Harlan Coben and Reese Witherspoon: a suspenseful pairing

Harlan Coben discusses Netflix adaptations, collaborating with Reese Witherspoon, and his latest book in this interview.

Four months into 2025, and there are three adaptations of author Harlan Coben’s books on Netflix — Missing You, the Polish adaptation of Just One Look, and Caught, set in Argentina. Two more adaptations are in production, and his latest book, Nobody’s Fool (published by Penguin Random House) has just been released. There is also the thriller he has written with actor-producer Reese Witherspoon coming out in October.

“I can’t share anything about the novel,” says Coben, 63, over a video call from New Jersey, where he lives. “I can, however tell you how it happened. We’ve known each other. Reese has read my books. I’ve seen all her movies. She called saying, ‘I want to talk to you about an idea I had’.” Coben was wondering how to tell Witherspoon that it would not work. “I don’t collaborate on books or stories.”

But when the star of Legally Blonde told Coben her idea, he was sold. “I said, ‘We can also do this’, and we started talking, knocking it back and forth. Next thing you know, I’ve got a pen and paper and I’m starting to write. And three hours later, we’re like, ‘Why don’t we try to write this as a novel together?’”

Witherspoon is the perfect partner, says Coben, whose books have sold over 80 million copies worldwide and been translated into 46 languages. “I don’t know if I’ll collaborate on a novel with anybody else. Reese is so smart, and also is so great with people. She knows when to push me. We helped each other be more creative. With Reese, I would probably do it again.”

Coben says he did most of the writing. “It was mostly about talking out the ideas with her. We created our own mixed voice. We email or text every day and talk about the book all the time. We both are obsessed with it.”

The three shows on Netflix, almost simultaneously, Coben says, is not by design. “It just happened. We were filming them all around the same time. I’m not the one who does the scheduling, Netflix decided to do it this way for the year.”

Next up is an adaptation of his 2023 novel, I Will Find You, with Sam Worthington of Avatar fame playing the father serving a prison sentence for killing his son. “We start filming in a couple weeks, sometime in April. I’m excited about working with Worthington. We are also filming an English series based on my book Run Away (2019), with Minnie Driver, James Nesbitt and Ruth Jones.”