The first thing I would say about Nobody's Fool is that, although it says it is set ' a year after the devastating events that took place in Fool Me Once', this is not a continuation of the story from Fool Me Once so it can easily be read as a standalone.

The story does follow Detective Sami Kierce, now disgraced former police officer, who can currently be found teaching wannabe private detectives in a local community college. One night during class, Sami sees a woman at the door who quickly flees and Sami is convinced it is the same woman, Anna, who he met in Spain as a teenager. However, Sami woke up one morning next to Anna in Spain and she was quite clearly dead! So, who is this person he has just seen? And to complicate matters further, Sami receives unwelcome news about the killer of his former partner who is currently in prison.

Coben is an author who never disappoints me and I was delighted to read his latest novel. Sami Kierce is a brilliant, but flawed, character who you will find yourself rooting for throughout this novel as he attempts to deal with two significant changes in his life. Coben weaves both stories perfectly towards a dramatic and stunning conclusion.

Although the book concludes perfectly, Coben leaves a brilliant teaser for what is sure to be a third Kierce novel and I cannot wait!

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone | Century for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

It’s easy to forget that Coben has been around for years; his writing remains fresh and vibrant and his storytelling is remarkable. Nobody’s Fool is a follow on from an earlier novel ( which I haven’t read) but this works well as a stand alone. Coben’s characters are sharp, the plotting is amazing with twist after twist and it’s difficult to second guess where a story is going to go next. Brilliant dialogue that never sounds contrived and fits the character and the pace is electric. Every story is carefully crafted to misdirect the reader; you never feel secure knowing what’s going to happen next. This is simply brilliant and I raced through it.

I enjoyed this story. No way would i have guessed the ending.
Not a lot of bad language either.. There was a reference to a previous case which wasn’t elaborated on so i think the author may have written about this detective before. It didn’t spoil the story though.

What on earth have I just read???absolutely incredible piece of literature. Yet another masterpiece from one of the top crime thriller writers. So happy I got a pre release opportunity to read this.

It's been many years since I read Fool Me Once, I have totally forgotten the plot and the characters. But that didn't matter, this book works just as well as a stand alone.

This book delves into 2 incidents from Sami's past, involving past loves, which have a big impact on his present. As with all of Harlan's book the action is fast and the twists keep you guessing right to the end. It's another unputdownable read that I really enjoyed. Looking forward to his next book already.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sami Kierce used to be a detective before he was fired for tampering with evidence. Now he does PI work for a law firm and teaches a sleuthing class at night. One night, a woman he had a brief affair with 20+ years ago in Spain, who he believed was dead, walks into his class and then quickly runs away. He manages to track her and finds out there is a whole lot more to the story than he knew.

Harlan Coben is my favorite author and I excitedly devour his books as soon as I have access to them, so I was very excited to get this ARC. As usual, this was a good book. It wasn't his best and it wasn't a 5 star, but the bar is so high, I may be judging too harshly. I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

‘Nobody’s Fool’,by Harlan Coben is the second book in the Sami Kierce series.
As a new reader of Coben’s writing I was inspired to try dipping into this after enjoying some of the television series based on his work such as ‘Missing You’,’Fool Me Once’,and ‘Shelter’.
In fact this thrilling story exceeded all my expectations and had me gripped from the start.
Former Detective Kierce has struggled to make sense of the traumatic events which affected him as a young man when he vacationed in Spain with some college buddies. He is galvanised by extreme shock when he sees the woman from that past turn up in his present day night class.
This is a roller coaster ride of an investigation into intertwining cases that twists and turns in unexpected directions.The narrative develops and delivers at pace ,so much so it totally captures the attention.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK,Cornerstone for an advanced copy for review.

A bit of a slow start but soon had me gripped. Exactly what you expect from a Harlan Coben book.
Compulsive reading that has enough twists and human flaws that makes you question who you are routing for.
On a tour of Europe after finishing school and heading for university, hooking up with the hot girl. Sami is the geek of the group and stays on in Spain with Anna instead of following the agreed itinerary.
Life changing circumstances happen that come back to haunt him 20 plus years later.
A missing heiress turns up 11 years after vanishing.
Is there a link?
Brilliant book

The story is set up very nicely with a prologue showing the protagonist as a young college boy on holiday in Spain waking up next to a woman's dead body and a knife in his hand. Fast forward a few years and Sami Kierce is an ex-New York cop now running classes for armchair detectives. He gets the shock of his life when the woman he met all those years ago turns up at one of his classes, only to flee again, with Sami (and subsequently his amateur sleuths) in hot pursuit.
This coincides with the killer of his former fiancee being released from prison on a technicality, for which Sami is blamed and over which he lost his high-flying career in the the NYPD.
Through a twisting and turning plot, can Sami unearth long-buried family secrets to reveal what really happened to a wealthy young heiress who disappeared without trace many years ago?
It's a great premise, plot and story, which any reader of Harlan Coben has come to expect. I read this vey quickly and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance reader copy of this novel.

I’m fairly new to Harlan Coben, my family have been reading his books for years……….for the life of me I cannot think why it’s taken me this long to discover this AMAZING writer. This is probably only my fifth Harlan Coben book and it’s a great feeling knowing I have so many of his books still to read!
Kami Pierce is a married man with a wife and young child, recently ‘let go’ by the police force and now teaching criminology. He has a secret from his past that only his father knows about a girl that he had a relationship with in Fuengirola, Spain………………he woke up one morning with a bloody knife in his hand and her beside him dead. Then she walks into his criminology class and promptly runs out again. That’s one storyline!

The other storyline involves a criminal who is getting out of jail early because of Kami’s misdemeanour in the police force. He was in for murder…..the murder of Kami’s girlfriend.

I was hooked from the start, completely intrigued and simply couldn’t put this book down. I have found any excuse to ignore housework, forego TV, even read it during my daily exercise on the treadmill and stayed up way later than I should have!. Every time I thought I was working things out, the plot took another twist or turn and I had to think again. Did I work it out before the ending was revealed……..hell no, not either storyline!
Just fantastic story telling! If I could give more than five stars……..I would!

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.

Sami Kierce, a young college grad backpacking in Spain with friends, wakes up one morning, covered in blood. There’s a knife in his hand. Beside him, the body of his girlfriend. Anna. Dead. He begins to scream and then he runs! Good book! This book had suspense, intriguing, murder, mystery, a good who done it and a few crazy twists and turns! The story was interesting, it wasn't one of my top favorite but still worth reading! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

There are not enough stars to give this book. Five is inadequate. I really love the way Harlan Coben is writing these days - still a masterful and exquisite storyteller but incorporating little Easter eggs for devoted fans and injecting some of his wit into some characters. I have a strange, new appreciation for and perspective on one of my old children's books, thanks to listening to Harlan at his signings and reading a particular paragraph in this book.
Harlan Coben is my favourite living writer and has been for 25 years, and now my teenage daughter is as much of a fan as I am. He writes in such a way that he captures your attention, captivates your imagination and completely immerses you in his world. I always need recovery time after finishing his books because my emotions have been pulled through the wringer and I can't actually hug the characters in the books.
Nobody's Fool is everything. It's intense, suspenseful, poetic, gentle, heartfelt, devastating and shocking. The twists are sharp and sometimes painful, the way his plots and characters intertwine are wonderfully clever and the ending is so much more than words can do justice to. I held my breath, I think I forgot to breathe. Not good for an asthmatic. I was all by myself reading this and found myself holding my breath at times and, at one point, actually saying "nooooo" out loud, to myself, as though I could somehow change the course of these characters' lives.
Read it with a very large cup of tea and some chocolate. You'll need it.

ANOTHER GEM BY HARLAN COBEN

Harlan Coben is one of my "Go to" authors. Having been gifted a book by the author many years ago which got me back into reading big time. I was delighted therefore to be given the opportunity to review this book pre- release. The follow up book to "Fool me once".

Ex disgraced NYPD detective SamI Pierce now a private detective investigating smaller crimes largely for a legal practice and also teaching criminal classes to a disparate group which adds to the story enormously. One day a woman that he recognises as "Anna", somebody he met 22 years ago in Spain and believed was murdered there enters the classroom briefly. She quickly leaves the class with him in hot pursuit. Sami uses the class to help him investigate this woman.

In addition, a man convicted of murdering his fiancé many years ago has been released and protests his innocence asking that the legal practice he is working for investigate the murder afresh. Although unconvinced, he reluctantly agrees and also uses the class to help with that investigation too.

This, as expected is an excellent book with lots of surprising but believable twists and turns that made it, as with his other books a real page turner and I read it very quickly.

Thanks to Randomhouse UK, Cornerstone for an arc copy of the book in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Teenager Sami Kierce woke up in his girlfriend (Anna)’s bed, after a drink and drug binge, to discover her dead and a bloody knife in his hand! They are in Fuengirola, Spain, but he is a US citizen of Pakistani origin so, although he reports the death to La Policía, he, fearing he will be stitched up, flees home. In the intervening twenty-two years between then and now he became a decorated DS in the NYPD before losing his job for procedural infringements. Now, married with a one-year-old son he works as an investigator for a lawyer and runs an evening class in criminology. Then, during one of his classes, a woman appears who looks so like Anna that he calls out her name. She panics and flees, he follows because . . . well wouldn’t you?
This is a sequel to the 2016 book “Fool Me Once” which is set in New York, US. It is not a sequel to the Netflix series based on the book, but set in Manchester, UK. It works perfectly well as a standalone. It is told by Sami, in the first person, and a lot of the pleasure in reading it comes from the language which Sami uses in conversation and in his mind, which provides a depth of personality that enhances the characterisation. The construction of the plot is extremely convoluted, but the author never loses track of it, and the reader is always invested in following as it unrolls, revealing new perspectives on Sami’s life, and slowly clarifying where Anna comes from and who she is. That may sound like this is a slow burn, so let me clarify that it is a fast read, with an unrelenting pace driven by the need to know the answers to all the questions it throws up. Needless to say, the dénouement does not disappoint. This is an easy 5.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

Thank you to Net Galley and Penguin for my copy of Nobody's Fool by Harlan Coben.
This is the follow up to Fool Me Once, which I haven't read but it didn't matter, it works as a standalone.
Once I got into it I couldn't put it down.
Sami Kierce has been been forced out of the police after an incident were a young man died.
But now he's seen someone, he thinks? Is it her? could it be her? The mystery starts and Sami will find the answer.
A book I couldn't put down.
Loved it !!!!!!!

Well I was caught hook, line and sinker! Throughly enjoyed this book! I was captivated. The master has done it again!!!! Read it, you must!!!!!!

Like many people, I have read several of Harlan Coben’s books and I find that they either work perfectly or fall well short of the mark when it comes to believable implausibility. Nobody’s Fool falls on the right side of believability with its tale of Sammy Kierce, a private detective who encounters a ghost from his past. I did not immediately link the book with Fool me Once, which also features Sammy Kierce, as the novel is set in the US and the Netflix series is set in the UK but I found the character of Sammy to be believable and engaging. A good, twisty psychological mystery which is well executed.

With thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy.

Fun and twisty. There is nothing more engrossing than a good psychological thriller. The characters of Sami and his wife Molly are very nicely developed and I pretty much inhaled this book. Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read an early copy.

Nobody's Fool is a great read, with a complex and twisting plot that never quite settles until the very end. Sami Kierce is no a former detective, running a night school class for a group of strange characters. A man walks into his class on night and he recognises her. But she died twenty plus years before.

Sami is convinced it is the same woman, so seeks the help of his students to find the truth. At the same time the man convicted of killing his fiancée is released. And his new family is being stalked.

A complicated take ensues with so many plot lines tangled around Sami. Can he and his crew of students work it all out? Nobody's Fool is engaging and the actions comes thick and fast. It's a compelling read.