Harlan Coben never disappoints- he can always be relied upon to write an excellent thriller. “Nobody’s Fool” is definitely up there- it was one of those books I couldn’t put down- perfect for entertaining me on a long flight.
Sami Kierce is a detective who has been thrown off the force for a previous mistake. He is eking out a living teaching criminology and working as a private investigator whilst happily married with a baby son.
When a woman he once knew as a young backpacker appears in his class he is shocked. He thought she was dead and that he was possibly the one who stabbed her with a knife! He’d woken up beside her body covered in blood and fled the scene.
As he chases after her and learns more he discovers that nothing was as it seemed when he was young and in the present day things are even more confusing. Anna is also not really the woman she was - she has a new identity as a missing heiress returned from being kidnapped.
Using his criminology students to help him and tapping into a friend on the force, Sami starts to investigate Anna at the request of her millionaire father who wants to know what happened to her in the 11 years she was missing.
Meanwhile in a sub plot the murderer of Sami’s dead fiancée is released from gaol, claiming he was unjustly imprisoned. As Sami uncovers more he is not sure what to think, is Tad innocent or guilty?
There are so many twists and turns in this book I couldn’t put down and barely kept up with all the plot twists. Kierce was an excellent hero, seeking the truth in order to free himself from his past, in both the cases he is investigating. It soon becomes apparent that that very few of the characters are telling the truth and it is up to Kierce to try and solve the mystery.
The last few pages were very engrossing and led me to believe that Sami might well be appearing in another novel by this author and I will definitely be first in the queue to read it! It is apparently the second book featuring Sami Kierce but can easily be read as a stand alone novel. I have no recollection of reading the first book and will now seek it out to learn more about Sami’s past.
“Nobody’s Fool” deserves all of the five stars I am giving it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my advance copy.

Nobody's Fool Harlan Coben

5 stars

The master storyteller

I have read 8 of this author's books and have never been disappointed. Harlan Coben is just the master of writing a story that captivates the reader and makes you desperate to carry on reading at every spare moment.

Unfortunately I managed to miss the first book in this series and will make sure that I catch up on Sami Kierce's first story but this did not detract from this book.

Sami is now happily married with a young son, he has been kicked out of the police so is giving evening classes to potential sleuths as well as working as a Private Investigator. One evening a woman comes into Sami's evening class and then runs away. Immediately Sami is transported back 22 years to when he was a young student backpacking in Spain. He had met Anna and they had had a passionate few days together until one morning Sami wakes up with a knife in his hand next to Anna's dead body. How can she be alive 22 years later?

At the same time Ted Grayson is released from prison on a technicality. This is the man who had murdered Sami's fiancee, Nicole Brett and is now stating that he was innocent.

The plot them becomes even more complicated when it turns out that Anna is in fact heiress, Victoria Belmont who had been kidnapped and then turned up 11 years later.

These apparently unconnected events are drawn together in the author's inimitable style and you find yourself rushing through the book to discover how and what had happened. I particularly enjoy the writer's way of giving us Sami's thoughts on random things in his life and how up to date the author is with modern thoughts and events.

Hopefully there will be more books featuring Sami and his incredible students, I will definitely be reading them.

I
Karen Deborah
Reviewer for Net Galley

There is simply nobody who can compare to Harlan Coben for this kind of novel.

In his youth while backpacking in Spain, Sami Kierce woke up one morning to find his girlfriend Anna covered in blood and himself holding the knife. He fled the country and now works as a private investigator, earning extra by teaching night classes on the subject to a motley crew of podcasters and wannabe detectives. One night, a woman comes into his classroom. It’s Anna, who immediately runs when he recognises her and the chase after the truth about her continues for the rest of the book.

I’ve always loved the Myron Bolitar series, which the last book seemed to close off for now, so it’s fantastic to see a new set up that has all the signs of being just as good. I loved this one – it had me gripped from page one and I couldn’t wait to get back to it whenever I had to put it down to do something else. The stories are always so well plotted, the characters come alive from the first page and the pace just never lets up. Superb.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review.

Another outing for Sami Kierce who appeared in a previous book. Kierce is now working as a private investigator and teaching an evening class for amateur detectives. One evening, a woman that Kierce had murdered several years earlier enters the classroom. Wow! How can the plot develop from here? I was intrigued. In the hands of a less skilful writer it could have become far-fetched nonsense but this is Harlen Coben - master plotter extraordinaire. I loved this twisty action-packed thriller with multiple plotlines including a high-profile kidnapping case. The evening class students added further interest and I feel this could be further developed in future books.

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

Sami Kierce, from Fool Me Once, is back in this page-turner from the Master of plot twists.
Now settled with wife Molly and his baby, Sami is working odd jobs after leaving his job with the police.
As a young man Sami went to Spain,met a girl, and woke up one morning to find her dead in bed next to him. Now she’s appeared in a class he’s teaching, alive and well. But as always, things take an unexpected turn, which find Sami trying to solve a mystery from years ago, whilst also dealing with the fact that the presumed killer of his former girlfriend has been released from prison.
This book is as twisty and complicated as any Coben book I have ever read. I’ve whizzed through it. Hope that Sami will remain a regular character. My only tiny reservation is, that having watched the Netflix adaptation of Fool Me Once, I had trouble relocating Sami in my head back to the US. I’m not blaming the author for this, more Netflix for its decisions. Anyway, it’s a minor niggle about a very enjoyable read.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

An enjoyable read but not quite the usual standard for Coben. It was only reading other reviews just before writing this that I realised that it was the second in the series. Sami Kierce is the main character who narrates the story but often his meanderings slowed the flow. The end was worth waiting for albeit a stretch of the imagination. Sami, his wife Molly and his students make a good group of characters so hopefully the series will continue.

This is Sami Kierce's second outing. The first being Fool Me Once which Netflix made into a series starring Adeel Akhtar as Kierce. (I'll admit now I need to read the book because the tv series lost me entirely.)

In Nobody's Fool we find Sami teaching class to a bunch of detective wannabes. Happily married to Molly and now with a baby boy. It seems Sami's turbulent years are past. That is until a woman he believed long dead walks into his classroom.

What follows is classic Coben twists and turns as we try to get to the complicated truth. There's a sub-plot involving the release of Tad Grayson who had been incarcerated after murdering Sami's then fiancee, Nicole. Grayson continues to protest his innocence.

Can Sami get to the bottom of the mysterious woman's reappearance in his life while trying to put Grayson back behind bars? And will his more than willing group of students help or hinder?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I didn't get lost in the twists (a first for me). I find Sami a completely engaging character. His students added humour and interest to the story too. Also the denouement made my mouth drop open. It was incredibly difficult to put down so what more do you need?

Excellent. Highly recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for the advance review copy. Most appreciated.

Nobody’s Fool is the second book in the Sami Kierce series by Harlan Coben. This is a fast paced psychological thriller, full of suspense, colourful characters and intriguing twists.

The story begins in Malaga, Spain, in 2000, when young backpacker Sami Kierce wakes up in a nightmare, covered in blood, a knife in his hand, and the body of a woman named Anna beside him. He has no memory of what happened. Not sure whether he killed her or is involved in some sort of frame up. Either way it is a something that will always remain with him.

Moving forward to New York City, 2025. Kierce is a shamed former detective who spends his evenings teaching classes, still tormented by the unsolved mystery. One evening while teaching a class he notices a woman in the audience and is convinced it is Anna. There eyes meet and she immediately sets off. Can the woman he thought dead for the last 25 years actually be alive? Sami is determined to uncover the truth and to solve the mystery that has haunted him.

Written in Coben’s imitable style, twisty plot that is fast paced with a touch of humour.

I would like to thank both Netgalley and Random House UK for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

As always another fast paced brilliant thought out book. Harlan coban is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. I’d highly recommend this book.

Although this is the follow-on book from Fool Me Once, it is not necessary to have read that book before reading this.
As usual with Harlan Coben the characters are superb, the storyline intense.
His novels are called suspense novels. This one is no different it keeps the reader in a pleasant suspense throughout.
Sami Kierce has a pleasant personality and the point of the titles of the books featuring him is that he may appear to be a pleasant fool, but underneath that mask a genius lurks.
I am looking forward to hearing about Sami Kierce again, and hopefully seeing his portrayal on Netflix again.
My thanks to the author for the hours of enjoyment that the book has brought me, I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Sami Kierce is an ex-cop who was forced out due to poor judgement and rule breaking. However he's trying to move forward despite the fact all of his closed homicides' are being revisited. In addition to this he's haunted by an event that took place while he was back packing round Europe, the pre- university rite of passage. An event that so overshadowed his life, he became a cop and not a doctor.
Life it ticking along for Sami, he's a private investigator and he teaches night classes on criminology. But suddenly out the blue his class is visited by a woman, one sight of her and Sami's thrown back 20years.
What a fabulous novel, Harlan Coben never fails to deliver incredible, enthralling reads that leave me stunned. Nobody's Fool is truly amazing.

Nobody's Fool is another fantastic book by Harlan Coben. It is packed full of twists and turns with lots of interesting characters, some likeable and some not. The storyline was great, and I look forward to reading more (hopefully) books featuring Sami Kierce.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for my ARC.

Nobody's Fool a crime thriller book 2 of 2 Detective Sami Kierce by Harlan Coben was so long drawn out but worth it as the ending more than made up for it.

Twenty two years earlier Former Detective Sami Kierce left the force and is now working as a private investigator taking classes to train students to become super sleuths and also pay off his debts. He loves quoting the great Sherlock Holmes whilst teaching his students at night classes.

One evening a face from the past makes a speedy visit to his class and he realises it is a girlfriend Anna whom he met at a disco whilst backpacking in Spain.

With the help of his student sleuths he is determined to track Anna down but he is to be biting off more than he bargained for as he unravels who Anna really is and what she did to him twenty years ago.

Nobody's Fool is the second book in the Detective Sami Kierce series. The first book was fantastic, this one is even better.
22 years ago Sami, on holiday in Spain, woke covered in blood with a knife in his hand next to the body of his holiday romance, Anna. Desperate and frightened Sami fled back to America but never put the trauma behind him. So, when a woman who looks like Anna walks into his class it starts a chain of events that no one could have ever predicted.
I absolutely love the character of Sami, the way he speaks remind me of another much-loved Harlan Coben character Myron Bolitar, and I love the relationship he has with Molly and their son.
I really hope there will be more books in this series and also would love to see a Sami, Myron and Win collaboration in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for my ARC.

At the age of eighteen Sami Kierce fell in love with Anna while backpacking around Europe. Things ended dramatically when he woke in bed next to the blood-covered dead body of Anna. Twenty-two years later he's convinced Anna has just walked into his classroom.

Nobody's Fool by Harlan Coben is the second book in the Sami Kierce series but can easily be read as a standalone novel as the author quickly outlines all the relevant information.

The opening chapter is set twenty-two years ago when a young Sami Kierce is traveling Europe with friends in the summer before starting college. He is surprised and flattered when a beautiful woman ignores his much more athletic friends and shows interest in him. A whirlwind romance follows, with Sami and Anna spending all of their time together. After a drink and drug-fueled night Sami wakes to discover he's covered in blood and holding a knife. Anna's body is in the bed beside him.

If that opening isn't enough to grab your attention then what follows certainly will. Twenty-two years later Sami is an ex-NYPD detective, having been kicked off the force for causing a suspect to be badly injured. Kierce is making ends meet by working as an investigator for a lawyer and running an evening class on criminology. It is during one of the evening classes that a woman walks in, and then promptly leaves. Even with only a brief glance at the woman Sami is convinced it was Anna. After giving chase Sami is unable to catch up but it does lead him to a well-guarded property and the infamous Belmond family. In 1999 teenager Victoria Belmond disappeared, feared kidnapped. Nothing was heard of her until eleven years later when she suddenly reappeared with no memory of the past. Are Anna and Victoria the same person? If so, how is she alive when Sami woke next to her dead body?

You just know that when you open a novel by Harlan Coben you are in for a treat with all the twists and turns, twists that will completely blindside you and I couldn't believe how many are packed into the opening chapters of the book. Added to all of this is a gritty setting, lots of action, humour and zippy dialogue. I love the way in which the author also includes mentions of other books. The Lock-Horne Building, home to Win Lockwood, Myron Bolitar's best friend, gets a fleeting mention. There is also a reference to the serial killer who featured in Think Twice.

Trying to figure out what is happening, following the clues, nags at you as you read, it's like having an itch you just can't quite reach. The shocking revelation left me gasping, totally unexpected and so well planned.

Nobody’s Fool by Harlan Coben is the second book in the Detective Sami Kierce police stories.
It is now a year after the events of Fool Me Once took place. Now a secret from former detective Sami Kierce’s past comes back to haunt him. When he was taking a gap year the young woman Sami was sleeping with turned up dead in bed beside him one morning and it looked as if Sami had stabbed her. He runs back home, after reporting the death to the local police.
He is taking his night class in New York 2025, when he spots a woman whom he identifies as Anna, the dead woman from his time in Spain. He chases after her but doesn’t catch up with her. He then is determined to find out who she is and where she is living. He needs to find out how she is still alive when his dreams have been filled with her death.
He even involves his students from his night class to help solve the mystery.
An interesting storyline with plenty of twists and turns before the reader finds out the truth.
Highly recommended

Sami Kierce is an Asian-American who grew up wanting to be a doctor but became a police officer and is now a sort unlicensed private investigator. He also teaches a night school class for would be sleuths.
Before Sami went to university he travelled around Europe with friends. On the Costa del Sol he met Anna. Blond and beautiful, they seemed to be falling for each other. But something happened and Sami fled back to the States.
Years later Sami is a disgraced detective and one night a woman turns up at his class. Sami is convinced it is Anna and tracks her down, opening up a web of secrets and lies.
A thoroughly enjoyable read with a new 'hero's from Harlen Coben. I hope we see more of Mr Kierce

Firstly, thank you for the ARC of Nobody’s Fool by Harlan Coben.

I did not know this was the 2nd instalment of this series, however in my opinion, it can be read as a stand alone, it was brilliant. You get to know the characters, I enjoyed reading about Kierce, he’s a likeable individual. The plot is great and the pace of the book is ideal.

I loved the last few chapters, you got everything you needed to know wrapped up with a bow on the top. It does make you think, how far would you go to protect your children.

I look forward to reading more from Harlan and wish him every success for publication day.

Thoroughly enjoyed meeting up with Sami again and some other old friends, nice to know he's settled with a family. He is doing what a lot of 'retired' police do, acting as a private investigator and teaching evening classes. He is unprepared when an old girlfriend suddenly turns up and then disappears again, especially as he thought he had killed her whilst in Spain on holiday. He starts to investigate with the help of old friends and his class students and soon finds out the truth, but at a price. All the clues are there but as usual with Harlen Coben you don't see the ending twist.

Sami Kierce goes on holiday to Spain with friends from college , he meets Anna, and as his friends continue their travels . he decides to stay with her at her apartment. Most nights are spent in a haze of drugs and drink but one morning Sami wakes up with a knife in his hand and Anna covered in blood apparently dead, He wants to tell the police but Anna;s drug dealer/friend tells him to leave immediately. He rings his father who tells him to get the first plane back to America . He does but keeps worrying about Anna;s death.
On New Years Eve 1999 Victoria , a rich girl from a very rich family , goes missing from a party she was co-hosting at a pub.She is never seen again for 11 years until she is found at a diner suffering from memory loss .
Some years later Sami , having been sacked from the police force , is teaching a class in Criminal Detection to a bunch of want to be sleuths when he sees Anna at the back of the class ,she starts to run but is seen jumping in to a Mercedes with a driver.
He enlists the help of his class to investigate how she could be alive and who she is, It appears that she is Victoria , and eventually her father asks Sami to investigate Victoria;s missing 11 years.
However things are not as they appear as they never are with Harlan Coben. Another cracker.