Publisher: Century (Trade Paperback – 25 March 2025)
Series: Detective Sami Kierce – Book Two
Length: 432 pages
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
One of the best authors of modern crime fiction, Harlan Coben, returns with another exceptional and twisty read, Nobody’s Fool, which hooks you from the beginning and refuses to let you go.
Harlan Coben is an author who needs very little introduction considering he is currently dominating the crime fiction world with his brilliant literary fiction and awesome television adaptations (plus he’s apparently a great murder alibi for Stephen King characters). I have only read a few examples of Coben’s work so far, although I had an amazing time with the intense novels I checked out. For example, I Will Find You and Think Twice were very exceptional, and I loved the unique mysteries and scenarios that the author comes up with. As such, it was an easy decision to check out the latest book from Coben, Nobody’s Fool, especially when I was in the mood for an addictive and twist-laden read. The sequel to one of Coben’s better known books/television series, Fool Me Once, Nobody’s Fool was an outstanding novel with an impressive plot behind it.
Plot Synopsis:
A year after the devastating events that took place in Fool Me Once, a secret from former Detective Sami Kierce’s college days comes back to haunt him. Present day is hard enough for Kierce, but his past isn’t through with him yet…
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.
Twenty two years later, Kierce, now a private investigator, is a new father who’s working off his debts by teaching wannabe sleuths at a night school in New York City. One evening, he recognizes a familiar face at the back of the classroom. Anna. It’s unmistakably her. But as soon as he makes eye contact with her, she bolts.
For Kierce there is no choice. He knows he must find this woman and solve the impossible mystery that has haunted his every waking moment since that terrible day.
His investigation will bring him face-to-face with his past. Soon he discovers that some secrets should stay buried.
Well damn, now that was an awesome read. While I was expecting Nobody’s Fool to be an entertaining and complex novel, I wasn’t fully ready for all the fantastic twists and turns that Coben loaded into this cool new book, and I got really sucked in as a result. Due to how addictive Nobody’s Fool was, I managed to knock it off in a single day, and I had to give it a full five-star rating as a result.
Coben ended up pulling together a spectacular and multi-layered narrative in Nobody’s Fool, which successfully blended complex mysteries with some intense personal moments from the book’s protagonist. Set a year after the events of Fool Me Once, Nobody’s Fool follows former police detective Sami Kierce, who had a strong supporting role in the previous book. Now a private detective and part-time criminology lecturer to wannabe crime solvers, Kierce is struggling to make ends meet. However, he soon becomes obsessed with a new personal case when Anna, a former lover who he believed was dead, suddenly appears at one of his classes before running away. Determined to uncover what happened all those years before, Kierce soon connects Anna to one of the most infamous kidnapping cases in the country’s history and must attempt to work out who she is and what truly happened to her. At the same time, the protagonist is also forced to deal with the release of the man who was convicted of murdering Kierce’s former fiancé, especially as the released killer wants Kierce’s help to prove his innocence.
I really enjoyed this compelling narrative, especially as Coben effortlessly combines the protagonist’s personal issues in the aftermath of Fool Me Once, with the current thrilling mysteries. The main plot around the supposed death of Anna and how it ties into the troubled history of an influential family was just spectacular, and I loved the many impressive twists and intriguing family drama that the protagonist is forced to navigate. At the same time, the complex storyline around the murder of his former fiancé added a compelling personal edge to the book which hit all the right emotional notes. Both these separate storylines come together extremely well in Nobody’s Fool’s larger narrative, and Coben balanced them nicely, especially when it comes to a major story moment about two-thirds of the way through that ensures that the entire investigation is thrown out of whack. This eventually leads to two sperate sets of revelations as Kierce uncovers the truth behind both crimes. While I felt that the solution to the mystery around the protagonist’s dead fiancé was a little obvious, the main plotline around Anna was extremely clever, and I deeply enjoyed how it was solved. Coben did an outstanding job layering the hints and clues to this mystery throughout the rest of the book, and it came together in a tragic and powerful end. An overall great mystery narrative that goes in some captivating and shocking directions, this was such an addictive story and there was a reason I couldn’t stop reading it.
Coben brought Nobody’s Fool together in a particularly impressive way that really allows readers to get to grips with the story and dive into its emotional heart. Told solely from the perspective of protagonist Sami Kierce, Nobody’s Fool turned into quite a moving character-driven read, as Coben effectively worked the various mysteries with international implications, while also diving into the psyche and emotional turmoil of the protagonist. The deep character dive into the protagonist was really compelling on several levels, as not only does he have to explore the trauma introduced in this book, but there is a great examination of the fallout from Fool Me Once. It was captivating to see Kierce deal with the consequences of the previous novel, and the fallout keeps the protagonist desperate and plays into the modern story wonderfully. At the same time, the author introduces a fun array of cooky supporting characters, who add to the general fun of the story. My favourite were the members of Kierce’s criminology class, whose entertaining assistance helps to solve the case in an unexpected manner. Coben expertly brings them into the plot, and there are some fun stories associated with them that I could see the author exploring further in the future. The various suspects associated with the main case had the most emotional impact on the story, and their complex connections, dark motivations and intense need to find the truth helps to turn Nobody’s Fool into something truly special. Throw in some quick paced scenes, cool locations (including one I know he came up with at Bouchercon 2024), and some brilliant family moments from all the damaged characters, and this was such an outstanding read.
One thing I feel I must discuss about Nobody’s Fool is how it ties into the preceding novel, Fool Me Once, and whether you can read this second novel as a sequel or as a standalone read. Now I must admit that I haven’t read Fool Me Once, so I went into this sequel a little blind and I was initially worried that I was going to have a hard time following the plot or fully appreciating the story. However, I found that for the most part Nobody’s Fool stands on its own, and no real pre-knowledge of Coben’s previous novel was needed. There is a great focus on the fallout from the first book, especially when it comes to Kierce’s role, but Coben provides the necessary context so you can appreciate this drama without having to read Fool Me Once first. This does somewhat change around halfway through, when a couple of major characters from Fool Me Once are shoehorned in as potential witnesses for the current case, and new readers might have some problems fully appreciating the personal gravity of Kierce’s meetings with them. While those fans who have checked out Fool Me Once first will probably get some more emotional impact from these parts of the book, I felt that Coben ensured there was enough background to allow new readers to keep moving forward without any difficulty and have an exceptional time with the author’s killer plot.
Harlan Coben continues to impress with this brilliant new novel that serves as a wonderful sequel to one of his more iconic novels. Nobody’s Fool had me hooked from the very first page, and I had such an outstanding time fully unwrapping the author’s complex mystery and diving through every fantastic twist. This book was an absolute pleasure to read, no matter your experience with Coben’s other works, and I hope we see some more from Nobody’s Fool’s protagonist in the future.
The Unseen Library 