Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Harlan Coben, Author Biographies


Harlan Coben was only 26 years old when his first book, ‘Play Dead,’ was published. It was when he started writing his Myron Bolitar series that he won the prestigious Edgar Award and was recognized by the New York Best Sellers List. In 2008, his book, ‘Hold Tight,’ was his first novel to hit number one.


Harlan Coben has won the Edgar Award, the Shamus Award and the Anthony Award. He has the distinction of being the only person to have won all three.


Harlan Coben was born into a Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey, on January 4, 1962. He was raised and schooled in Livingston, New Jersey. He jokes that this was not the New Jersey of Tony Soprano.


Harlan graduated from Amherst College with a degree in political science. It was while he was in his senior year that he realized he enjoyed writing. After graduating, he worked for a time in his grandfather’s company in the travel industry.


It is said of Harlan, ‘Nobody else writes such compelling thrillers that are centered in family lives.’ Harlan says, "Families always interest me because of the ties and bonds, and the acute sense of betrayal. I think my novels work because they're not just about serial killers, or a conspiracy that reaches all the way to the White House."


Most of Coben’s stand alone novels have been optioned by Hollywood. He says he is as guilty as many other novel

ists. He takes the money and runs. He says because the studio owns the rights, it can be heartbreaking to the author that tries to be involved, because he has little say or power. He claims that he will never write another screenplay.


Harlan’s novel, ‘Tell No One,’ was adapted into a French film. He was invited to do a cameo scene in the film. Harlan brought his family to watch and the whole family wound up being in the movie.


Unlike many novelists, Harlan loves to go on tour for his books. He loves the feed back. He says, “If I write a book and nobody reads it, I don’t exist as a writer.”


Harlan says that he has a love hate relationship with technology, but he is on and maintains his Facebook, My Space and Twitter accounts.

Harlan and his wife and their four children, live in Richwood, New Jersey. His
wife, Dr. Anne Armstrong-Coben, MD, a pediatrician, works at a rescue center. This is the same rescue center which is instrumental in his novel, “Tell No One.”


Books by Harlan Coben:


Series:


Myron Bolitar:

Deal Breaker (1995)

Drop Shot (1996)

FadeAway (1996)

One False Move (1998)

(1999)

Darkest Fear (2000)

Promise Me (1996)

(2009)

Stand Alone Novels:

Play Dead (1990)

Miracle Cure (1991)

Tell No One (2001)

Gone for Good (2002)


(2003)

Just One Look (2004)

The Innocent (2005)

The Woods (2007)

Hold Tight (2008)

Caught (2010)


Omnibus:

Two Great Novels (2004)

Three Great Novels (2004)

Three Great Novels (2005)

Tell No One / Gone for Good (2008)

Just One Look / Innocent / Promise Me (2008)


Anthologies Edited:

Death Do U Part: New Series Stories about Love, Lust and Murder (2006)


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