Harlan Coben is probably one of the busiest people in TV right now, and for good reason. His thrilling and suspenseful books are popular with fans and make for addictive reading. And these stories have translated brilliantly into the television format. The author and screenwriter has had several of his books adapted for the screen, including Caught, Just One Look and Missing You – all released in 2025.

Coben also has a couple of other Netflix shows currently in production. Run Away is inspired by the 2019 novel of the same name and the show is fronted by frequent Coben collaborator James Nesbitt and features several British stars, including Gavin & Stacey legend Ruth Jones.

Then, we also know I Will Find You is coming to screens in the near future. Starring Sam Worthington, Britt Lower, Milo Ventimiglia, Logan Browning and Erin Richards, the series follows Worthington as an innocent father, David Burroughs, who’s serving a life sentence for murdering his son. But when he finds out that his son may be alive, David seeks out the truth that leads to him being released from prison and into a world of deception.

We also know that Coben is working with actor Reese Witherspoon to co-author a thriller novel, with the story being an original idea from Witherspoon herself. The title of the novel is still under wraps, but the new book will be published in the autumn of this year. So, yes. Harlan Coben is a busy man indeed.

So, we’re taking a moment to look back at some of his TV shows. Here are all 11 (and counting) of Harlan Coben’s TV shows, ranked from best to worst.

The Innocent

With a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score, this Spanish series follows Mateo Vidal, a law school student who gets pulled into a fight at a club that leads to a man’s death. After serving four years in prison, Mateo finishes his law degree and meets Olivia Costa, whom he ultimately marries. Although Mateo is trying to move on with his life, he keeps experiencing setbacks and tragedies.

Stay Close

Three people living comfortable lives each conceal dark secrets that even the closest to them would never suspect; Megan, a working mother of three; Ray, the once promising documentary photographer now stuck in a dead-end job pandering to celebrity-obsessed rich kids; and Broome, a detective who’s unable to let go of a missing person’s cold case. As the past comes back to haunt them, threatening to ruin their lives and the lives of those around them, what will be their next move?

The Woods

Filmed in Poland, the six-part series follows the tale of Paul Copeland, a Warsaw prosecutor who is still grieving the loss of his sister after she was lost in a forest 25 years ago. Paul is given hope after the discovery of a murder victim, one that reveals evidence linking to his sister’s disappearance.

Netflix adds: “As hope rises that his sister could still be alive, dangerous secrets from his family’s past threaten to tear apart everything that Paul has been trying to hold together.”

The Stranger

Filmed in Manchester, The Stranger revolves around a mysterious young woman in a baseball cap – the titular Stranger – who reveals secrets to people with dire consequences. She first approaches Adam Price at his son’s soccer game and suggests he check his children’s DNA. After Adam confronts his wife, Corinne, about her potentially cheating on him, she disappears. The Stranger continues to approach others in town and reveal secrets that damn those closest to them. And as more is exposed, each new secret seems to be related to the last… 

Safe

In this 2018 series, widowed surgeon Tom has struggled to raise his two daughters alone following his wife’s death a year ago. Things seem to be on the right track for the family, who live in a gated community, because they have close friends nearby and Tom is in the early stages of a new relationship. But the situation takes a turn for the worse when Jenny, Tom’s oldest daughter, goes missing along with her boyfriend. Tom enlists his girlfriend Sophie, a police detective, to help locate the teens, but her new partner is working on her own agenda.

Fool Me Once

This series revolves around Maya Stern, who is trying to come to terms with the brutal murder of her husband, Joe. Meanwhile, Maya’s niece and nephew, Abby and Daniel, are trying to find the truth about their mother’s murder, which took place several months earlier. Are the two cases connected? Well, the plot thickens. Because, when Maya installs a nanny-cam to keep an eye on her young daughter, she is shocked to see a man she recognises in her house. Her husband, whom she thought was dead, is very much alive and well.

Missing You

According to the series synopsis: “Eleven years ago, Detective Kat Donovan’s fiance, Josh, the love of her life, disappeared and she’s never heard from him since. Now, swiping profiles on a dating app, she suddenly sees his face and her world explodes all over again. Josh’s reappearance will force her to dive back into the mystery surrounding her father’s murder and uncover long-buried secrets from her past.”

Hold Tight

The series is a sequel of sorts to The Woods (it shares multiple characters) and is the sixth of Coben’s books to be adapted for television.

Life in a tight-knit, affluent Warsaw suburb slowly unravels when a teenager goes missing shortly after his friend’s death, exposing secrets and lies in the process. And of course, exposed secrets and lies make for dramatic TV. To what lengths will the missing teen’s mum go in order to ensure her son is safe?

Caught

Ema Garay, a journalist known for capturing criminals who’ve escaped justice, is working on her next big story: a sexual abuser who targets teenage girls through an online game. After she very nearly catches him in the act, Ema’s primary suspect becomes a trusted person in the community, in the form of a man named Leo Mercer. When Ema’s team begins to trace Leo’s whereabouts, they’re confronted with a new investigation after a 16-year-old violin player, who was in contact with a mysterious older man, also goes missing.

Gone For Good

As per Netflix’s synopsis, the show revolves around Guillaume Lucchesi, who thought he had drawn a line under the terrible tragedy which saw the two people he loved the most die: Sonia, his first love, and Fred, his brother. But 10 years later, Judith, whose love has made his life worth living again, suddenly disappears during his mother’s funeral. To find her, Guillaume will have to face all the truths that were hidden from him as well as those that he’d long decided to ignore and leave behind.

Just One Look

A happily married woman finds an old photograph of her husband, but nothing about the photo or the people in it are familiar to her. When her husband seemingly vanishes, she pieces together the clues and comes across a conspiracy related to a tragedy from her past. Adapted from Harlan Coben’s book of the same name, this Polish mystery thriller stars Maria Dębska, Cezary Łukaszewicz and Piotr Stramowski.

Image: Netflix