005
• The Woods, 2007
• Hold Tight, 2008
• Caught, 2010
• Stay Close, 2012
• Six Years, 2013
• Missing You, 2014
• The Stranger, 2015
• Fool Me Once, 2016
• Don’t Let Go, 2017
• Run Away, 2019
• I Will Find You, 2023

Short Stories and Anthologies in Order of Publication

• Malice Domestic 7, 1998 (A Simple Philosophy)
• Opening Shots, Vol. II, 2001 (Entrapped, and The Rough Boys)
• Mystery Writers of America Presents Death Do Us Part: New Stories About Love, Lust, and Murder, 2006
• Pulp Fiction: The Crimefighters, 2006
• The Best American Mystery Stories 2011, with Otto Penzler
• Suspense Magazine April 2012, 2012
• Crime Writers: A Decade of Crime, 2013, with Mark Billingham, Ann Cleeves, P D James, Val McDermid and Steve Mosby
• The Best American Mystery Stories 2017, 2017
• Birds of Prey: The Harlan Coben Challenge, 2022, with Kelley Armstrong, Ace Atkins, C J Box, Allison Brennan, S A Cosby, Robert Dugoni, Tess Gerritsen, Heather Graham, Gregg Hurwitz, Kathy Reichs and Hank Phillippi Ryan

Picture Books in Publication Order

• The Magical Fantastical Fridge, 2016 (aka Walden and the Magic Refrigerator)

Harlan Coben Biography – About the Author

Harlan Coben was born in 1962 in Newark, New Jersey, in the United States, to a Jewish family. He still lives in New Jersey (Ridgewood) with his wife, a pediatrician, along with their 4 children. He attended and graduated from Livingston High School. Later on, he went to Amherst College where he studied political science. During this time he belonged to the same fraternity (Psi Upsilon) with the author Dan Brown, also was a member. Dan Brown is well known for his Da Vinci Code thriller, belonging to the Robert Langdon thriller series.

After graduating from college, Harlan Coben took the first job within the family, working for his grandfather who owned a company in the travel industry as a travel agency. His passion for writing came about when he was in college in his senior year. He got his first book published at age 26, in 1990 with the title Play Dead, a romantic suspense novel.

After the publication of his second standalone novel, Miracle Cure, a medical thriller, in 1991, he started his by now very popular series Myron Bolitar, featuring a basketball coach who turns to solving crimes. Knowing that Harlan Coben played basketball in college (his impressive height also shows it –  6ft 4ins), his choice for the main character of the series doesn’t seem all that random.

2016 is the year that makes an interesting career change – a shift in Harlan Coben. He has written a drama for British TV  (Sky One) called The Five. It is a unique story not drawn from any of Harlan Coben’s books. The first standalone novel after writing the books in his Bolitar series is Tell No One, and I think it’s pretty much my most favorite book by him (and I love all the Harlan Coben books). It is also the novel which was turned into a French film in 2006.

Published in 2001, it features Dr. David Beck, whose wife died during one of their trips to the lake to celebrate their anniversary. When he is attacked and he hears his wife’s screams, once he wakes up he is told that his wife died in the ambush. After eight sorrowful years where he can’t get his wife out of his head, he receives a strange email which makes his doubtful that his wife is, indeed, dead. This starts his chase after the ghost of his wife and his investigation of what actually happened those eight years ago.

The Myron Bolitar series includes currently 11 books, with the latest one published in 2024with the title Think Twice. The Mickey Bolitar series has 3 books, with the latest one published in 2014, and I’m happy to see that Harlan Coben still continues to write his suspenseful standalone thrillers.

The Harlan Coben Myron Bolitar series starting with Deal Breaker focuses on Myron, a hothead sports agent who once upon a time was an FBI agent, and now has several clients, which who has issues that Myron has to solve. The Myron Bolitar books are highly entertaining and more often than not humorous, making them very different from the Harlan Coben standalone thrillers. The next books, Fade Away, Drop Shot, Back Spin, One False Move, The Final Detail, Darkest Fear, and the rest of the publications have been equally well received both by the readers, critics and reviewers alike. The publication order is the same with the reading order for these novels.

The Mickey Bolitar young adult spin-off series has as main protagonist Micky, sports agent Myron’s fifteen-year-old nephew who went to live with his uncle after his dad was murdered and he got to witness the deed. His mom is in rehab, so Micky is alone, thus the need to move to Myron’s house. Mickey was first introduced to the series readers in Live Wire, book #10 in the Myron Bolitar series. Mickey is just as clever and quick-witted as Myron, and he likes to solve puzzles and interesting cases just like his uncle.

The latest standalone novel by Harlan Coben is I Will Find You. Of course, reading the Harlan Coben books in order only involves his Myron and Micky Bolitar series, since the standalone novels can be read in any order you choose as they all feature different main (and secondary) protagonists. Well, except for Don’t Let Go, where Myron makes a cameo appearance, a wonderful treat to the Myron Bolitar series fans, but he is no way has a significant (or even partial) role in the case at hand. There is also his latest Wilde series which currently includes two novels.

The latest Harlan Coben book is Think Twice, book 12 in the Myron Bolitar series.

Some of his other popular standalone novels I most enjoyed are No Second Chance, Fool Me Once, The Stranger, Missing You, Six Year, and Run Away.  I might be in the minority here, but maybe because I started reading first his standalone excellent psychological thrillers, I prefer them to his series. They are much more suspenseful, much darker and much more “edge of your seat” type of books.

Harlan Coben has been one of my favorite writers for a long time. The first book I read by him was a standalone thriller called Play Dead, which was years before he started his popular Myron Bolitar series. So far he has over 80 million books in print worldwide. His books have been called “poignant and insightful” by the Los Angeles Times, “consistently entertaining” by the Houston Chronicle, “superb” by the Chicago Tribune, and “must-reading” by the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Harlan Coben is married to Anne Armstrong Coben, a pediatrician, and they have four children.

Harlan Coben’s Television Dramas and Films in Chronological Order

• Tell No One – Ne Le Dis A Personne, 2006 – French film – Pediatrician Alexandre Beck’s grief over the murder of his wife Margot is reignited when two bodies are found and he becomes a suspect. A mysterious email with a video clip suggests Margot may be alive.
• No Second Chance – Une Chance de Trop, 2015 – French mini series – Alice is shot and her husband is killed while her daughter is kidnapped. She searches for her daughter while navigating a web of criminals, corrupt cops, and secrets.
• The Five, 2016 – A five-year-old boy, Jesse, goes missing after being sent home by his brother and his friends. He is presumed dead, but 20 years later his DNA is found at a crime scene.
• Just One Look – Juste un regard, 2017 – a French drama. Eva’s world is turned upside down when she sees an old photo and her husband disappears. She is determined to find him at any cost.
• Safe, 2018 – In the wake of the disappearance of 16-year-old Jenny, her bereaved father Tom Delaney (Hall) undertakes a relentless and desperate search for her, only to unearth a sinister network of deceit and deception. (Netflix)
• The Stranger, 2020 – A young woman in her 20s begins a sinister campaign of extortion, targeting unsuspecting individuals with their own secrets. Her first victim, Adam Price (Armitage), is blindsided by the revelation and its potential to wreak havoc on his life. However, as more secrets come to light, a separate incident involving the disappearance of a woman adds a new layer of complexity to the situation. (Netflix)
• The Woods, 2020 – As a body is discovered in Warsaw, a prosecutor explores the truth behind his sister’s mysterious disappearance, which occurred 25 years prior. He holds out hope that this new development may provide valuable insights and lead to a resolution of the case. (Netflix)
• The Innocent – El Innocente, 2021 – Spanish series – After nine years of living with the guilt of accidentally causing a man’s death, Mateo and Olivia’s marriage is put to the test when a shocking phone call forces them to confront their past. Mateo (Casas) and Olivia (Garrido) struggle to come to terms with the event that had changed their lives forever. (Netflix)
• Gone for Good, 2021 – A decade after a tragic loss, a man’s world is turned upside down when his significant other disappears, and he becomes embroiled in a terrifying enigma. (Netflix)
• Stay Close, 2021 – Three individuals, who appear to have no connection, are all harboring dark secrets that could potentially destroy the comfortable lives they have constructed for themselves. (Netflix)
• Hold Tight, 2022 – Polish drama – the latest Harlan Coben series about a young man who goes missing after his friend dies, revealing secrets and lies in his tight-knit, affluent Warsaw community. (Netflix)

Harlan Coben Awards and Nominations

Harlan Coben’s books have earned him numerous awards and nominations for his excellent contribution to the mystery genre, and he is, in fact, the first author to receive all prestigious awards for his novels. Several of his novels have been on the #1 position of the New York Times bestselling list.

• Anthony Award for Best Paperback original winner, 1996 for Deal Breaker
• Dilys Award for Best Book nominee, 1997 for Fade Away
• Shamus Award for Best Paperback original winner, 1997 for Fade Away
• Barry Award for Best Paperback original winner, 1998 for Back Spin
• Dilys Awards for Best Book nominee, 1998 for Back Spin
• Anthony Award for Best Novel nominee, 2002 for Tell No One
• Edgar Award for Best Novel nominee, 2002 for Tell No One
• Macavity Award for Best Novel nominee, 2002 for Tell No One
• Agatha Award for Best Children/Young Adult Fiction nominee, 2014 for Found