Nobody’s Fool by Harlan Coben is a real page turner and rollercoaster of a ride with so many twists and turns. I’ve watched a couple of Netflix adaptations of his books, but this was the first Coben book I’ve read and absolutely loved it.

This book centres on former police officer, now private investigator and criminology tutor Sami Kierce. Since his fall from grace, he’s struggling to make ends meet.

In this book Sami believes he sees a literal ghost from his past in one of his criminology classes. He believes he saw Anna, a woman who has haunted him for decades. The last time he saw her was his graduation summer. He was travelling through Spain with friends where he met Anna and, believing they had a connection, he stayed with her rather than travelling on with friends. It ended tragically when he woke up one morning to find Anna in bed covered in blood. It was inexcusable, but he was young and terrified and Sami left her returning home to America. It was something that haunted him over the decades.

Sami has to know who that woman in his class is, and why after all these years she visited his class. Was it really Anna? The book moves along at a great pace with Sami calling in favours from his former colleagues and his students.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Random House, for making this e-ARC available to me to read in exchange for a fair and honest and review. I can’t wait to read more Harlan Coben books.

Superb ! It was a little slow to begin with but it quickly picked up pace and I could not put it down. I have not read the previous book but this was an excellent stand alone. I did not guess the ending and that is a sign of a good book for me. would thoroughly recommend.

Probably 3.5, but i enjoy Corben’s writing style enough to round up. I won’t add to the synopsis other than to say that it makes frequent references to an earlier book/ characters that i read but don’t remember, which was frustrating. There is always a large suspension of disbelief when reading Corben, which i am happy to go with, but this did have one of his more implausible endings. However, as always I devoured it in two sittings and enjoyed it enormously.

This is a great detective thriller with some excellent characters. Why is it great? I have never come across a story quite like it. Yes, the waking up with a knife in your hand and your partner dead beside you isn't entirely new but that's just the opening gambit. 'Great' is because the entirety of the story seems plausible. The person with a knife in their hand is our detective, well, ex-detective now, Sami Kierce. He's an interesting chap, wanted to be a medic but that life changing incident caused him to eventually join the police, until he was fired. Now his previous life, or should I say lives, come back to haunt him. A very likeable man with a great sense of humour which really helps the story along. That's as much as I am going to give away because otherwise the novelty of the plot would be compromised and your enjoyment too.
My definition of a good book is one that you don't want to finish but this one broke the rules. It concluded perfectly. No, not the children laughing, the dog barking and the sun setting type but a feeling of understanding, hence me saying it all seems plausible.
It's a definite five star review from me.

Nobody’s fool is about Sami Kierce who is a detective in Fool Me Once.

It features Sami as a young college leaver travelling to Spain and meeting a girl. Things don’t go to plan and Sami returns home but always wonders about that period of his life.

I wasn’t sure about this book when I first started it, I loved fool me once and didn’t think this would live up to it but I loved this book even more. I read it on the kindle and when I looked and saw I was 72% of the way through the book I was disappointed as I didn’t want it to end.

I guessed the last twist and I’m hoping that means there will be a book three (pretty please)

I would 100% recommend this book and would like to say a huge thank you to Penguin random house and NetGalley for my advanced reading copy.

An amazing book by this master storyteller. Although set after Fool me once it can easily read as a standalone if you haven’t read that book. Great likeable characters and plenty of twists to keep me gripped with an ending I certainly wasn’t expecting. An easy 5 stars I would highly recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review. I absolutely love Harlan Coben and was so excited to be given an ARC of his new book Nobody’s Fool. This book is set a year after Fool Me Once but can easily be read as a standalone book. I absolutely devoured this book in one day, I couldn’t put it down. The story flowed so well and the characters were very well written, especially Sami. The plot twists at the end are brilliant! A highly enjoyable thriller from Harlan Coben as always. I will definitely be recommending this book to everyone. 5 stars.

Harlan Coben is big business at the moment with many of his books being adapted for Netflix series. "Nobody's Fool" will make another good drama if it is adapted. I raced through this book and finished it pretty much in one sitting. I love Sami Kierce and his gang of students who are able to help him out with surveillance. I'd like to see a lot more books developed from this angle. Classic Harlan Coben.

Sami Kierce #2 (#1 = Fool me Once)

Nearly twenty five years ago, Sami meets Anna in a nightclub in Fuengirola in Spain. It’s ‘Murder in the Dance floor’ and ‘[He] can’t get [her] out of [his] head’. Two days later his travelling companions leave for Sevilla whilst Sami stays and he never sees them again. Anna and Sami have a few days of fun, some of which is the chemical kind, and it doesn’t end well. Let’s settle for, there’s a lot of blood. Fast forward to the present day and Sami has had a career as a cop and is now making ends meet as a private investigator and teaching a criminology night class. During one of these sessions, he’s convinced that Anna interrupts the class, but surely not. She’s dead isn’t she? Is he hallucinating? Having a breakdown? Or is it the seemingly impossible, that Anna is in fact alive? It transpires that this is just the tip of the iceberg……….

Oh yes indeedy, Harlan Coben has knocked it out the park again. I love the tone the author strikes here as it’s as if Sami is talking directly to us, we are his audience thus bringing us into the storytelling and involving us in the outcome. There’s plenty of humour and asides which lightens the mood of a difficult and dangerous plot for Sami to navigate. I really like Sami, he’s steadfast and dogged even at his own risk, he’s true, intuitive and honest but equally prepared to be pragmatic if needs must. His love for his wife Molly and son Henry shines through everything that he does, grounding him and providing much warmth for the heart amongst the ever increasing perils. Molly is a gem and richly deserves Sami’s adoration.

As for the plot, it’s full of shocks and multiple twisty twists as you’d expect from this master of the unexpected. No wonder Netflix love him! It’s a tense, suspenseful action packed thriller which is highly addictive and entertaining from beginning to end. It goes without saying that there are several jaw droppers, a ton of shocking revelations and plenty of dastardly deeds and intrigue to keep me rooted to the pages.

I’ve read plenty of Harlan Coben’s novels over the years and I know he will always deliver a cracking engaging read. This plot is well thought out, it connects the seemingly random, the pace is quick and so there’s never a dull moment. It’s also chock full of interesting characters, plenty of shocking revelations and multiple dastardly deeds making it the very definition of a thriller. I love it and it’s just my kind of book. Five stars all the way.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random. House UK for the much appreciated epub for in return for a honest review.

Yet another great read from the master story teller, as ever Harlan Coben contrives an amazing fast paced plot that centres on ex cop Sami Kierce.
Sami soon becomes involved in trying to locate a girl who as been missing for 11 years, very many twists involved with the story line travelling back in time and then returning to present times. Impossible to put down a real page turner with a dramatic ending.
Rather than outlining the complete story I strongly recommend your read this terrific book.
My thanks to Lucy Hall from Random House UK for providing my advance copy .

Nobody’s Fool is unmistakably a Harlan Cobden novel, with his trademark easy writing style that draws in the reader and makes it difficult to put the book down. The plot in this case is clever, with mixed timelines and a surprise awaiting the reader very late in the unpicking of the story. Some readers may feel that the way in which one series of crimes was solved was produced rather too much like a rabbit out of a hat. However, as is usual with Coben’s crime novels, there is a satisfaction that loose ends have been tidied up and a reasonably satisfactory denouement presented to the reader.
Recommended

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.